American Economic Review Vol. 115 No. 7 2025

A Stepping Stone Approach to Norm Transitions

Selim Gulesci¹; Sam Jindani²; Eliana La Ferrara³; David Smerdon⁴; Munshi Sulaiman⁵; Peyton Young⁶

¹ Trinity College Dublin (email: ) · ² National University of Singapore (email: ) · ³ Harvard University, CEPR, NBER and LEAP (email: ) · ⁴ University of Queensland (email: ) · ⁵ BIGD, BRAC University (email: ) · ⁶ University of Oxford (email: )

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.

DOI

10.1257/aer.20230458

Volume

115

Issue

7

Pages

2237-2266

Language

en

Sources

bibtex:phds-export.bib openalex crossref

Cite

APA 7 MLA 9 Chicago (author–date) Harvard Elsevier Harvard (JFE, JBF…) The Accounting Review Academy of Management American Marketing Association INFORMS (Management Science) Copy citation Copied ✓