Evolution of Generalized Trust – The Global Evidence over 41 Years

Felix Roth ()

No 15, Hamburg Discussion Papers in International Economics from University of Hamburg, Department of Economics

Abstract: By constructing a unique international database on generalized trust covering 142 countries worldwide for the 41 years from 1980 to 2020, this paper finds a pronounced intertemporal variation of generalized trust over time in a majority of countries across the globe. 3 When analyzing the time series patterns over the last two decades, a significant divergence in generalized trust between OECD and non-OECD economies is found. While the OECD economies saw an increase in generalized trust, the non-OECD economies faced a pronounced decline. In particular, North-Western European and Liberal Market economies drive the increase in trust in OECD economies. In particular, Asian and African economies drive the decline in non-OECD economies. Those countries' decline is responsible for a global decline in trust.

Keywords: Generalized Trust; Intertemporal Variation; Stability; Panel Data; Endogeneit (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C23 O47 O50 Z13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025, Revised 2025
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-evo, nep-inv and nep-soc
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:zbw:uhhhdp:15

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