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Social Norms and the Labor Market

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Handbook of Labor, Human Resources and Population Economics

Abstract

The concept of “social norms” is often used in the literature to explain labor market phenomena that are otherwise difficult to understand through the lens of standard economic theory. This chapter surveys a small but growing experimental literature that aims to measure the social norms that individuals uphold in a variety of labor market contexts. The survey covers four broad topics, concerning (1) fair wage norms and norms of reciprocity in effort provision; (2) the existence of misalignments in the norms that prevail within the hierarchy of an organization; (3) the impact of work policies and labor market interventions on norms; and (4) gender norms. The picture that emerges from the survey highlights the importance of empirically measuring, in a direct way, the norms that prevail in a given context, rather than inferring them indirectly from observed behavior.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research (LISER), Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg

    Luise Görges & Daniele Nosenzo

  2. School of Economics, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK

    Daniele Nosenzo

Authors
  1. Luise Görges
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  2. Daniele Nosenzo
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Correspondence to Daniele Nosenzo .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. UNU-MERIT & Princeton University, Maastricht, The Netherlands

    Klaus F. Zimmermann

Section Editor information

  1. GATE, CNRS – University of Lyon, Ecully, France

    Marie Claire Villeval

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Görges, L., Nosenzo, D. (2020). Social Norms and the Labor Market. In: Zimmermann, K. (eds) Handbook of Labor, Human Resources and Population Economics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57365-6_131-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57365-6_131-1

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  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-57365-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-57365-6

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