Social Norms and the Labor Market

Abstract

The concept of “social norms” is often used in the literature to explain labor market phenomena that are otherwise difficult to understand through the lens of standard economic theory. This chapter surveys a small but growing experimental literature that aims to measure the social norms that individuals uphold in a variety of labor market contexts. The survey covers four broad topics, concerning (1) fair wage norms and norms of reciprocity in effort provision; (2) the existence of misalignments in the norms that prevail within the hierarchy of an organization; (3) the impact of work policies and labor market interventions on norms; and (4) gender norms. The picture that emerges from the survey highlights the importance of empirically measuring, in a direct way, the norms that prevail in a given context, rather than inferring them indirectly from observed behavior.