Rice is the prestige crop, and a man's status is determined by his rice fields. Sweet potatoes, on the other hand, while an important staple food crop, enjoy low prestige value. In the Ifugao economy, barter has been replaced by rice and money for exchange. Families own rice and forest lands and heirlooms, which are passed on to the children, but may be sold in emergencies. Personal property consists of houses, valuable trees, and sweet potato crops.
Unowned land belongs to anyone who clears and plants it.
Houses are well made of timber and thatch, raised on four posts, and are characterized by their pyramidal roof construction. Government institutions are poorly developed among the Ifugao, and chiefs, councils, and politically defined districts or other units are lacking in the traditional culture. The bonds of kinship served to unite the people of a particular valley or watershed area, but feelings of solidarity rarely extended much beyond the local area. Social stratification was traditionally based on the accumulation of wealth in terms of rice, water buffalo, and slaves. The political power of the kandangyan is in terms of prestige and influence rather than institutionalized authority, but is still often considerable.