The importance of peers for compliance with norms of fair sharing
A burgeoning literature in economics has started examining the role of social norms in explaining economic behavior. Surprisingly, the vast majority of this literature has studied social norms in asocial decision settings, where individuals are observed to act in isolation from each other. In this p...
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| Format: | Article |
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Elsevier
2017
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| Online Access: | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/43617/ |
| _version_ | 1848796729662504960 |
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| author | Gaechter, Simon Gerhards, Leonie Nosenzo, Daniele |
| author_facet | Gaechter, Simon Gerhards, Leonie Nosenzo, Daniele |
| author_sort | Gaechter, Simon |
| building | Nottingham Research Data Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | A burgeoning literature in economics has started examining the role of social norms in explaining economic behavior. Surprisingly, the vast majority of this literature has studied social norms in asocial decision settings, where individuals are observed to act in isolation from each other. In this paper we use a large-scale dictator game experiment (N = 850) to show that “peers” can have a profound influence on individuals’ perceptions of norms of fair sharing, which we elicit in an incentive compatible way. However, in contrast to these strong peer effects in social norms of fair sharing, we find limited evidence of the influence of norms and peers on actual sharing behavior. We discuss how these results can be explained by heterogeneity in normative views as well as in willingness to comply with norms. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T19:52:37Z |
| format | Article |
| id | nottingham-43617 |
| institution | University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T19:52:37Z |
| publishDate | 2017 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | nottingham-436172020-05-04T19:56:07Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/43617/ The importance of peers for compliance with norms of fair sharing Gaechter, Simon Gerhards, Leonie Nosenzo, Daniele A burgeoning literature in economics has started examining the role of social norms in explaining economic behavior. Surprisingly, the vast majority of this literature has studied social norms in asocial decision settings, where individuals are observed to act in isolation from each other. In this paper we use a large-scale dictator game experiment (N = 850) to show that “peers” can have a profound influence on individuals’ perceptions of norms of fair sharing, which we elicit in an incentive compatible way. However, in contrast to these strong peer effects in social norms of fair sharing, we find limited evidence of the influence of norms and peers on actual sharing behavior. We discuss how these results can be explained by heterogeneity in normative views as well as in willingness to comply with norms. Elsevier 2017-08 Article PeerReviewed Gaechter, Simon, Gerhards, Leonie and Nosenzo, Daniele (2017) The importance of peers for compliance with norms of fair sharing. European Economic Review, 97 . pp. 72-86. ISSN 0014-2921 Social norms; Norm compliance; Peer effects; Fair sharing; Dictator game; Framing; Experiments http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0014292117301010 doi:10.1016/j.euroecorev.2017.06.001 doi:10.1016/j.euroecorev.2017.06.001 |
| spellingShingle | Social norms; Norm compliance; Peer effects; Fair sharing; Dictator game; Framing; Experiments Gaechter, Simon Gerhards, Leonie Nosenzo, Daniele The importance of peers for compliance with norms of fair sharing |
| title | The importance of peers for compliance with norms of fair sharing |
| title_full | The importance of peers for compliance with norms of fair sharing |
| title_fullStr | The importance of peers for compliance with norms of fair sharing |
| title_full_unstemmed | The importance of peers for compliance with norms of fair sharing |
| title_short | The importance of peers for compliance with norms of fair sharing |
| title_sort | importance of peers for compliance with norms of fair sharing |
| topic | Social norms; Norm compliance; Peer effects; Fair sharing; Dictator game; Framing; Experiments |
| url | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/43617/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/43617/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/43617/ |