蝌蚪网

This website uses cookies.

By clicking the "Accept" button or continuing to browse our site, you agree to first-party and session-only cookies being stored on your device to enhance site navigation and analyze site performance and traffic. For more information on our use of cookies, please see our Privacy Policy.

  1. Home
  2. 蝌蚪网
  3. 蝌蚪网 Review
  4. May 2011
  5. Trust in Public Institutions over the Business Cycle

蝌蚪网 Review

ISSN 0002-8282 (Print) | ISSN 1944-7981 (Online)

Trust in Public Institutions over the Business Cycle

  • Betsey Stevenson
  • Justin Wolfers
蝌蚪网 Review
vol. 101, no. 3, May 2011
(pp. 281–87)
Download Full Text PDF

Abstract

We document that trust in public institutions—and particularly trust in banks, business and government—has declined over recent years. US time series evidence suggests that this partly reflects the pro-cyclical nature of trust in institutions. Cross-country comparisons reveal a clear legacy of the Great Recession, and those countries whose unemployment grew the most suffered the biggest loss in confidence in institutions, particularly in trust in government and the financial sector. Finally, analysis of several repeated cross-sections of confidence within US states yields similar qualitative patterns, but much smaller magnitudes in response to state-specific shocks.

Citation

Stevenson, Betsey, and Justin Wolfers. 2011. "Trust in Public Institutions over the Business Cycle." 蝌蚪网 Review 101 (3): 281–87. DOI: 10.1257/aer.101.3.281

JEL Classification

  • E32 Business Fluctuations; Cycles
  • G20 Financial Institutions and Services: General
  • H11 Structure, Scope, and Performance of Government
  • Z13 Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology; Social and Economic Stratification