Norms and Efficiency in a Multi-Group Society: An Online Experiment

Abstract

In this study, we measure personal normative beliefs, empirical expectations, and normative expectations in a multilevel public goods game, where two local public goods are nested in a global one. We use these measures as indexes of subjective personal and social norms to pursue a twofold objective. On the one hand, we aim to understand whether and to what extent contribution decisions are driven by personal or social norms. On the other hand, we aim to investigate whether changes in the relative efficiency of the two public goods affect norms and norm compliance. In our online experiment, personal norms emerge as the main driver of contribution decisions especially when the efficiency of the related public good increases. However, compliance to empirical expectations signals that social norms still play a role in both positively affecting the contribution to the relative public good and negatively the contribution to the other one.