Where Do Norms Come From?

Abstract

This essay is a review of Edna Ullmann-Margalit’s pathbreaking 1978 book, The Emergence of Norms. It urges that Ullmann-Margalit’s treatment of PD norms and coordination norms remains convincing, but that a great deal of work remains to be done on the topic of norms of partiality, where adaptive preferences and preference falsification play significant roles. It also emphasizes the importance of distinguishing between causal and functional accounts of norms.

Keywords: norms, Ullmann-Margalit, adaptive preferences, preference falsification

JEL Classification: D003, D10, D11, D18, D60, D80, K0, K2