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on Social Norms and Social Capital |
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Issue of 2025–12–15
fourteen papers chosen by Fabio Sabatini, Università degli Studi di Roma “La Sapienza” |
| By: | Yasmine Elkhateeb; Riccardo Turati; Jérôme Valette |
| Abstract: | Does immigration challenge the identities, values, and cultural diversity of receiving societies? This paper addresses this question by analyzing the impact of immigration on cultural diversity in Europe between 2004 and 2018. It combines regional cultural diversity indices derived from the European Social Survey with immigration shares from the European Labor Force Survey. The results indicate that immigration increases the salience of birthplace identity along cultural lines, fostering a shift toward nativist identities among the native population. These identity shifts, in turn, trigger a process of cultural homogenization among natives. This effect is stronger in regions receiving culturally distant immigrants. It reflects a process of convergence toward the values of highly skilled liberal natives and divergence from those of low-skilled conservative immigrants. |
| Keywords: | Immigration;Social Identity;Cultural Diversity |
| JEL: | F22 D03 D72 Z10 |
| Date: | 2025–11 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cii:cepidt:2025-18 |
| By: | Phoebe Koundouri; Anastasia Litina; Ioannis Patios |
| Abstract: | While the direct impacts of natural disasters are well studied, a less explored consequence is the scarcity they create and the resulting reallocation of resources. This paper examines this second-order effect by analyzing how disaster-driven scarcity reshapes fairness considerations within society. Using data from the International Disaster Database (EM-DAT) and the European Social Survey (ESS), we show that disaster exposure increases perceptions of solidarity-driven fairness, including social support, rewards for effort, and equal access to medical and police services, while reducing perceptions of scarcity-driven fairness such as wage equality for low earners, access to education, the functioning of the political system, and overall societal fairness. As climate-related disasters are a cross-border phenomenon, we also study spillovers from neighboring countries and find that such shocks can strengthen solidarity-based fairness while simultaneously heightening skepticism toward institutional and societal fairness. Finally, we explore mechanisms, i.e., trust in institutions, foreign direct investment, EU funds, trade, GDP growth, and income that condition these relationships and shape how individuals interpret fairness norms related to equality, justice, and need after a disaster. |
| Keywords: | Fairness, Natural Disasters, Justice, Equality, Climate Change |
| JEL: | Q54 D63 D64 H84 |
| Date: | 2025–12–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:aue:wpaper:2569 |
| By: | Lepinteur, Anthony (University of Luxembourg); Powdthavee, Nattavudh (Nanyang Technological University, Singapore) |
| Abstract: | People often misjudge what others need to live well. We introduce and measure well-being norms - the income people believe others require for a good life - and show that these beliefs are systematically underestimated. In a preregistered U.S. survey, 85–86% of respondents reported thresholds below what others say they themselves need. Two randomized survey experiments corrected these misperceptions. Respondents updated their beliefs considerably, yet support for redistribution and donation behavior remained unchanged. This null average effect, however, masks substantial heterogeneity. Among those who found the information credible and personally relevant, we observe redistribution support increasing by approximately 20% of a standard deviation, especially when the information referred to low-income families rather than the average American. Among those who dismissed it, we observe support decreasing by similar magnitudes - a pattern consistent with motivated reasoning and backlash. The main insight is that belief updating alone does not, on average, change policy preferences. Information influences redistribution attitudes only when perceived as morally important and legitimate. |
| Keywords: | information treatments, beliefs, inequality, keyword2, keyword1, redistribution preferences, income, subjective well-being |
| JEL: | D31 D63 H23 H24 I31 |
| Date: | 2025–12 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18296 |
| By: | Hiroaki Chiba-Okabe; Joshua B. Plotkin |
| Abstract: | We study the behavior of for-profit institutions that broadcast reputations to foster trust among market participants. We develop a theoretical model in which buyers and sellers are matched on a platform to engage in transactions involving a moral hazard: sellers can either faithfully deliver goods after receiving payment, or not. Although the buyer does not know a seller's true type, the platform maintains a reputation system that probabilistically assigns binary reputation signals. Buyers make purchase decisions based on reputation signals, which influence the payoffs to sellers who then adapt their type over time. These market dynamics ultimately shape the platform's profit from commissions on sales. Our analysis reveals that platforms inherently have an incentive for rating inflation, driven by the desire to increase commission. This introduces a second layer of moral hazard: the platform's incentive to distort reputations for its own profit. Such distortion is self-limited by the platform's need to maintain enough accuracy that trustworthy sellers remain in the market, without which rational buyers would refrain from purchases altogether. Nonetheless, the optimal strategy for the platform can be to invest in order to reduce signal accuracy. When the platform can freely set commission fees, however, maximum profit may be achieved by costly investment in an accurate reputation system. These findings highlight the intricate tensions between platform incentives and resulting social utility for marketplace participants. |
| Date: | 2025–11 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2511.21875 |
| By: | Fasani, Francesco (University of Milan); Ferro, Simone (University of Milan); Romarri, Alessio (University of Milan); Pasini, Elisabetta (Alma Economics) |
| Abstract: | This paper provides the first causal evaluation of the political impact of asylum seekers in the UK. Although dispersed across areas on a no-choice basis, political bargaining between central and local governments introduces potential endogeneity in their allocation. We address this with a novel IV strategy exploiting predetermined public-housing characteristics. For 2004–2019, we estimate a sizeable increase in the Conservative–Labour vote-share gap in local elections: a one within-area standard-deviation increase in dispersed asylum seekers widens the gap by 3.1 percentage points in favour of the Conservatives. We find similar rightward shifts in national elections, survey data on voting intentions, and the Brexit Leave vote. UKIP also gains, though less robustly. No effect appears for non-dispersed asylum seekers, who forgo subsidised housing and choose residences independently. Turning to mechanisms, voters move rightward without becoming more hostile towards foreigners. Using the universe of MPs’ speeches, we show that Conservative representatives from more exposed areas emphasise asylum and migration more, with no systematic change in tone or content. Heightened issue salience appears to drive voters’ choices. |
| Keywords: | Brexit, elections, refugees, MP’s speeches |
| JEL: | F22 D72 J15 |
| Date: | 2025–12 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18297 |
| By: | Busemeyer, Marius R.; Jäger, Felix |
| Abstract: | The welfare state continues to enjoy strong public support in Germany, as it cushions social risks and thereby reinforces the legitimacy of democracy. Yet, as recent survey data from the Konstanz Inequality Barometer reveal, public trust in the welfare state has been deeply shaken. Respondents express particularly low confidence in the longterm financial sustainability of pensions and healthcare, and they also perceive major shortcomings in distributive justice within and through the welfare system. A crisis of trust in the welfare state may, over time, erode confidence in democracy itself. The findings therefore highlight the urgent need for policy action aimed at strengthening trust in public institutions and democratic processes. |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:cexpps:333605 |
| By: | Adam Zylbersztejn (Université Lyon 2, Université Jean Monnet Saint-Etienne, Emlyon Business School, GATE, CNRS, 69007, Lyon, France; research fellow at Vistula University Warsaw (AFiBV), Warsaw, Poland); Zakaria Babutsidze (SKEMA Business School, Université Côte d’Azur (GREDEG), Nice, France); Nobuyuki Hanaki (Institute of Social and Economic Research, the University of Osaka, Japan, and University of Limassol, Cyprus); Astrid Hopfensitz (Emlyon Business School, Université Lyon 2, Université Jean Monnet Saint-Etienne, GATE, CNRS, 69007, Lyon, France) |
| Abstract: | In social interactions, humans care about knowing their partner’s face. Some experiments report that facial information facilitates trustworthiness detection, while others find it does not. We add to this literature by exploring heterogeneity in the demand for, and in the usefulness of, facial information. The incentivized experimental task consists in predicting strangers’ trustworthiness from neutral portrait pictures. Using data from a three-stage laboratory experiment (N = 357) including two independent sets of stimuli coupled with two distinct sources of predictions, we document substantial heterogeneity in facial informativeness. However, we find that trustworthiness detection from facial information is not an ability. Nonetheless, individuals assign excessive value to receiving facial information about others. |
| Keywords: | trustworthiness, inference, facial information, individual heterogeneity, hidden action game, economic experiment |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gat:wpaper:2527 |
| By: | Trang Le; George Kudrna; John Piggott |
| Abstract: | This paper studies how the social norm of intergenerational support, where parents anticipate financial assistance from their adult children in old age, influences fertility and education investment decisions in developing countries. We develop a dynamic life-cycle model with uncertain labor income and endogenous fertility and education choices, incorporating expectations of private transfers driven by this norm. Using data from the Indonesian Family Life Survey, we estimate labor income profiles and income risks, account for parental financial constraints, and document the prevalence of intergenerational transfers in the 2000s. The model is calibrated to match key empirical patterns in fertility and schooling. Counterfactual simulations reveal that a weakening of this social norm leads to declines in both fertility and educational investment, particularly among lower-educated parents. Our findings underscore the central role of intergenerational transfers in shaping demographic and human capital outcomes and provide new insights into the persistence of educational inequality in developing economies. |
| Keywords: | fertility, human capital, education investment, intergenerational transfers, life-cycle model |
| JEL: | J13 J24 J62 D15 |
| Date: | 2025–12 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:een:camaaa:2025-66 |
| By: | Dhiraj Jagadale; Kavita Vemuri |
| Abstract: | Mutual trust is a key determinant of decision-making in economic interactions, yet actual behavior often diverges from equilibrium predictions. This study investigates how emotional arousal, indexed by skin conductance responses, SCR, relates to trust behavior in a modified centipede game. To examine the impact of uncertainty, the game incorporated both fixed and random termination conditions. SCRs were recorded alongside self-reported measures of mutual and general trust and individual risk-taking propensity. Phasic SCRs were significantly higher under random termination, particularly following the opponent take actions, indicating increased emotional arousal under uncertainty. Mutual trust scores correlated positively with risk propensity but not with general trust. Behaviorally, higher mutual trust was associated with extended cooperative play, but only in the fixed-turn condition. These findings suggest that physiological arousal reflects emotional engagement in trust-related decisions and that uncertainty amplifies both arousal and strategic caution. Mutual trust appears context-dependent, shaped by emotional and physiological states that influence deviations from equilibrium behavior. |
| Date: | 2025–11 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2511.18738 |
| By: | Jan Majewski; Francesca Giardini |
| Abstract: | Gossip has been shown to be a relatively efficient solution to problems of cooperation in reputation-based systems of exchange, but many studies don't conceptualize gossiping in a realistic way, often assuming near-perfect information or broadcast-like dynamics of its spread. To solve this problem, we developed an agent-based model that pairs realistic gossip processes with different variants of Trust Game. The results show that cooperators suffer when local interactions govern spread of gossip, because they cannot discriminate against defectors. Realistic gossiping increases the overall amount of resources, but is more likely to promote defection. Moreover, even partner selection through dynamic networks can lead to high payoff inequalities among agent types. Cooperators face a choice between outcompeting defectors and overall growth. By blending direct and indirect reciprocity with reputations we show that gossiping increases the efficiency of cooperation by an order of magnitude. |
| Date: | 2025–11 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2511.20248 |
| By: | Leopoldo Fergusson (Universidad de los Andes) |
| Abstract: | This paper argues that Colombia’s taxation problems reflect a deeper political economy equilibrium shaped by extractive institutions, extreme inequality, and cultural norms that favor individual solutions over collective ones. Historical legacies produced a weak and often distrusted state, which in turn fostered social norms that legitimize rule bending, low tax morale, and clientelistic exchanges. These institutional and cultural arrangements proved mutually reinforcing for decades. Since the 1990s, however, political openness expanded inclusion and triggered greater demand for public goods. The result has been a more responsive state, yet one constrained by persistent political inequality, clientelism, low trust, and reluctance to fund public spending through broad taxation. The mismatch between rising expectations and limited fiscal capacity has now produced a fragile and increasingly untenable fiscal position. Colombia faces a critical choice: renew its fiscal pact on new, more consensual terms or risk recurring crises and democratic erosion as an expensive but ineffective state structure constrains long-run development. |
| Keywords: | Taxation; State capacity; Inequality; Political economy; Clientelism; Social norms; Colombia; Fiscal policy; Institutional change; Public goods |
| JEL: | H11 H20 O17 P48 N16 |
| Date: | 2025–11 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:col:000089:021810 |
| By: | Maryam Fazal; Kyohei Yamada (IUJ Research Institute, International University of Japan) |
| Abstract: | This study examines the impact of non-price interventions on the energy conservation behavior of residential consumers in Pakistan. Building upon research on descriptive social norms, we hypothesized that individuals would reduce their electricity use when informed that many others were doing so. To test this hypothesis, we conducted a randomized experiment with 128 participants in Islamabad City. In the first phase, participants completed an online survey and were randomly assigned to receive one of two messages in the survey: one indicating that many residents were increasing electricity use, and the other suggesting that many were conserving. Participants were then asked to report their intention to save electricity. In the second phase, we collected actual electricity usage and billing data. Contrary to our expectation, the group informed that others were increasing their electricity reduced their own consumption by 14%, and paid 18% less in bills, compared to the other group. While inconsistent with previous experimental studies of descriptive social norms, our findings suggest that non-price interventions can promote energy conservation. |
| Keywords: | Electricity; Descriptive social norms; Randomized experiment; Pakistan |
| Date: | 2025–12 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iuj:wpaper:ems_2025_06 |
| By: | Yan Hu; Stephan Maurer |
| Abstract: | Do minorities benefit from social networks? In this paper, we study this question using the historical example of China's first modern bureaucratic organization, the Chinese Maritime Customs Service. Drawing on newly digitized personnel records from 1876-1911, we first show that the Chinese clerks employed by the service were predominantly Cantonese. Using the plausibly exogenous transfers of clerks across stations, we then estimate that a non-Cantonese (minority) clerk benefited significantly from meeting at least one colleague from his same province and dialect. Such connections led to faster promotion and a 5.6% salary increase, with even stronger effects when meeting a clerk who was either senior or of high quality. |
| Keywords: | Chinese maritime customs service, social connections, wages, promotion, minorities |
| Date: | 2025–12–03 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:cepdps:dp2138 |
| By: | Jeff Murugan |
| Abstract: | Information transmitted across modern communication platforms is degraded not only by intentional manipulation (disinformation) but also by intrinsic cognitive decay and topology-dependent social averaging (misinformation). We develop a continuous-fidelity field theory on multiplex networks with distinct layers representing private chats, group interactions, and broadcast channels. Our analytic solutions reveal three universal mechanisms controlling information quality: (i) groupthink blending, where dense group coupling drives fidelity to the initial group mean; (ii) bridge-node bottlenecks, where cross-community flow produces irreversible dilution; and (iii) a network-wide fidelity landscape set by a competition between broadcast truth-injection and structural degradation pathways. These results demonstrate that connectivity can reduce information integrity and establish quantitative control strategies to enhance fidelity in large-scale communication systems. |
| Date: | 2025–11 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2511.18733 |