October 28, 2021, 11:00–12:30
Room Auditorium 4
Abstract
Harmful social norms often persist despite legal and economic penalties. Can the abandonment of a harmful norm be facilitated by the presence of a \mildly harmful" alternative that may act as a stepping stone in the medium run? Or will this become a new norm? We propose a dynamic, game-theoretic model and derive necessary and sufficient conditions for a stepping stone transition. Using original data, we apply the model to female genital cutting in Somalia, which has transitioned from an invasive to a milder form of cutting. The framework is general and shows that intermediate actions may have unintended consequences.
Reference
Sam Jindani (Cambridge University), “A Stepping Stone Approach to Understanding Harmful Norms”, Behavior, Institutions, and Development Seminar, October 28, 2021, 11:00–12:30, room Auditorium 4.