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on Social Norms and Social Capital |
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Issue of 2025–02–03
four papers chosen by Fabio Sabatini, Università degli Studi di Roma “La Sapienza” |
| By: | Guo, F.; Choi, S.; Goyal, S.; Moisan, F. |
| Abstract: | Social networks shape individual behavior, and public policy increasingly leverages networks to enhance effectiveness. It is therefore important to understand how individuals behave in network interactions. This paper uses lab experiments to examine behavior in games on networks involving strategic substitutes and strategic complements. Theory suggests that an individual's choice is proportional to their (Bonacich) centrality. Our experiments, however, find that while choices increase with centrality, the relationship is weaker than predicted. The total action levels individuals choose and the total payoff they achieve are higher than the Nash outcomes in some cases while lower in others. We find that these results can be coherently explained by individuals' behavioral attenuation: they have incomplete adjustments to the strategic differences across network positions, exhibiting a bias toward generally high-payoff choices in complex networks—even when these choices are not optimal for their specific network positions. |
| Keywords: | Centrality, Behavioural Biases, Networks |
| JEL: | C92 D83 D85 Z13 |
| Date: | 2024–12–31 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cam:camdae:2478 |
| By: | Michael Cuna; Musharraf Cyan; M. Taha Kasim; John List; Michael Price |
| Abstract: | From newborns to the elderly, exposure to violence and conflict has been found to have deleterious effects. In this study, we explore a unique type of violence: exposure to the Taliban. Pairing a field experiment with a field survey among citizens in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), Pakistan, we examine how exposure to violence affects general trust, subjective well-being, and confidence in institutions. In our field experiment, we observe that exposure to conflict significantly alters the relative valuation of monetary rewards for oneself compared to those for a comparable peer. Specifically, individuals subjected to violence demonstrate a marked tendency to prioritize their own financial gain over that of a similar other. In the survey, we find that exposure to violence is associated with reduced general trust, trust in informal institutions, and subjective well-being. Interestingly, being exposed to violence increases trust in formal institutions. Our combined results highlight that the interplay between violence and trust dynamics is complex and highly consequential. In turn, the policy implications highlight the need for a multifaceted strategy to support individuals and communities affected by violence, ensuring both immediate relief and long-term resilience. |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:feb:artefa:00805 |
| By: | Thiemo Fetzer; Prashant Garg |
| Abstract: | Climate change is increasing the frequency and severity of natural disasters worldwide. Media coverage of these events may be vital to generate empathy and mobilize global populations to address the common threat posed by climate change. Using a dataset of 466 news sources from 123 countries, covering 135 million news articles since 2016, we apply an event study framework to measure cross-border media activity following natural disasters. Our results shows that while media attention rises after disasters, it is heavily skewed towards certain events, notably earthquakes, accidents, and wildfires. In contrast, climatologically salient events such as floods, droughts, or extreme temperatures receive less coverage. This cross-border disaster reporting is strongly related to the number of deaths associated with the event, especially when the affected populations share strong social ties or genetic similarities with those in the reporting country. Achieving more balanced media coverage across different types of natural disasters may be essential to counteract skewed perceptions. Further, fostering closer social connections between countries may enhance empathy and mobilize the resources necessary to confront the global threat of climate change. |
| Date: | 2025–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2501.07615 |
| By: | Burnitt, Christopher (University of Warwick); Gars, Jared (University of Florida and JILAEE); Stalinski, Mateusz (University of Warwick & CAGE) |
| Abstract: | Addressing rising political polarization has become a focal point for policy makers. Yet, there is little evidence of its economic impacts, especially in contexts where partisanship cannot be easily hidden. To fill this gap, we study a novel channel: the perception of out-group partisan oversight of independent civil service reduces trust in regulation, affecting key markets (e.g., food and medicine). First, we motivate it by demonstrating the salience of the association between the president and expert regulators in US media reporting. Second, in a pre-registered experiment with 5, 566 individuals, we test the channel by exploiting an alignment in the way that the EPA under Trump and Biden defended the safety of spraying citrus crops with antibiotics. This enabled us to randomize the partisanship of the administration, holding the scientific arguments constant. Despite the EPA’s independence, out-group administration reduces support for the spraying by 26%, lowers trust in the EPA’s evaluation, and increases donations to an NGO opposing the spraying by 15%. We find no overall effect on the willingness to pay for citrus products, measured in an obfuscated follow-up survey. However, we document significant differences in effects for elastic vs. inelastic consumers. Taken together, polarization has the potential to affect economic decisions. However, a reduction in trust might not translate into lower demand, especially for inelastic consumers. JEL Codes: D12 ; D83 ; P16 ; Q11 ; Q13 ; Q18 ; Z18 |
| Keywords: | political polarization ; civil service ; trust in regulation ; trust in science ; food policy ; partisan identity ; consumer demand |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wrk:warwec:1542 |