糖心原创

Note: This Seminar takes place on Thursday, 22nd October 2026.

Title: Norms and norm change - driven by social-Kantian preferences 

Abstract: Norms indicate behaviors that are common and/or considered morally right. They sometimes undergo spontaneous change. I show that social-Kantian preferences can explain this. Individuals can contribute or not to a public good. A social-Kantian individual forms his personal norm by identifying the action which, if universalized, would maximize his material payoff. He cares about own material payoff, about being behind or ahead of others materially, and about deviating from his personal norm. His preferences and his beliefs about the benefit of the public good yield a threshold: he contributes if the share of others who contribute exceeds this threshold (which can equal zero or exceed one). Conditions fostering/hampering spontaneous behavioral change are identified. In particular, I show that individuals with strong Kantian concerns are necessary to trigger behavioral cascades that raise the share of contributors. However, if incorrectly informed about the benefit, strong Kantians hamper socially desirable behavioral cascades. Implications for policy interventions aimed at changing norms are discussed.