The Productivity of Trust

Christian Bjørnskov and Pierre-Guillaume Méon

World Development, 2015, vol. 70, issue C, 317-331

Abstract: This paper tests whether social trust affects total factor productivity (TFP). Using both development and growth accounting, we find strong evidence of a causal positive effect of social trust on the level and growth of TFP. We moreover observe that the effect of social trust on TFP runs through economic-judicial institutions, but not through political institutions. Those findings resist a series of robustness checks.

Keywords: total factor productivity; social trust; institutions (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (39)

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Related works:
Journal Article: The productivity of trust (2015)
Working Paper: The productivity of trust (2010)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:70:y:2015:i:c:p:317-331

DOI: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2015.01.015

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