IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/aea/aecrev/v115y2025i7p2237-66.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A Stepping Stone Approach to Norm Transitions

Author

Listed:
  • Selim Gulesci
  • Sam Jindani
  • Eliana La Ferrara
  • David Smerdon
  • Munshi Sulaiman
  • Peyton Young

Abstract

We propose a model to study when an intermediate action can serve as a stepping stone that enables the elimination of a harmful norm. While the intermediate action may facilitate the first "step," it may also become a new norm. We derive intuitive conditions for stepping stones, which depend on the relative size of social penalties and intrinsic utility benefits. We propose an econometric approach to testing whether an intermediate action is a stepping stone, and apply it to original data on female genital cutting in Somalia. The analysis shows that the intermediate action may become the new norm.

Suggested Citation

  • Selim Gulesci & Sam Jindani & Eliana La Ferrara & David Smerdon & Munshi Sulaiman & Peyton Young, 2025. "A Stepping Stone Approach to Norm Transitions," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 115(7), pages 2237-2266, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:aea:aecrev:v:115:y:2025:i:7:p:2237-66
    DOI: 10.1257/aer.20230458
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.aeaweb.org/doi/10.1257/aer.20230458
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to AEA members and institutional subscribers.
    File URL: https://doi.org/10.3886/E219301V1
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.aeaweb.org/articles/materials/23466
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.aeaweb.org/articles/materials/23467
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1257/aer.20230458?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration
    • O17 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Formal and Informal Sectors; Shadow Economy; Institutional Arrangements
    • Z13 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology; Language; Social and Economic Stratification

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:aea:aecrev:v:115:y:2025:i:7:p:2237-66. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Michael P. Albert (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/aeaaaea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.