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4 janvier 2023
- handle: 10670/1.mw4rxg
- hal: hal-03921964
info:eu-repo/semantics/OpenAccess
Mots-clés
Law and norms Expressive law Cultural change J - Labor and Demographic Economics/J.J1 - Demographic Economics/J.J1.J12 - Marriage • Marital Dissolution • Family Structure • Domestic Abuse N - Economic History/N.N3 - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy/N.N3.N32 - U.S. • Canada: 1913- Z - Other Special Topics/Z.Z1 - Cultural Economics • Economic Sociology • Economic AnthropologySujets proches
Legislative acts Legislative enactments Acts, Legislative Enactments, Legislative Laws (Statutes)Citer ce document
Daniel L. Chen et al., « How do rights revolutions occur? Free speech and the first amendment », HAL-SHS : économie et finance, ID : 10670/1.mw4rxg
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Résumé
Does obscenity law corrode moral values and does it matter? Using random judge assignment and all U.S. obscenity precedents since 1958, we present four main results. Progressive laws liberalized sexual attitudes and behaviors, reduced child abuse, but increased asymptomatic STDs. We document that newspapers reported on obscenity cases. We then assign data entry workers to transcribe randomly allocated newsreports and find that exposure to progressive law shifts attitudes. Second-order norm shifts are consistent with a model where laws sanctioning activity increase its perceived prevalence, and laws shape values when sanctioned activities are prevalent. Deterrence does not solely mediate law’s impacts.