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The dynamics of personal norms and the determinants of cultural homogeneity

Author

Listed:
  • Vicente Calabuig
  • Gonzalo Olcina

    (University of Valencia, Spain)

  • Fabrizio Panebianco

    (Bocconi University, Italy)

Abstract

This article studies the emergence of cultural homogeneity in personal norms when the behavior of heterogeneous individuals is driven both by economic incentives and by personal norms. Agents participate in a team production game by choosing their level of costly effort. Norms evolve along the life cycle of the individuals according to two psychological forces: cognitive dissonance or consistency and informational conformity. The model sheds light on how primitive economic and behavioral parameters such as the distribution of skills, the income distribution, and the levels of materialism, conformism, and consistency in the group determine the long-run culture and its degree of cultural homogeneity.

Suggested Citation

  • Vicente Calabuig & Gonzalo Olcina & Fabrizio Panebianco, 2017. "The dynamics of personal norms and the determinants of cultural homogeneity," Rationality and Society, , vol. 29(3), pages 322-354, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:ratsoc:v:29:y:2017:i:3:p:322-354
    DOI: 10.1177/1043463117717233
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. Sebastiano Della Lena & Pietro Dindo, 2019. "On the Evolution of Norms in Strategic Environments," Working Papers 2019: 16, Department of Economics, University of Venice "Ca' Foscari".
    3. Calabuig, Vicente & Olcina, Gonzalo & Panebianco, Fabrizio, 2018. "Culture and team production," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 149(C), pages 32-45.
    4. Gavrilets, Sergey & Tverskoi, Denis & Sánchez, Angel, 2023. "Modeling social norms: an integration of the norm-utility approach with beliefs dynamics," SocArXiv n934a, Center for Open Science.

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