The Impact of Socially Enforced Norms on the Environment and the Role of Public Policy

In this article, I explain socially enforced norms mostly from an economist's perspective, how they emerge and how they diffuse through society. I then investigate the particular role that social norms play for the environment, looking at both the theoretical literature as well as the empirical results. Following that I discuss the reasons for which governmental intervention is necessary when it comes to dealing with social norms and the environment. I also place emphasis on the steps that policy-makers need to take in order to internalize both the externalities from the collective action problem, as well as the impact on the social norm. In addition, I discuss research gaps and provide suggestions for researchers that are interested in dealing with the joint study of collective action problems and social norms.