Distrust and Political Turnover during Economic Crises

Nathan Nunn, Nancy Qian and Jaya Wen

No 24187, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: We use a six-decade long annual country-level panel dataset to document that recessions are more likely to cause political turnover in countries with lower levels of generalized trust. The effect is only present in democracies (not autocracies), for turnovers occurring through regular procedures (not coups), and during scheduled election years. We find similar effects for vote shares in national elections across sub-national regions within Europe and across counties within the United States. Furthermore, countries with higher trust experience more rapid recoveries from recessions. The results show that trust is an important determinant of political stability during recessions.

JEL-codes: D72 P16 P51 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cdm, nep-gro, nep-pol and nep-soc
Note: POL EFG
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (11)

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