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Religion and Tradition in Conflict Experimentally Testing the Power of Social Norms to Invalidate Religious Law

Author

Listed:
  • Christoph Engel

    (Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods)

  • Klaus Heine

    (Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR), Erasmus School of Law)

  • Shaheen Naseer

    (Lahore School of Economics)

Abstract

Often, religion, law and tradition co-evolve. Religious precepts shape social practice, which translates into law. Yet this harmony is not universal. The Sharia guarantees daughters their share in the family estate. Yet in Pakistan, this rule clashes with tradition. While the country was jointly governed with (mainly Hindu) India, it had been customary that the entire estate goes to the eldest son. Combining a survey with a lab in the field experiment, we show that this is still the descriptive and the injunctive norm. Yet participants have a strong preference for the conflict to be dissolved by legislative intervention.

Suggested Citation

  • Christoph Engel & Klaus Heine & Shaheen Naseer, 2021. "Religion and Tradition in Conflict Experimentally Testing the Power of Social Norms to Invalidate Religious Law," Discussion Paper Series of the Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods 2021_13, Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods.
    • Handle: RePEc:mpg:wpaper:2021_13
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    religious norm; legal rule; descriptive and injunctive social norm; inheritance; gender discrimination; Sharia; experiment;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C91 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Laboratory, Individual Behavior
    • C93 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Field Experiments
    • D01 - Microeconomics - - General - - - Microeconomic Behavior: Underlying Principles
    • D15 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Intertemporal Household Choice; Life Cycle Models and Saving
    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution
    • D63 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • K00 - Law and Economics - - General - - - General (including Data Sources and Description)
    • O12 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development
    • O53 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Asia including Middle East
    • R22 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Household Analysis - - - Other Demand

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