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The Use of Scandals in the Progress of Society

Author

Listed:
  • Manfred J. Holler

    (Institute of Economics, University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany)

  • Bengt-Arne Wickstr÷m

    (Institute of Public Economics, Humboldt-Universitõt zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany)

Abstract

Social conventions and norms can be modeled as equilibria of coordination games. It is argued that the critical mass necessary for a society to move from one convention, that is from one equilibrium, to another changes correspondingly with changes in the population structure due to generation shifts. A scandal is defined as a breach of the accepted norm by prominent persons. When the critical mass necessary for a change in the accepted convention is sufficiently small, a scandal can trigger off such a change since the scandal maker has a certain number of sympathizers who follow her in breaking the accepted norm. The argument is illustrated by several examples from the history of mankind.

Suggested Citation

  • Manfred J. Holler & Bengt-Arne Wickstr÷m, 1999. "The Use of Scandals in the Progress of Society," Homo Oeconomicus, Institute of SocioEconomics, vol. 16, pages 97-110.
    • Handle: RePEc:hom:homoec:v:16:y:1999:p:97-110
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    Cited by:

    1. Arye L. Hillman & Heinrich W. Ursprung, 2016. "Where are the rent seekers?," Constitutional Political Economy, Springer, vol. 27(2), pages 124-141, June.
    2. Gilles Grolleau & Alain Marciano & Naoufel Mzoughi, 2019. "The Scope For The Strategic Use Of Scandals," Working Papers hal-02306906, HAL.
    3. Bengt-Arne Wickström & Janet Tai Landa, 2018. "Interethnic relations, informal trading networks, and social integration: imitation, habits, and social evolution," Journal of Bioeconomics, Springer, vol. 20(3), pages 263-286, October.
    4. Gilles Grolleau & Alain Marciano & Naoufel Mzoughi, 2020. "The scope for the strategic use of scandals," Post-Print hal-02306906, HAL.
    5. Gilles Grolleau & Alain Marciano & Naoufel Mzoughi, 2020. "The Strategic Use of Scandals," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 73(4), pages 524-542, November.

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