Journal article
A Group Identity Theory of Social Norms and Its Implications
Tulane Law Review, Vol.78, pp.605-2329
01 Feb 2004
Abstract
Do I contradict myself? Very well then I contradict myself, (I am large, I contain multitudes.) 1 I. Introduction One of the core concerns of law and economics is how to ensure the optimal provision of public goods to people who are assumed to behave selfishly. 2 Rational choice theory, the traditional behavioral model of law and economics, assumes that people choose rationally between opportunities to maximize their own utility in accordance with their own preferences. 3 Such self-interested people will, in turn, tend to free ride on the production of public goods by others. 4 As a result, public goods such as education, a clean environment, and protection from criminals are undersupplied and social welfare suffers. 5 Law, of course, is traditionally viewed as providing the solution to this collective-action problem. 6 By creating direct incentives, such as tax abatements for nonpolluters, or disincentives, such as incarceration for criminals, law creates the external incentives necessary to bring individual interests into alignment with social needs. 7 Indeed, "from criminal law to environmental law, from tax fraud to business fraud, from regulation of the professions to regulation of the Internet, this is the story that animates American policymaking." 8 Increasingly, however, the notion that law is needed to align individual and social interests has come into question. 9 Scholars have uncovered a vast array of socially beneficial behaviors that are not explained by the influence of law but, instead, by the influence of social norms. 10 Social norms have been defined ...
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Details
- Title
- A Group Identity Theory of Social Norms and Its Implications
- Creators
- Alex Geisinger
- Publication Details
- Tulane Law Review, Vol.78, pp.605-2329
- Publisher
- Tulane University Tulane Law Review
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Thomas R. Kline School of Law
- Identifiers
- 991020542444704721