NCJ Number
147883
Journal
International Journal of Comparative and Applied Criminal Justice Volume: 17 Issue: 1/2 Dated: (Spring/Fall 1993) Pages: 43-55
Date Published
1993
Length
13 pages
Annotation
This paper discusses how different social norms and legal systems work together, if there is a need for state intervention not acknowledged before, the advantages of a unified European law, and what kind of equilibria are to be expected.
Abstract
Many social and legal norms can be best understood as standards with network externalities, creating sometimes separating equilibria, or one dominating equilibrium which may or may not be welfare optimal but will nevertheless prevail over competing alternatives driven by self-enforcing network advantages. Some social norm or a legal regulation can be self-enforcing, snowballing, and irrevocable even if its initial choice or existence was completely arbitrary or has proved to be a mistake in the long run. Coordination against excess inertia or excess momentum and compensating people's losses in the standardization process and influencing the different developments at the very early stages may be an additional important welfare improving activity of the state. Endnotes