An Institutional Trust Indicator Based on Fuzzy Logic and Ideal Solutions

Juan Carlos Martín, Concepción Román and Christian Viñán
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Juan Carlos Martín: Department of Applied Economics, Institute of Tourism and Sustainable Economic Development, Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, 35017 Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain
Concepción Román: Department of Applied Economics, Institute of Tourism and Sustainable Economic Development, Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, 35017 Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain
Christian Viñán: Faculty of Tourism, Universidad Técnica Particular de Loja, Loja 110107, Ecuador

Mathematics, 2020, vol. 8, issue 5, 1-14

Abstract: The analysis of trust in the governments and the authorities has been a source of study in recent years, especially by the impact it has on facilitating economic growth and stability in developing countries. This paper analyses the institutional trust in Ecuador using data from an adapted survey of the European Social Survey. A synthetic indicator of institutional trust of Ecuadorian citizens is obtained by applying a fuzzy hybrid multi-criteria method. The analysis is based on six different dimensions, namely: (1) The Local Government (City Hall); (2) The Judicial System; (3) The Politicians; (4) Political Parties; (5) The National Parliament; and (6) the United Nations. The results obtained for the country, the nine provincial conglomerates and the gender segments show that institutional trust is not homogeneous among the provincial zones and that males trust more on institutions than females. The paper offers interesting insights to practitioners, researchers, academics, political scientists, and policymakers interested in Latin America. Suggestions for future research in the area, having in mind the existing data availability limitations, are provided.

Keywords: trust in institutions; political power; fuzzy logic; TOPSIS; Ecuadorian provinces (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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