Infrastructure Spending in China Increases Trust in Local Government

Bingqin Li () and Guy Mayraz ()
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Bingqin Li: Australian National University

Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, 2017, vol. 132, issue 1, No 17, 356 pages

Abstract: Abstract Following the 2008/9 financial crisis, China instituted a 4 trillion RMB stimulus package that was spent mostly on infrastructure, with a particular impact at local level. The goal was to sustain economic growth and preserve social stability. We use the Asian Barometer surveys from shortly before and after the stimulus to examine its impact on public trust in government, and find a reversal of a previous downward trend and a substantial increase in trust in local government post stimulus. We consider a number of alternative explanations for this increase in trust, and conclude that the stimulus package is the most convincing explanation. Both perceptions of corruption and experience of corruption increased over the stimulus period. Given the strong negative correlation between corruption and trust, this implies that trust would have increased even further if the level of corruption had remained the same.

Keywords: Financial crisis; Stimulus package; Public spending; Social stability; Trust in government; China; Infrastructure (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: E62 H41 H54 I3 O53 P25 R5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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DOI: 10.1007/s11205-015-1223-z

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