Law and Norms: Empirical Evidence

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Lane, Tom; Nosenzo, Daniele; Sonderegger, Silvia
• 署名单位: University of Nottingham Ningbo China; Aarhus University; University of Nottingham; University of Nottingham
• 刊物名称: AMERICAN ECONOMIC REVIEW
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0002-8282
• DOI: 10.1257/aer.20210970
• 发表日期: 2023
• 页码: 1255-1293
• 关键词: social norms; incentives; obligations; ENFORCEMENT; preferences; SANCTIONS; BEHAVIOR; image; COSTS

摘要

A large theoretical literature argues laws exert a causal effect on norms, but empirical evidence remains scant. Using a novel identification strategy, we provide a compelling empirical test of this proposition. We use incentivized vignette experiments to directly measure social norms relating to actions subject to legal thresholds. Our large-scale experiments (n = 7,000) run in the United Kingdom, United States, and China show that laws can causally influence social norms. Results are robust across different samples and methods of measuring norms, and are consistent with a model of social image concerns where indi-viduals care about the inferences others make about their underlying prosociality. (JEL C91, C92, D91, K00, K42, P37)