The cultural origins of institutional trust: the case of the European Central Bank

Angino, Siria, Ferrara, Federico and Secola, Stefania (2022) The cultural origins of institutional trust: the case of the European Central Bank. European Union Politics, 23 (2). 212 - 235. ISSN 1741-2757

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Abstract

Does culture have a causal effect on institutional trust? We answer this question by assessing the non-economic determinants of public trust in the European Central Bank. To analyse institutional trust, we employ a novel dataset of citizen perceptions and knowledge about the European Central Bank. Cultural traits are measured by indicators of social trust at the level of Euro area sub-national regions. We show that individuals living in regions with lower social trust systematically exhibit less trust in the European Central Bank. An instrumental variable approach based on historical variables of education and political institutions supports a causal interpretation of our findings. These results are robust across different model specifications and measures of trust.

Item Type:	Article
Official URL:	https://journals.sagepub.com/home/eup
Additional Information:	© 2021 The Authors
Divisions:	European Institute
Subjects:	J Political Science > JN Political institutions (Europe) H Social Sciences > HM Sociology
Date Deposited:	21 Sep 2021 10:12
Last Modified:	17 Apr 2024 16:24
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/111957

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