Norms Make Preferences Social

A-Tier
Journal: Journal of the European Economic Association
Year: 2016
Volume: 14
Issue: 3
Pages: 608-638

Authors (2)

Erik O. Kimbrough (Chapman University) Alexander Vostroknutov (not in RePEc)

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 explore the idea that prosocial behavior in experimental games is driven by social norms imported into the laboratory. Under this view, differences in behavior across subjects is driven by heterogeneity in sensitivity to social norms. We introduce an incentivized method of eliciting individual norm-sensitivity, and we show how it relates to play in public goods, trust, dictator, and ultimatum games. We show how our observations can be rationalized in a stylized model of norm-dependent preferences under reasonable assumptions about the nature of social norms. Then we directly elicit norms in these games to test the robustness of our interpretation.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:oup:jeurec:v:14:y:2016:i:3:p:608-638.
Journal Field
General
Author Count
2
Added to Database
2026-01-25