Survey Evidence on Conditional Norm Enforcement

Traxler, Christian and Winter, Joachim (21. January 2009): Survey Evidence on Conditional Norm Enforcement. Discussion Papers in Economics 2009-1

Abstract

We discuss survey evidence on individuals' willingness to sanction norm violations - such as evading taxes, drunk driving, fare dodging, or skiving o work - by expressing disapproval or social exclusion. Our data suggest that people condition their sanctioning behavior on their belief about the frequency of norm violations. The more commonly a norm violation is believed to occur, the lower the individuals' inclination to punish it. Based on an instrumental variable approach, we demonstrate that this pattern reflects a causal relationship.

• Item Type: Paper (Discussion Paper)
• Keywords: Norm Enforcement, Sanctioning, Social Norms, Survey Evidence
• Subjects: Economics; Economics > Discussion Papers in Economics
• Dewey Classification: 300 Social sciences; 300 Social sciences > 330 Economics
• Journal of Economic Literature classification: K42, Z13, D1
• Language: English