ABSTRACT
Henry David Thoreau reportedly said, “if a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer.”2 In this chapter we recognize the fact that human behavior is influenced by personal values, social norms of conduct and exogenous restrictions such as legal sanctions. We study the interaction between these legal and extralegal forces in affecting human conduct and we highlight the possibility of countervailing effects of social norms in the face of changes in the legal environment. Building on the stylized fact that individual values and social norms are partly static and partly subject to change over time, we consider the direct and indirect effects of law in the evolution of both individual values and social norms. We consider the effect of law in the formation of opinions and the countervailing effect of “civil disobedience”, where individuals ostensibly violate a command of the law, justifying such departure on the grounds of individual freedom or unfairness of the law. By engaging in civil disobedience, individuals reveal their personal values to others. Through an opinionformation process, this may result in a reinforcement of other individuals’ dislike of the law. As a result, legal innovation may occasion a shift in equilibrium behavior that goes in the opposite direction from that intended by the law.
