In government we trust: The role of fiscal decentralization

Jenny Ligthart and Peter van Oudheusden

European Journal of Political Economy, 2015, vol. 37, issue C, 116-128

Abstract: This paper looks whether fiscal decentralization is associated with trust of citizens in government related institutions. We expect a positive relationship based on the argument of governments' improved responsiveness to preferences of citizens that is perceived to result from more decentralized fiscal systems. Survey data from up to 42 countries over the period 1994–2007 confirm this positive relationship. It is robust to controlling for unobserved country heterogeneity and a wide array of other explanatory variables that are associated with trust in government related institutions. Moreover, we do not find that the positive association with fiscal decentralization extends to other, non-government related institutions.

Keywords: Fiscal decentralization; Subsidiarity principle; Trust in government (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: H11 H72 H77 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (20)

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Related works:
Working Paper: In Government We Trust: The Role of Fiscal Decentralization (2011)
Working Paper: In government we trust: the role of fiscal decentralization (2011)
Working Paper: In Government We Trust: The Role of Fiscal Decentralization (2011)
Working Paper: In Government We Trust: The Role of Fiscal Decentralization (2011)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:poleco:v:37:y:2015:i:c:p:116-128

DOI: 10.1016/j.ejpoleco.2014.11.005

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