Social Norms and the Law: A Social Institutional Approach

77 Pages Posted: 2 May 2005

See all articles by Amir N. Licht

Amir N. Licht

Reichman University; European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI)

Date Written: March 2005

Abstract

This paper adopts a social institutional approach to account for the societal-level mechanisms underlying the interaction between social norms and the law. Drawing on institutional economics and social psychology, this paper outlines a model in which norms form interdependent systems. In this model, societal orientations define the backbone of an evolving body of norms. This model sheds light on the nature of the rule of law and on its role in promoting social order. This paper posits that treating social norms as isolated regularities, as is commonly done in the literature, misses the big picture of social norms. Analyses of the relations between social norms and the law consequently run the risk of becoming "just so stories." Economic analyses of other-regarding behavior may go beyond the narrow view of self-interestedness yet they remain confined to the individual level of analysis.

Keywords: social norms, rule of law, social institutions, culture, economics and psychology

JEL Classification: K00, Z1, Z13

Suggested Citation

Licht, Amir N., Social Norms and the Law: A Social Institutional Approach (March 2005). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=710621 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.710621

Amir N. Licht (Contact Author)

Reichman University ( email )

Israel

European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI)

c/o the Royal Academies of Belgium
Rue Ducale 1 Hertogsstraat
1000 Brussels
Belgium
952-9-9513323 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http:/www.ecgi.org

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