The impact of law on moral and social norms: evidence from facemask fines in the UK

Chiara Berneri, Shaun Larcom (), Congmin Peng and Po-Wen She
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Chiara Berneri: The Open University
Shaun Larcom: University of Cambridge
Congmin Peng: National Sun Yat-Sen University
Po-Wen She: University of Cambridge

European Journal of Law and Economics, 2024, vol. 57, issue 3, No 1, 346 pages

Abstract: Abstract We measure the extent that a prevailing law can affect moral and social norms. We use variations in facemask fines in the UK during the COVID-19 pandemic as a case study, as it presents us with many features of a natural experiment. Our analysis provides two important findings. First, we find that the legal status of a behaviour, that is whether the behaviour is illegal or not, is important in influencing stated compliance and moral and social norms. In contrast we find no evidence that a variation in penalties has any effect on stated compliance or moral or social norms. We consider these results are important for law makers and society, as both moral and social norms are known to be important drivers of social change, and our results show that legality influences both—thus highlighting an endogenous relationship between the law—and moral and social norms.

Keywords: Internalisation of law; Law and morality; Social norms; Non-state enforcement; Motivations for legal compliance (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: K00 K14 K49 Z13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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DOI: 10.1007/s10657-024-09800-4

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