A stepping stone approach to understanding harmful norms
This article was published in Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) and the Article's website is at: https://cepr.org/active/publications/discussion_papers/dp.php?dpno=15776
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Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)
2022
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| 在线阅读: | http://hdl.handle.net/10361/16253 |
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10361-16253 |
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10361-162532022-02-16T05:39:00Z A stepping stone approach to understanding harmful norms Gulesci, Selim Jindani, Sam Ferrara, Eliana La Smerdon, David Sulaiman, Munshi Young, Peyton BRAC Institute of Governance and Development Female genital cutting Female genital mutilation FGC FGM Norm dynamics Social norms This article was published in Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) and the Article's website is at: https://cepr.org/active/publications/discussion_papers/dp.php?dpno=15776 Harmful social norms often persist despite legal and economic sanctions against them. 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 absorbing norm? We propose a dynamic, game-theoretic model to analyze this question, focusing on interim dynamics. We derive necessary and sufficient conditions for a stepping stone transition, which involve as key parameters the social penalty factors and the difference in intrinsic utilities of the various actions. We explore the implications of the model using original data on female genital cutting in Somalia, where a transition is underway from an extremely invasive to a milder form of cutting. The framework is general and can be applied to other examples, both contemporary and historical, including footbinding, dueling, child marriage and smoking. Our analysis underlines the importance of considering intermediate alternatives when formulating policies against harmful norms. Published 2022-02-15T07:05:16Z 2022-02-15T07:05:16Z 2021 2021-02 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/10361/16253 en_US https://cepr.org/active/publications/discussion_papers/dp.php?dpno=15776 Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) |
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Brac University |
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Institutional Repository |
| language |
en_US |
| topic |
Female genital cutting Female genital mutilation FGC FGM Norm dynamics Social norms |
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Female genital cutting Female genital mutilation FGC FGM Norm dynamics Social norms Gulesci, Selim Jindani, Sam Ferrara, Eliana La Smerdon, David Sulaiman, Munshi Young, Peyton A stepping stone approach to understanding harmful norms |
| description |
This article was published in Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) and the Article's website is at: https://cepr.org/active/publications/discussion_papers/dp.php?dpno=15776 |
| author2 |
BRAC Institute of Governance and Development |
| author_facet |
BRAC Institute of Governance and Development Gulesci, Selim Jindani, Sam Ferrara, Eliana La Smerdon, David Sulaiman, Munshi Young, Peyton |
| format |
Journal Article |
| author |
Gulesci, Selim Jindani, Sam Ferrara, Eliana La Smerdon, David Sulaiman, Munshi Young, Peyton |
| author_sort |
Gulesci, Selim |
| title |
A stepping stone approach to understanding harmful norms |
| title_short |
A stepping stone approach to understanding harmful norms |
| title_full |
A stepping stone approach to understanding harmful norms |
| title_fullStr |
A stepping stone approach to understanding harmful norms |
| title_full_unstemmed |
A stepping stone approach to understanding harmful norms |
| title_sort |
stepping stone approach to understanding harmful norms |
| publisher |
Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) |
| publishDate |
2022 |
| url |
http://hdl.handle.net/10361/16253 |
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