Geographical Distributions and Equilibrium in Social Norm-Related Behavior in the United States

Stephen Coleman

MPRA Paper from University Library of Munich, Germany

Abstract: This research examines the geographical distribution of behavior in line with social norms that are spread and maintained primarily by the effect of social conformity. These include widely held norms that good citizens vote, don’t commit crimes, get flu vaccinations, abstain from binge drinking, and comply with census reporting. A partial differential equation model is used to determine whether such behavior may have attained a geospatial equilibrium in the United States. An equilibrium, as the end state of a diffusion process, has definitive mathematical properties that can be used to test for equilibrium. This is done using recent data for the 48 contiguous states. Results confirm that behavior for several important social norms fits the equilibrium model geographically. Policy implications are briefly discussed.

Keywords: : social norms; social conformity; geographical; spatial; mathematical model; United States; crime; voting; binge drinking; vaccination; census reporting (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C2 C21 D7 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018-12
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-soc and nep-ure
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https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/96207/1/MPRA_paper_96207.pdf original version (application/pdf)

Related works:
Working Paper: Geographical Distributions and Equilibrium in Social Norm-Related Behavior in the United States (2020)
Working Paper: Geographical Distributions and Equilibrium in Social Norm-Related Behavior in the United States (2020)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pra:mprapa:96207

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