Cultural Norms and Economic Behavior: Essays on nudging with proverbs

Abstract

Promoting socially desired behavior in environments where monitoring is limited, incentives are imperfect, and legal sanctions may be costly or ineffective represents a challenge. This dissertation examines whether culturally embedded proverbs can function as injunctive normative nudges to promote socially desirable economic behavior where formal regulation falls short. Grounded in the Focus Theory of Normative Conduct and Goal Framing Theory, it investigates proverbs as an unexplored category of normative cues, distinct from conventional descriptive and injunctive messages, and tests their behavioral effects through three controlled laboratory experiments conducted across three domains: cooperation, trust, and tax compliance. It explores: a) the effect of an injunctive proverb encouraging cooperation on contributions in a one-shot public goods game; b) the effect of a proverb encouraging trustworthiness on trust and reciprocity in a standard trust game; c) the effect of proverbs framing honesty positively or dishonesty negatively on compliance in an income-reporting game. Across all three studies, exposure to an injunctive proverb significantly increases the targeted behavior. These findings demonstrate that proverbs can serve as low-cost, non-coercive normative nudges. By bridging behavioral economics, law, and cultural psychology, this dissertation introduces proverbs as a novel tool for behaviorally informed policy design.