Social norms and the environment Karine Nyborg1 Social norms affect environmental quality. But what exactly is a social norm? Environmental economists studying the topic draw on diverse scholarly traditions, and may not have the same phenomenon in mind when using the concept. For example, ‘social norms’ may refer to common, but not necessarily socially approved, behaviors; to internalized ethical rules; or to one of several equilibria in a coordination game. I first discuss some of the definitions used in the environmental economics literature. Then, I outline a simple framework for analysis of voluntary contributions to public goods. Using this framework, I illustrate differences and similarities between altruism, moral norms, and social norms, and discuss implications for environmental policies. In particular, when a social norm represents one of several stable equilibria, policy can potentially invoke abrupt and dramatic behavioral changes. Keywords: Social norms, moral motivation, voluntary contributions to public goods, tipping, environmental policy. 1 Department of Economics, University of Oslo, P.O.Box 1095 Blindern, NO-0317 Oslo, Norway. Email:
[email protected]. 1 1. Introduction Thirty years ago, few environmental and resource economists considered social and moral norms explicitly in their analyses. In accordance with the tradition in the field, researchers focused their attention on markets and formal institutions such as property rights, direct regulation, and market- based policy instruments. Ostrom (1990) demonstrated forcefully, however, that the traditional approach, while highly useful for a range of purposes, must have been missing something: in their path-breaking work, Ostrom and her collaborators found that even in the absence of individually assigned property rights and external enforcement, many local communities did, contrary to neoclassical predictions, manage their commons in sustainable ways.