SOCIAL NORMS AND THE ENFORCEMENT OF LAWS
SOCIAL NORMS AND THE ENFORCEMENT OF LAWS
复制标题
DOI：
10.1093/jeea/jvw006
复制
发表时间：
2017-04-01
影响因子：
3.6
通讯作者：
Jackson, Matthew O.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Acemoglu, Daron;Jackson, Matthew O.
我们研究社会规范与法律执行之间的相互作用。代理人选择一种行为（例如，逃税、生产劣质产品、腐败、骚扰行为、滥用药物等），然后随机与另一个代理人匹配。行为之间存在互补性，因此代理人的收益会随着其行为与合作伙伴的行为不匹配以及其他人的行为所造成的总体负外部性而减少。法律是行为的上限。违法者一旦被发现，将被处以罚款，并使其行为受到法律制裁。均衡违法行为取决于社会规范，因为侦查至少部分依赖于举报。守法的代理人有动力举报违法的合作伙伴，因为这可以减少与其合作伙伴行为的不匹配以及负外部性。当法律与规范相冲突并且许多代理人都违法时，每个代理人都预计很少会举报，并且更有可能违法。更严格的法律（禁止更多行为）、更高的罚款和更好的公共执法，都会产生抵消作用，减少守法个人的行为，但增加违法者的行为。我们表明，与现行社会规范强烈冲突的法律可能会适得其反，而逐步收紧法律可以更有效地影响社会规范和行为。
We examine the interplay between social norms and the enforcement of laws. Agents choose a behavior (e.g., tax evasion, production of low-quality products, corruption, harassing behavior, substance abuse, etc.) and then are randomly matched with another agent. There are complementarities in behaviors so that an agent's payoff decreases with the mismatch between her behavior and her partner's, and with overall negative externalities created by the behavior of others. A law is an upper bound (cap) on behavior. A law-breaker, when detected, pays a fine and has her behavior forced down to the level of the law. Equilibrium law-breaking depends on social norms because detection relies, at least in part, on whistle-blowing. Law-abiding agents have an incentive to whistle-blow on a law-breaking partner because this reduces the mismatch with their partners' behaviors as well as the negative externalities. When laws are in conflict with norms and many agents are breaking the law, each agent anticipates little whistle-blowing and is more likely to also break the law. Tighter laws (banning more behaviors), greater fines, and better public enforcement, all have counteracting effects, reducing behavior among law-abiding individuals but increasing it among law-breakers. We show that laws that are in strong conflict with prevailing social norms may backfire, whereas gradual tightening of laws can be more effective in influencing social norms and behavior.