Voting on a sharing norm in a dictator game

I conduct an experiment to assess whether majority voting on a nonbindingsharing norm affects subsequent behavior in a dictator game. Ina baseline treatment, subjects play a one shot dictator game. In a votingtreatment, subjects are first placed behind a ‘veil of ignorance’ and vote onthe amount that those chosen to be dictators ‘should’ give. The outcome ofthe vote is referred to as a ‘non-binding agreement.’ The results show that anorm established in this fashion does not induce more ‘fairness’ on the part ofthose subsequently chosen to be dictators. In fact, dictators were significantlymore likely to offer nothing under the treatment. I outline a simple model toaccount for this ‘crowding out’ effect of a norm that may demand ‘too much’of some subjects.