Informal sanctions and bad social norms

This project aims to improve understanding of informal sanctions to enforce compliance with social norms. In contrast to most of the behavioural economics literature this project examines norms leading to outcomes that are inefficient, unjust, or cruel, like honour-killings or parochial violence. This proposal develops experimental paradigms that allow the study of "bad" norms in the laboratory. The experiments investigate: a setting in which cooperation is inefficient; the use of sanctions to create group segregation; and the emergence of honour norms and their implications. The project aspires to built a platform that can, ultimately, lead to effective policies against harmful social norms.