Abstract: When would an individual expect that adherence to the law would advance the
social good? This time-honored question is not only of theoretical interest; it also holds
practical importance to the degree that individuals wish to further social well-being. In
the stylized model on which I focus, an individual’s knowledge of factors relevant to
social welfare is inferior to that of lawmakers in some respects and is superior in others.
Thus, in assessing whether obeying a legal rule would promote social welfare, an
individual must take into rational account not only that the rule will impound certain
superior information of lawmakers, but also that the rule will often fail to reflect his or
her private information. A second issue that an individual must consider in deciding
whether following the law would be socially desirable is a compliance externality: the
potential influence of the witnessing of his or her compliance behavior on the compliance
behavior of observers. The conclusions from the model of socially desirable
conformance to the law are interpreted, including their implications for the moral
obligation to obey the law.