There is increasing empirical and experimental evidence thatproviding financial incentives to agents to performcertain socially desirable actions may permanently reduce other typesof motivations to undertake these actions.We study the impact of financial incentives on the desire for...

This paper discusses some of the attempts economists have made in the last ten years or so to integrate norms into the theory of the firm. The paper argues that (a) although norms are undoubtedly very important both inside and between firms, incorporating them into the theory has been very...

Social norms can influence behavior by establishing reward and punishment schemes that operate through community enforcement and in this way support outcomes that cannot be supported by personal enforcement alone. This paper analyzes the outcomes that can be supported through social norms in a...

The legal literature on social norms is at a crossroads. While we seem to have a grasp of the nature and potency of social norms, we still lack understanding of their structure and the factors that cause them to emerge or wither away. In this essay, I posit that a promising way to proceed from...

The law influences the behavior of its citizens in various ways. Well understood are the direct effects of legal rules. By imposing sanctions or granting subsidies, the law either expands or contracts the horizon of opportunities within which individuals can satisfy their preferences. In this...

This paper describes the results of a natural field experiment that investigated voluntary contributions to a public good. The experiment took place at an art gallery where admission was free, but donations could be deposited into a transparent box in the foyer. We manipulated the social...