The construction of morals

Daniel Chen and Susan Yeh

Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 2014, vol. 104, issue C, 84-105

Abstract: When do policies generate expressive or backlash effects? Recent economic models suggest that where a proscribed activity is prevalent, permissive laws liberalize attitudes toward partakers while increasing utility. The opposite occurs in communities where the proscribed activity is rare. To test these predictions, we randomize data entry workers to transcribe newspaper summaries of liberal or conservative court decisions about obscenity. We find that liberal obscenity decisions liberalize individual and perceived community standards and increase utility. Yet religious workers become more conservative in their values, identify as more Republican, view community standards as becoming more liberal, and report lower utility. Workers update beliefs about the prevalence of sexual activities differently in response to liberal or conservative decisions. These results provide causal evidence for the law having indirect social effects that may amplify or attenuate deterrence effects and suggest that legitimacy of law can affect utility and self-identification.

Keywords: Obscenity law; Belief updating; Values; Norms; Sexual risk (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D83 K1 K42 Z1 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (11)

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Related works:
Chapter: The Construction of Morals (2013)
Working Paper: The Construction of Morals (2013)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jeborg:v:104:y:2014:i:c:p:84-105

DOI: 10.1016/j.jebo.2013.10.013

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