Article, Early Access,
Measuring trust in institutions
Contributors
Carlsson, Fredrik
0000-0003-4789-8009
(Corresponding author)
[1]
Affiliations
- [1] Univ Gothenburg, Dept Econ, Box 640, SE-40530 Gothenburg, Sweden [NORA names: Sweden; Europe, EU; Nordic; OECD];
- [2] World Bank Grp, Afr Ave Bole Rd, Addis Ababa 2479, Ethiopia [NORA names: Ethiopia; Africa];
- [3] Tech Univ Denmark, Dept Technol Management & Econ, Lyngby 2800, Denmark [NORA names: DTU Technical University of Denmark; University; Denmark; Europe, EU; Nordic; OECD];
- [4] Policy Studies Inst, Gen Abebe Damtew St, Blue Bldg Near Natl Stadium, Addis Ababa 2479, Ethiopia [NORA names: Ethiopia; Africa]
Abstract
Trust in institutions is important for economic prosperity. We present results from a field study where we compare stated trust in institutions in general, stated trust in employees at institutions, and amount sent to employees at institutions using a trust game. Including more than 250 entrepreneurs in Addis Ababa in Ethiopia, we examine levels of trust towards entrepreneurship development agency, district administration, tax authority, and electric utility. There is a positive and sizeable significant correlation between stated trust and trust game. Furthermore, we find that generalized trust is weakly correlated with trust in specific institutions both compared with stated trust, and trust game. Given the large heterogeneity in levels of trust to specific institutions, we argue it is important to elicit institution-specific levels of trust.
