Dr Matthew Jackson | Queen's University Belfast (original) (raw)

Uploads

Papers by Dr Matthew Jackson

We examine the interplay between social norms and the enforcement of laws. Agents choose a behavi... more We examine the interplay between social norms and the enforcement of laws. Agents choose a behavior (e.g., tax evasion, production of low-quality products, corruption, harassing behavior, substance abuse, etc.) and then are randomly matched with another agent. There are complementarities in behaviors so that an agent's payoff decreases with the mismatch between her behavior and her partner's, and from overall negative externalities created by the behavior of others. A law is an upper bound (cap) on behavior and a lawbreaker , when detected, pays a fine and has her behavior forced down to the level of the law. Equilibrium law-breaking depends on social norms because detection relies, at least in part, on whistleblowing. Law-abiding agents have an incentive to whistle-blow on a law-breaking partner because this reduces the mismatch with their partners' behaviors as well as the negative externalities. When laws are in conflict with norms and many agents are breaking the law, each agent anticipates little whistle-blowing and is more likely to also break the law. Tighter laws (banning more behaviors) have counteracting effects, reducing behavior among law-abiding individuals but inducing more law-breaking. Greater fines for law-breaking and better public enforcement reduce the number of lawbreakers and behavior among law-abiding agents, but increase levels of law breaking among lawbreakers (who effectively optimize their behavior conditional upon matching with lawbreakers). Within a dynamic version of the model, we show that laws that are in strong conflict with prevailing social norms may backfire, while gradual tightening of laws can be more effective in influencing social norms and behavior.

Paper presented at the 9th International Network of Museums for Peace, Belfast, 10 April 2017.

This thesis examines how the memory and legacy of some of the Civil Rights Movement's lesser-know... more This thesis examines how the memory and legacy of some of the Civil Rights Movement's lesser-known martyrs has evolved over the last five decades. These martyrs include Medgar Evers, Michael Schwerner, James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Viola Liuzzo.

On 25 March, 1931, an American cause célèbre began near Scottsboro, Alabama, in the midst of the ... more On 25 March, 1931, an American cause célèbre began near Scottsboro, Alabama, in the midst of the Great Depression. A fight broke out between African American and white youths who were hoboing on a Southern Railroad freight train travelling west from Chattanooga to Memphis, Tennessee. The black youths got the better of the fight and the white youths complained to the nearest stationmaster. The stationmaster wired ahead to the next stop at Paintrock, Alabama, to arrest every "Negro" on the train. Accordingly, a sheriff's posse searched the train at Paintrock, finding nine African American youths and two white women dressed in men's overalls. Recognizing the seriousness of their situation -facing possible charges of vagrancy or worse -Victoria Price and Ruby Bates alleged that the black youths had raped them. 1 The sheriff's deputies quickly arrested , each ranging in age from thirteen to twenty years old, and took them to Scottsboro, the Jackson County seat, where they were indicted on charges of rape. 2 Nine young African American men, nine different lives. Andy and Roy Wright were brothers and were friends with Haywood Patterson and Eugene Williams. The four of them had never seen the other five; the other five had never seen one another before that day.

Teaching Documents by Dr Matthew Jackson

This course examines how memory has been constructed, used and reshaped in myriad ways and for a ... more This course examines how memory has been constructed, used and reshaped in myriad ways and for a multitude of reasons amid a half century of cataclysmic cultural and political upheaval in the United States, beginning with the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941 and ending with the attacks on the Twin Towers in New York City in September 2001.

We examine the interplay between social norms and the enforcement of laws. Agents choose a behavi... more We examine the interplay between social norms and the enforcement of laws. Agents choose a behavior (e.g., tax evasion, production of low-quality products, corruption, harassing behavior, substance abuse, etc.) and then are randomly matched with another agent. There are complementarities in behaviors so that an agent's payoff decreases with the mismatch between her behavior and her partner's, and from overall negative externalities created by the behavior of others. A law is an upper bound (cap) on behavior and a lawbreaker , when detected, pays a fine and has her behavior forced down to the level of the law. Equilibrium law-breaking depends on social norms because detection relies, at least in part, on whistleblowing. Law-abiding agents have an incentive to whistle-blow on a law-breaking partner because this reduces the mismatch with their partners' behaviors as well as the negative externalities. When laws are in conflict with norms and many agents are breaking the law, each agent anticipates little whistle-blowing and is more likely to also break the law. Tighter laws (banning more behaviors) have counteracting effects, reducing behavior among law-abiding individuals but inducing more law-breaking. Greater fines for law-breaking and better public enforcement reduce the number of lawbreakers and behavior among law-abiding agents, but increase levels of law breaking among lawbreakers (who effectively optimize their behavior conditional upon matching with lawbreakers). Within a dynamic version of the model, we show that laws that are in strong conflict with prevailing social norms may backfire, while gradual tightening of laws can be more effective in influencing social norms and behavior.

Paper presented at the 9th International Network of Museums for Peace, Belfast, 10 April 2017.

This thesis examines how the memory and legacy of some of the Civil Rights Movement's lesser-know... more This thesis examines how the memory and legacy of some of the Civil Rights Movement's lesser-known martyrs has evolved over the last five decades. These martyrs include Medgar Evers, Michael Schwerner, James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Viola Liuzzo.

On 25 March, 1931, an American cause célèbre began near Scottsboro, Alabama, in the midst of the ... more On 25 March, 1931, an American cause célèbre began near Scottsboro, Alabama, in the midst of the Great Depression. A fight broke out between African American and white youths who were hoboing on a Southern Railroad freight train travelling west from Chattanooga to Memphis, Tennessee. The black youths got the better of the fight and the white youths complained to the nearest stationmaster. The stationmaster wired ahead to the next stop at Paintrock, Alabama, to arrest every "Negro" on the train. Accordingly, a sheriff's posse searched the train at Paintrock, finding nine African American youths and two white women dressed in men's overalls. Recognizing the seriousness of their situation -facing possible charges of vagrancy or worse -Victoria Price and Ruby Bates alleged that the black youths had raped them. 1 The sheriff's deputies quickly arrested , each ranging in age from thirteen to twenty years old, and took them to Scottsboro, the Jackson County seat, where they were indicted on charges of rape. 2 Nine young African American men, nine different lives. Andy and Roy Wright were brothers and were friends with Haywood Patterson and Eugene Williams. The four of them had never seen the other five; the other five had never seen one another before that day.

This course examines how memory has been constructed, used and reshaped in myriad ways and for a ... more This course examines how memory has been constructed, used and reshaped in myriad ways and for a multitude of reasons amid a half century of cataclysmic cultural and political upheaval in the United States, beginning with the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941 and ending with the attacks on the Twin Towers in New York City in September 2001.