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Law and norms: Empirical evidence

Lookup NU author(s): Dr Tom Lane

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This is the final published version of an article that has been published in its final definitive form by American Economic Association, 2023.

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Abstract

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 individuals care about the inferences others make about their underlying prosociality.

Publication metadata

Author(s): Lane T, Nosenzo D, Sonderegger S

Publication type: Article

Publication status: Published

Journal: American Economic Review

Year: 2023

Volume: 113

Issue: 5

Pages: 1255-1293

Print publication date: 01/05/2023

Acceptance date: 01/03/2023

Date deposited: 05/09/2023

ISSN (print): 0002-8282

ISSN (electronic): 1944-7981

Publisher: American Economic Association

URL: https://doi.org/10.1257/aer.20210970

DOI: 10.1257/aer.20210970

ePrints DOI: 10.57711/v9bb-5k22

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