Polanyi's approach to the ancient economies has been applied to a variety of cases, such as Pre-Columbian America and ancient Mesopotamia, although its utility to the study of ancient societies in general has been questioned.
Pendekatan Polanyi terhadap ekonomi kuno telah diterapkan dalam sejumlah kasus seperti Amerika pra-Columbus dan Mesopotamia kuno, namun manfaatnya bagi studi masyarakat kuno masih dipertanyakan.