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The Coevolution of Behavior and Normative Expectations: An Experiment

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  • Christoph Engel
  • Michael Kurschilgen

Abstract

In this paper, we test the effect of normative expectations and legal framing on cooperation in an experimental public good game with and without sanctions. We show that cooperation increases substantially as normative expectations and behavioral patterns coevolve. In the absence of sanctions, legal framing does not have any additional beneficial effect in realigning individual action and social well-being. Yet, in the presence of sanctions, the legal frame is crucial for the effectiveness of sanctions. Law and sanctions seem to complement each other. Our results inform the legal debate on customary law. Copyright 2013, Oxford University Press.

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  • Christoph Engel & Michael Kurschilgen, 2013. "The Coevolution of Behavior and Normative Expectations: An Experiment," American Law and Economics Review, American Law and Economics Association, vol. 15(2), pages 578-609.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:amlawe:v:15:y:2013:i:2:p:578-609
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/aler/aht010
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    Cited by:

    1. Konstantin Chatziathanasiou & Svenja Hippel & Michael Kurschilgen, 2022. "Does the Threat of Overthrow Discipline the Elites? Evidence from a Laboratory Experiment," The Journal of Legal Studies, University of Chicago Press, vol. 51(2), pages 289-320.
    2. Konstantin Chatziathanasiou & Svenja Hippel & Michael Kurschilgen, 2020. "Do rights to resistance discipline the elites? An experiment on the threat of overthrow," Munich Papers in Political Economy 08, Munich School of Politics and Public Policy and the School of Management at the Technical University of Munich.
    3. Leonard Hoeft & Michael Kurschilgen & Wladislaw Mill & Simone Vannuccini, 2022. "Norms as Obligations," Munich Papers in Political Economy 22, Munich School of Politics and Public Policy and the School of Management at the Technical University of Munich.
    4. Theodore Eisenberg & Christoph Engel, 2016. "Unpacking Negligence Liability: Experimentally Testing the Governance Effect," Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 13(1), pages 116-152, March.

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