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Enumerating rights: more is not always better

Author

Listed:
  • Sheryl Ball

    (Sheryl Ball, Virginia Tech)

  • Chetan Dave

    (University of Alberta)

  • Stefan Dodds

    (University of Winnipeg)

Abstract

Contemporary political and policy debate rhetoric increasingly employs the language of ‘rights’: how they are assigned and what entitlements individuals in a society are due. While the obvious constitution design issues surround how rights enumeration affects the relationship between a government and its citizens, we instead analyze how rights framing impacts how citizens interact with each other. We design and implement a novel experiment to test whether social cooperation depends on the enumeration and positive or negative framing of the right of subjects to take a particular action. We find that when rights are framed positively, there exists an ‘entitlement effect’ that reduces social cooperation levels and crowds-out the tendency of individuals to act pro-socially.

Suggested Citation

  • Sheryl Ball & Chetan Dave & Stefan Dodds, 2023. "Enumerating rights: more is not always better," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 196(3), pages 403-425, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:pubcho:v:196:y:2023:i:3:d:10.1007_s11127-023-01053-0
    DOI: 10.1007/s11127-023-01053-0
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Constitutional design; Coase theorem; Framing; Preferences; Rights; Battle of the sexes;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D71 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Social Choice; Clubs; Committees; Associations
    • P48 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Other Economic Systems - - - Legal Institutions; Property Rights; Natural Resources; Energy; Environment; Regional Studies

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