Personal norms — and not only social norms — shape economic behavior

A-Tier
Journal: Journal of Public Economics
Year: 2024
Volume: 239
Issue: C

Authors (2)

Bašić, Zvonimir (not in RePEc) Verrina, Eugenio (Université de Lyon)

Score contribution per author:

2.011 = (α=2.01 / 2 authors) × 2.0x A-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

We propose a simple utility framework and design a novel two-part experiment to study the relevance of personal norms across various economic games and settings. We show that personal norms — together with social norms and monetary payoff — are highly predictive of individuals’ behavior. Moreover, they are: (i) distinct from social norms across a series of economic contexts; (ii) robust to an exogenous increase in the salience of social norms; and (iii) complementary to social norms in predicting behavior. Our findings support personal norms as a key driver of economic behavior.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:eee:pubeco:v:239:y:2024:i:c:s0047272724001919
Journal Field
Public
Author Count
2
Added to Database
2026-01-29