Law and Norms: Empirical Evidence

Lane, Tom; Nosenzo, Daniele

doi:10.2139/ssrn.3581720

Cited by 9 publications

(11 citation statements)

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“…This suggests that the relaxation of social distancing measures may have reinstated previous habits and behaviors, perhaps too quickly, which could contribute to a resurgence of COVID-19 cases unless other measures are introduced (e.g., the obligation of wearing masks in public spaces). Our results are in line with theoretical studies that argued in favor of an expressive function of the law (15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21) and corroborates the few other empirical studies that assess the impact of laws on the perception of social norms (8,(22)(23)(24)(25)(26)(27).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Perceived Social Norm and Behavior Quickly Adjusted to Legal Changes During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Casoria¹,

Galeotti

Villeval

2020

SSRN Journal

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In response to the pandemic of COVID-19 and in lack of pharmaceutical solutions, many countries have introduced social and physical distancing regulations to contain the transmission of the virus. These measures are effective insofar as they are able to quickly change people's habits. This is achieved by changing the monetary incentives of rule violators but also by shifting people's perception regarding the appropriateness of socialization. We studied the effect of introducing, and then lifting, distancing regulations on the perceived norm regarding social encounters. We conducted an online incentivized experiment in France where we elicited the same participants' perceived norm and social distancing behavior every week for three months. We found that people shifted behavior and norm perception as soon as the government introduced or removed distancing measures. This effect was fast acting and long lasting. This is informative for future interventions, especially in light of a possible COVID-19 recurrence.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Perceived Social Norm and Behavior Quickly Adjusted to Legal Changes During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Casoria¹,

Galeotti

Villeval

2020

SSRN Journal

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“…[14] show that the legal recognition of same sex unions is associated with a significant improvement in personal norms towards sexual minorities. Using a vignettes experiment, [15] show that laws exert an effect on whether people perceive certain behaviors as socially appropriate. However, very few papers examine how laws affect the perception of social norms, with the exception of [16,17], that compare perceived social norms before and after the intervention in a single country-with no control of possible confounding effects of time varying factors.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How laws affect the perception of norms: Empirical evidence from the lockdown

et al. 2021

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Laws not only affect behavior due to changes in material payoffs, but they may also change the perception individuals have of social norms, either by shifting them directly or by providing information on these norms. Using detailed daily survey data and exploiting the introduction of lockdown measures in the UK in the context of the COVID-19 health crisis, we provide causal evidence that the law drastically changed the perception of the norms regarding social distancing behaviors. We show that this effect of laws on perceived norms is mostly driven by an informational channel and that the intervention made perceptions of social norms converge to the actual prevalent norm.

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“…Some recent papers have studied the effects of legal interventions on preferences and perceived norms in the laboratory -e.g., McAdams and Nadler (2008) in a coordination game setting and Vertova (2008, 2014); Tyran and Feld (2006); Galbiati et al (2018) in the context of social dilemmas. Using a vignettes experiment, Lane and Nosenzo (2020) study the effect of laws on how people perceive certain behaviors as socially appropriate or not. Their findings show that laws exert an effect on the perception of the social appropriateness of certain behaviors.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How Laws Affect the Perception of Norms: Empirical Evidence from the Lockdown

et al. 2020

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This Discussion Paper is issued under the auspices of the Centre's research programmes: Public Economics Any opinions expressed here are those of the author(s) and not those of the Centre for Economic Policy Research. Research disseminated by CEPR may include views on policy, but the Centre itself takes no institutional policy positions. The Centre for Economic Policy Research was established in 1983 as an educational charity, to promote independent analysis and public discussion of open economies and the relations among them. It is pluralist and non-partisan, bringing economic research to bear on the analysis of medium-and long-run policy questions. These Discussion Papers often represent preliminary or incomplete work, circulated to encourage discussion and comment. Citation and use of such a paper should take account of its provisional character.

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Law and Norms: Empirical Evidence

Cited by 9 publications

References 0 publications

Perceived Social Norm and Behavior Quickly Adjusted to Legal Changes During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Perceived Social Norm and Behavior Quickly Adjusted to Legal Changes During the COVID-19 Pandemic

How laws affect the perception of norms: Empirical evidence from the lockdown

How Laws Affect the Perception of Norms: Empirical Evidence from the Lockdown

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