Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/228360 
Year of Publication: 
2019
Series/Report no.: 
CeDEx Discussion Paper Series No. 2019-12
Publisher: 
The University of Nottingham, Centre for Decision Research and Experimental Economics (CeDEx), Nottingham
Abstract: 
We measure the social norms of sharing income with kin and neighbors in villages in Kenya. We find a plurality of norms: from a strict norm prohibiting wealth accumulation to a norm facilitating saving. Several individual and social network characteristics predict the norms upheld; the pro-saving norm becomes majoritarian when an individual can conceal their income from kin and neighbors. Whether income secrecy facilitates savings depends on the type of norm individuals uphold: stricter norm supporters are helped by secrecy, pro-saving norm supporters are harmed. This highlights the importance of measuring social norms when devising pro-saving policy interventions.
Subjects: 
Sharing norms
forced solidarity
social pressure
savings
social norms
Krupka-Weber method
lab-in-the-field experiment
JEL: 
C91
C93
D91
O12
O17
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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