Norms are a valuable mechanism for establishing coherent cooperative behaviour in decentralised systems in which no central authority exists. One of the most influential formulations of norm emergence was proposed by Axelrod [1], who defined a model of norms and metanorms that enables norm establishment in populations of self-interested individuals. This paper provides an empirical analysis of aspects of Axelrod's approach, by exploring some of the key assumptions made in previous evaluations of the model. First, we explore the dynamics of norm emergence and the occurrence of norm collapse when applying the model over extended durations. Second, we investigate in detail the reasons for norm collapse in extended applications of the model and show that both the level of mutation in the population and the precise nature of the reproduction mechanism are significant. Our findings identify characteristics that significantly influence norm establishment using Axelrod's formulation, but are likely to be of importance for norm establishment more generally.
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