A CESEE conundrum: low trust in government but high hopes for government-led job creation

Markus Eller and Thomas Scheiber ()
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Thomas Scheiber: Oesterreichische Nationalbank, Foreign Research Division, http://www.oenb.at

Focus on European Economic Integration, 2020, issue Q3/20, 81-97

Abstract: OeNB Euro Survey results for ten countries in Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe (CESEE) from 2018 indicate that a major share of respondents is disappointed with public governance. Yet, while trust in national governments is lacking, there is still a widespread belief that creating jobs is primarily a state responsibility, even 30 years after the onset of transition. As shown by a series of probit regressions, respondents are more likely to consider job creation to be above all a state responsibility if they belong to a low-income household, have comparatively little wealth and comparatively little education, rely on welfare payments, have worked for the public sector or reside outside the capital city. The views of respondents who express a lack of trust in government are also colored strongly by past economic hardship experiences. While there is, of course, a limit to how big the welfare state can get, our survey results imply that there is a case for national governments to build up buffers to be able to tide people over when incomes dry up in crisis episodes, and to invest more in developing human capital and improving social inclusion to address the concerns of marginalized societal groups.

Keywords: public preferences; trust in government; government-led job creation; survey data; CESEE (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A13 H11 P35 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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