It is now abundantly clear that social norms channel behaviour and impact economic development. This insight leads to the question: How do social norms evolve? This survey examines research that relies on geography to explain the development of social norms. It turns out that many social norms are either directly or indirectly determined by geography broadly conceived and can, hence, be considered largely time invariant. Given that successful economic development presupposes the congruence between formal institutions and social norms, this insight is highly relevant for all policy interventions designed to foster economic development. In a companion paper, the role of religion and family organization as potential mediators between geography and social norms assumes centre stage.

现在已经非常清楚，社会规范引导行为并影响经济发展。这种见解引出了一个问题：社会规范如何演变？这项调查研究了依赖地理来解释社会规范发展的研究。事实证明，许多社会规范直接或间接地由广义上的地理决定，因此可以被认为在很大程度上是不随时间变化的。鉴于成功的经济发展以正式制度和社会规范之间的一致性为先决条件，这一见解对于所有旨在促进经济发展的政策干预措施都具有高度相关性。在另一篇配套论文中，宗教和家庭组织作为地理和社会规范之间潜在中介的作用占据了中心舞台。