Formal and informal norms: their relationships in society and in the economic sphere

Abstract

The thesis put forward in this paper is that in social life in general, and in the economic sphere in particular, the relationships between formal norms and informal social norms can be interpreted in terms of either reciprocal complementarity or conflict. The concept of complementarity illustrates how the two kinds of norms cooperate with and reinforce each other, and describes under what circumstances formal norms can or cannot replace informal rules. Conversely, the notion of conflict between different kinds of norms distinguishes two forms of antagonism: prohibition (which occurs when one type of norm prohibits enforcement of the other), and mutual exclusiveness (which occurs when one type of norm crowds out the other, without this entailing prohibition).