Changing Culture and Norms in Developing Countries

We survey recent research on changing culture and social norms in developing countries and propose a simple framework to interpret these changes. We conceptualize individual utility from a given action as a function of three components: intrinsic valuations, material payoffs, and social interactions. Using this lens, we review evidence on interventions that target each component and their interactions.
First, we discuss efforts to shift intrinsic values through schooling and curricula, information campaigns, mass media, and empowerment programs, with particular attention to gender norms, intimate partner violence, and harmful practices such as female genital cutting. Second, we examine social determinants of behavior, including misperceptions about others’ beliefs, coordination failures, and the role of intermediate “stepping-stone” actions in facilitating or hindering norm transitions. Third, we analyze how changes in material incentives, via labor market opportunities, transfers, and legal reforms, affect behavior and underlying norms.
Throughout, we highlight methodological challenges in measuring norms and identifying mechanisms, and we emphasize that policy effects depend critically on existing social structures and belief distributions. We conclude by outlining open questions from a positive and normative perspective.