Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/167483 
Year of Publication: 
2017
Series/Report no.: 
CESifo Working Paper No. 6497
Publisher: 
Center for Economic Studies and ifo Institute (CESifo), Munich
Abstract: 
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.
Subjects: 
social norms
norm compliance
peer effects
fair sharing
dictator game
framing
experiments
JEL: 
A13
C92
D03
Document Type: 
Working Paper
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