Effects of Public Recognition of New Norms

How do social norms change? Both theoretical and empirical studies have tackled this question. On the theoretical front, studies have found that group reputation (Tirole, 1996), leadership (Acemoglu and Jackson, 2014), and social tipping (Schelling, 1978) affect the persistence of norms and can facilitate such change. On the empirical front, while Alesina et al. (2011), Alesina et al. (2013), and Fernández and Fogli (2009) demonstrate the persistence and transmission of social norms around fertility and female labor force participation by examining second-generation migrants with diverse cultural backgrounds living in the United States, Olivetti et al. (2020); Fogli and Veldkamp (2011); Fernández (2013); Fernández et al. (2004) show the new norm of women’s employment in the U.S. has been promoted by people
learning about the new norm from women around them who had worked. Furthermore, recent experimental studies illustrate that a norm can be changed rather quickly by the endorsement of a new norm by a public figure Bursztyn et al. (2020a) and by informing people of their peers’ true beliefs about existing norms Bursztyn et al. (2020b).

While the literature on norm erosion covers a broad range of potential mechanisms of norm changes and is diverse in research methodologies, it currently lacks empirical evidence on the effects of the endorsement of new norms by authority figures on beliefs about norms and actual behaviors, especially among employers. This is an important addition to the literature, especially in a context where women’s employment is seen as a norm violation. Identifying an intervention that can change a set of norms that prevents women from participating in the formal labor market has a potentially important policy implication.

In this project, we thus ask can the public recognition of a new norm about female hiring by industry leaders change employers’ beliefs in the gender-restricting norms and their actual hiring of women?