Emergence of and compliance with new social norms: The example of the COVID crisis in Germany

In crisis situations, people have to change their behavior. A collective learning process begins and new patterns of order emerge. Externalities of behavior lead to the emergence of new social norms. But are the social norms also followed? A closer examination must take into account the different character of social norms. Following the theory of Ullmann-Margalit, coordination norms or conventions have different consequences for norm-oriented behavior than cooperation norms. This distinction is also important for lawmaking. There is no “free-rider problem” with coordination norms, but there is one with cooperation norms. This paper examines the question of the characteristics of new norms which emerged during the first wave of the COVID-19 crisis, such as the requirement for distance, the obligation to wear masks and cooperation in the digital tracing of infection chains. This study is based on how Germany has coped with the first wave of the pandemic in spring 2020. However, the analysis leads to conditions which in general may explain the degree of compliance with different types of new social norms.