Voting and contributing when the group is watching

Members of groups and organizations often have to decide on rules that regulate their contributions to common tasks. They typically differ in their propensity to contribute and often care about the image they project, in particular want to be perceived by other group members as being high contributors. In such environments we study the interaction between the way members vote on rules and their subsequent contribution decisions. We show that multiple norms can emerge. We characterize the socially optimal level of sanctions to be submitted to a vote by the social planner and discuss optimal voting rules.