Social Norms Theory and Development Economics

Eriksson, Lina

World Bank, Washington, DC

关键词: YOUNG WOMEN;    FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION;    SOCIAL INEQUALITY;    GENITAL MUTILATION;    TEENAGERS;   

DOI  :  10.1596/1813-9450-7450
RP-ID  :  WPS7450

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

Social norms affect almost every aspectof people’s lives, and can be an obstacle to or supporteconomic development. This paper outlines what social normsare and how they work, providing examples from everyday lifeand from development case studies. Sometimes not much can bedone about changing undesirable social norms. In thosecases, development economists need to be aware of how theexistence of those norms can impact the effects of thepolicies they advocate. But of particular importance todevelopment economists is the ways in which social norms canbe changed, at least under some circumstances. Understandingof social norm change is still patchy at best, but the paperoutlines the theoretical underpinnings of change, withempirical evidence from various policies aimed at changingsocial norms. However, some of those policies raise ethicalconcerns that would require attention.