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on Social Norms and Social Capital |
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Issue of 2025–05–12
fourteen papers chosen by Fabio Sabatini, Università degli Studi di Roma “La Sapienza” |
| By: | Hager, Anselm (Humboldt University Berlin); Kazakbaeva, Elnura (Evidence Central Asia); Hensel, Lukas (Peking University); Esenaliev, Damir (ISDC - International Security and Development Center) |
| Abstract: | Social norms are crucial drivers of human behavior. However, misperceptions of others’ opinions may sustain norms and conforming behavior even if a majority opposes the norm. Privately shifting individuals’ beliefs about true societal support may be insufficient to change behavior if others are perceived to continue to hold incorrect beliefs (“lack of mutual knowledge”). We conduct a field experiment with 5, 201 women in Kyrgyzstan to test whether creating mutual knowledge about social norms affects how perceived social norms influence behavior. We show that providing information about societal support for female political activism alone does not affect women’s political engagement. However, when perceived mutual knowledge is created, the effect of information about social norms increases significantly. Using vignette experiments, we show that the effect of mutual knowledge on social punishment is a plausible mechanism behind the behavioral impact. These findings suggest that higher-order beliefs about social norms are an important force linking social norms and behavior. |
| Keywords: | social norms, higher-order beliefs, field experiment, political activism |
| JEL: | D70 D83 |
| Date: | 2025–03 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp17748 |
| By: | Gualtieri, Giovanni (National Research Council, Italy); Nicolini, Marcella (University of Pavia); Sabatini, Fabio (Sapienza University of Rome); Ventura, Marco (Sapienza University of Rome) |
| Abstract: | We study the electoral repercussions of the L'Aquila earthquake in 2009, one of Italy's most catastrophic post-WWII seismic events. We construct a unique municipality-level dataset, combining high-resolution data on the ground acceleration recorded during the earthquake with European election results and social capital metrics. Our findings indicate that the intensity of the shock positively influenced support for the incumbent national government but provided no electoral advantage to local incumbents. Analyzing potential transmission mechanisms, we find that relief measures did not automatically translate into political rewards. Instead, social capital played a pivotal role in shaping post--disaster electoral outcomes. The national government's electoral gains were concentrated in municipalities with a low density of civic organizations, where citizens relied predominantly on political institutions for assistance. Individual level evidence from survey data further supports our findings. Nonetheless, the impact of the earthquake was not enduring. In the subsequent elections, the incumbent government experienced a decline in support in the very municipalities where it had initially gained favor following the disaster. |
| Keywords: | elections, relief spending, redistribution, social capital, natural disasters, Italy, Silvio Berlusconi |
| JEL: | D72 H10 H12 Q54 Z1 |
| Date: | 2025–03 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp17758 |
| By: | Becker, Sascha O. (University of Warwick); Panin, Amma (Catholic University Louvain); Pfaff, Steven (Chapman University); Rubin, Jared (Chapman University) |
| Abstract: | This chapter examines the role of religion in economic development, both historically and today. Religion's influence varies globally, with high religiosity in countries like Pakistan and low rates in China. Despite declines in some Western countries, religion remains influential worldwide, with projected growth in Muslim populations due to higher fertility rates. Religion continues to shape societal norms and institutions, such as education and politics, even after its direct influence fades. The chapter explores how religious institutions and norms have impacted economic outcomes, focusing on both persistence and decline. It also examines cultural transmission, institutional entrenchment, networks, and religious competition as mechanisms sustaining religion's influence. We explore the relationship between religion and secularization, showing that economic development does not always reduce religiosity. Lastly, the chapter highlights gaps in the literature and suggests future research areas on the evolving role of religion in economic development. |
| Keywords: | networks, economic development, religiosity, cultural transmission, secularization, historical persistence, religion, religious competition, social norms |
| JEL: | D85 I25 J10 N30 O33 O43 P48 Z10 Z12 |
| Date: | 2025–03 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp17747 |
| By: | DeMets, Sydney; Spiro, Emma (University of Washington) |
| Abstract: | Social networks structure the flow of political information that is critical for civic participation and individual decision making, simultaneously opening and constraining the diffusion of ideas and information. Understanding the current information landscape is pressing given the current salience of false and misleading information. Given the growing prominence of podcasts within the information ecosystem, and the high levels of trust that podcasters enjoy from listeners, it is critical to better understand the role this medium plays in political communication. In this paper, we construct a bipartite network of podcasts and their invited guests. We then generate a network of paths that guests take as they move from one podcast to the next using entailment analysis, and evaluate if guests are typically invited to speak on less prominent shows first, before moving on to more prominent shows. This dynamic has several parallels to Centola’s power of the periphery hypothesis, complimented by the idea that guests may visit progressively more prominent podcasts as they themselves become more visible. We also find that shows aiming to feature a politically diverse set of guests on their own shows play an outsize role in brokering the movement of guests between liberal and conservative shows, although this cross-boundary brokerage has equivocal outcomes. |
| Date: | 2025–03–13 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:osfxxx:t7y2c_v1 |
| By: | Levi, Eugenio (Link Campus University); Bayerlein, Michael (German Institute for International and Security Affairs); Grimalda, Gianluca (University of Passau); Reggiani, Tommaso G. (Cardiff University) |
| Abstract: | We study how preferences for migration-related narratives differ between private and public contexts and how social media fuel opinion polarization. Using a German representative sample (n=1, 226), we found that individuals, especially from the left and center, avoided publicly endorsing anti-migration narratives. In an experiment on Twitter (n=19, 989) we created four Twitter profiles, each endorsing one of the narratives. Far-right users exhibited markedly different engagement patterns. While initial public endorsements, measured by follow-back rates, aligned with private preferences, social media interactions amplified support for the most hostile and polarizing narrative. We conclude that social media significantly distort private preferences and amplify polarization. |
| Keywords: | immigration, narratives, political polarization, economic reciprocity, survey experiment, field experiment, group identity, social media, Twitter |
| JEL: | D72 D91 C93 |
| Date: | 2025–03 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp17749 |
| By: | Baldazzi, Elisa (University of Bologna); Biroli, Pietro (University of Bologna); Della Giusta, Marina (University of Turin); Dubois, Florent (University of Torino) |
| Abstract: | Reliance on stereotypes is a persistent feature of human decision-making and has been extensively documented in educational setting, where it can shape students' confidence, performance, and long-term human capital accumulation. While effective techniques exist to mitigate these negative effects, a crucial first step is to establish whether teachers can recognize stereotypes in their environment. We introduce the Stereotype Identification Test (SIT), a novel survey tool that asks teachers to evaluate and comment on the presence of stereotypes in images randomly drawn from school textbooks. Their responses are systematically linked to established measures of implicit bias (Implicit Association Test, IAT) and explicit bias (survey scales on teaching stereotypes and social values). Our findings demonstrate that the SIT is a valid and reliable measure of stereotype recognition. Teachers' ability to recognize stereotypes is linked to trainable traits such as implicit bias awareness and inclusive teaching practices. Moreover, providing personalized feedback on implicit bias improves SIT scores by 0.25 standard deviations, reinforcing the idea that stereotype recognition is malleable and can be enhanced through targeted interventions. |
| Keywords: | inequality, stereotypes, discrimination, education |
| JEL: | I24 J16 J24 |
| Date: | 2025–03 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp17751 |
| By: | Pasquale Accardo (University of Bath); Giuseppe De Feo (University of Liverpool); Giacomo De Luca (Università Vita-Salute San Raffaele; Free University of Bozen-Bolzano) |
| Abstract: | So far, the application of network analysis to crime has been limited to the relationships within criminal networks. We build a novel network dataset by encoding information coming from the archive of the Italian Anti-mafia Commission, describing relationships of collusion and exchange of favours between mafia members and the political, economic and social elites in Sicily, the homeland of the Sicilian mafia. We apply network analysis techniques to study the "topological" role of mafia bosses and show that they strategically position themselves in the social network as an interface between the criminal and the legitimate world. |
| Date: | 2024–04–04 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eid:wpaper:58184 |
| By: | Koch, Alexander K. (Aarhus University); Nafziger, Julia (Aarhus University) |
| Abstract: | Using an online experiment with 5, 762 US participants, we investigate whether individuals who seek competition face inaccurate perceptions of their behaviors and personality and whether women are held to different standards than men. We find that evaluators perceive competitive women as less social, more career-oriented, and less (stereotypically) feminine and more (stereotypically) masculine than they actually are or state to be. However, competitive men face similarly inaccurate beliefs and hence belief accuracy does not differ for men and women. Nevertheless, our findings point to social penalties that competitive women may experience -- not for seeking competition itself (which is socially accepted), but because the behaviors associated with seeking competition violate gender-specific norms. Meanwhile, men encounter a double-edged sword: while seeking competition earns them esteem, both, behaviors associated with seeking and avoiding competition can lead to social penalties. |
| Keywords: | stereotypes, beliefs, competitiveness, gender, norms |
| JEL: | J16 D90 C90 D83 |
| Date: | 2025–04 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp17840 |
| By: | Leonardo Bursztyn (University of Chicago & NBER); Matthew Gentzkow (Stanford University & NBER); Rafael Jiménez-Durán (Bocconi University, IGIER, CESifo, & Chicago Booth Stigler Center); Aaron Leonard; Filip Milojević (University of Chicago); Christopher Roth (University of Cologne, NHH Norwegian School of Economics, Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods, CESifo, & CEPR) |
| Abstract: | Market definition is essential for antitrust analysis, but challenging in settings with network effects, where substitution patterns depend on changes in network size. To address this challenge, we conduct an incentivized experiment to measure substitution patterns for TikTok, a popular social media platform. Our experiment, conducted during a time of high uncertainty about a potential U.S. TikTok ban, compares changes in the valuation of other social apps under individual and collective TikTok deactivations. Consistent with a simple framework, the valuations of alternative social apps increase more in response to a collective TikTok ban than to an individual TikTok deactivation. Our framework and estimates highlight that individual and collective treatments can even lead to qualitatively different conclusions about which alternative goods are substitutes. |
| Keywords: | Markets, Network Goods, Coordination, Collective Interventions |
| JEL: | D83 D91 P16 J15 |
| Date: | 2025–05 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ajk:ajkdps:363 |
| By: | Alastair Langtry |
| Abstract: | This paper presents a model of network formation and public goods provision in local communities. Here, networks can sustain public good provision by spreading information about people's behaviour. I find a critical threshold in network connectedness at which public good provision drops sharply, even though agents are highly heterogeneous. Technology change can tear a community's social fabric by pushing high-skilled workers to withdraw from their local community. This can help explain rising resentment toward perceived ``elites'' -- their withdrawal actively harms those left behind. Moreover, well-meaning policies that upskill workers can make them worse off by reducing network connectedness. |
| Date: | 2025–04 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2504.06872 |
| By: | André Diegmann; Laura Pohlan; Andrea Weber |
| Abstract: | We study how connections to German federal parliamentarians affect firm dynamics by constructing a novel dataset linking politicians and election candidates to the universe of firms. To identify the causal effect of access to political power, we exploit (i) new appointments to the company leadership team and (ii) discontinuities around the marginal seat of party election lists. Our results reveal that connections lead to reductions in firm exits, gradual increases in employment growth without improvements in productivity. Adding information on credit ratings, subsidies and procurement contracts allows us to distinguish between mechanisms driving the effects over the politician’s career. |
| Keywords: | politicians, firm performance, identification, political connections |
| JEL: | O43 L25 D72 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_11691 |
| By: | Sardoschau, Sulin (Humboldt University Berlin); Casanueva-Artís, Annalí (Ifo Institute for Economic Research) |
| Abstract: | Freedom of speech is central to democracy, but protests that amplify extremist views expose a critical trade-off between civil liberties and public safety. This paper investigates how right-wing demonstrations affect the incidence of hate crimes, focusing on Germany's largest far-right movement since World War II. Leveraging a difference-in-differences framework with instrumental variable and event-study approaches, we find that a 20 percent increase in local protest attendance nearly doubles hate crime occurrences. We explore three potential mechanisms—signaling, agitation, and coordination—by examining protest dynamics, spatial diffusion, media influence, counter-mobilization, and crime characteristics. Our analysis reveals that large protests primarily act as signals of broad xenophobic support, legitimizing extremist violence. This signaling effect propagates through right-wing social media networks and is intensified by local newspaper coverage and Twitter discussions. Consequently, large protests shift local equilibria, resulting in sustained higher levels of violence primarily perpetrated by repeat offenders. Notably, these protests trigger resistance predominantly online, rather than physical counter-protests. |
| Keywords: | refugees, hate crime, signal, protest, right-wing |
| JEL: | D74 J15 D83 Z10 D72 |
| Date: | 2025–03 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp17763 |
| By: | Fritz, Manuela; Luck, Nathalie; Sawhney, Udit |
| Abstract: | Social norms and perceptions within farming networks can influence the adoption of new agricultural practices. In Indonesian rice farming communities, norms around the desired level of rice plant greenness are widespread, with some farmers valuing deep green plants. Since greenness levels depend on the content of chlorophyll in the plants, which in turn depends on nitrogen fertilizer inputs, these norms can lead to high usage of chemical fertilizer. This study uses a mixed-method approach to examine whether social norms, personal beliefs, and perceptions about peers’ opinions influence rice farmers’ fertilizer input decisions. We combine quantitative regression analyses with qualitative content analysis to explore these dynamics. Our findings show that farmers who are unaware of a saturation point for fertilizer application tend to use more chemical nitrogen and less organic fertilizer. These farmers are also less willing to experiment with new farming practices that might reduce plant greenness but improve soil health. However, second-order perceptions – beliefs about whether lower greenness levels lead to talking within the farming community – do not significantly affect fertilizer use or farmers’ willingness to try new methods. A survey experiment further confirms that increasing the salience of potential talking has little effect on farmers’ willingness to experiment with new practices. Dyadic regressions reveal that actual fertilizer adoption behaviors of neighboring farmers are more predictive of fertilizer input decisions than neighbors’ greenness norms. This suggests that while social norms around plant appearance exist, farmers’ decisions are more strongly influenced by their own knowledge and the observable actions of their peers. |
| Date: | 2025–03–18 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:osfxxx:qxndc_v1 |
| By: | Carola Binder; Cody Couture; Abhiprerna Smit |
| Abstract: | This paper examines partisanship in public perceptions of the Federal Reserve. In all years from 2001 through 2023, trust in the Federal Reserve was highest for respondents of the same party as the President. The partisan effects were larger than other demographic differences in trust, but do not explain the large partisan gap in inflation expectations in those years. We conducted a new survey-based information experiment before and after the Presidential inauguration in 2025, and found a changed pattern: Republicans continued to have lower trust in the Fed than did Democrats, even after a Republican President was elected and took office. Yet, Republicans had much lower inflation expectations than Democrats. Responses to open-ended survey questions point to tariffs and President Trump himself as most salient to consumers when considering how inflation will evolve. |
| JEL: | E02 E03 E30 E5 E51 E58 |
| Date: | 2025–04 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:33684 |