Trust and state effectiveness: the political economy of compliance

Besley, Timothy ORCID: 0000-0002-8923-6372 and Dray, Sacha (2024) Trust and state effectiveness: the political economy of compliance. The Economic Journal, 134 (662). 2225 - 2251. ISSN 0013-0133

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Abstract

This paper explores the link between trust in government, policymaking and compliance. It focuses on a specific channel whereby citizens who are convinced of the merits of a policy are more motivated to comply with it. This, in turn, reduces the government's cost of implementing this policy and may also increase the set of feasible interventions. As a result, state effectiveness is greater when citizens trust their government. The paper discusses alternative approaches to modelling the origins of trust, especially the link to the design of political institutions. We then provide empirical evidence consistent with the model's findings that compliance is increasing in government trust using the Integrated Values Survey and voluntary compliance during COVID-19 in the United Kingdom.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	© 2024 The Author(s)
Divisions:	Economics
Subjects:	J Political Science H Social Sciences > HB Economic Theory
JEL classification:	I - Health, Education, and Welfare > I1 - Health > I18 - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
Date Deposited:	08 Apr 2024 14:33
Last Modified:	18 Nov 2024 20:24
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/122535

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