IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/unu/wpaper/wp-2024-14.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Institutional trust in the time of corona: Evidence from countermeasures in Germany

Author

Listed:
  • Wolfgang Stojetz
  • Neil T. N. Ferguson
  • Ghassan Baliki
  • Sarah Fenzl
  • Patricia Justino
  • Tilman Brück

Abstract

We study how the stringency of policy measures to counter the COVID-19 pandemic affects individuals' trust in formal institutions. Drawing on micro-level panel data from Germany spanning an 18-month period from the onset of the pandemic, we show that, on average, there is a pronounced negative relationship between the stringency level of COVID-19 countermeasures and trust in institutions. We present empirical evidence to argue that the underlying mechanism is a perceived illegitimate attack on civil liberties, reducing trust in the judiciary in particular.

Suggested Citation

  • Wolfgang Stojetz & Neil T. N. Ferguson & Ghassan Baliki & Sarah Fenzl & Patricia Justino & Tilman Brück, 2024. "Institutional trust in the time of corona: Evidence from countermeasures in Germany," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2024-14, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    • Handle: RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp-2024-14
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.wider.unu.edu/sites/default/files/Publications/Working-paper/PDF/wp2024-14-institutional-trust-time-corona-evidence-countermeasures-Germany.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Gianmarco Daniele & Andrea F.M. Martinangeli & Francesco Passarelli & Willem Sas & Lisa Windsteiger, 2020. "Wind of Change? Experimental Survey Evidence on the COVID-19 Shock and Socio-Political Attitudes in Europe," Working Papers tax-mpg-rps-2020-10, Max Planck Institute for Tax Law and Public Finance.
    2. Aksoy, Cevat Giray & Eichengreen, Barry & Saka, Orkun, 2020. "The Political Scar of Epidemics," SocArXiv p25nh, Center for Open Science.
    3. Miller, Arthur H. & Listhaug, Ola, 1990. "Political Parties and Confidence in Government: A Comparison of Norway, Sweden and the United States," British Journal of Political Science, Cambridge University Press, vol. 20(3), pages 357-386, July.
    4. Ghassan Baliki & Tilman Brück & Neil T. N. Ferguson & Sindu Workneh Kebede, 2022. "Fragility exposure index: Concepts, measurement, and application," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(2), pages 639-660, May.
    5. repec:zbw:bofitp:2020_014 is not listed on IDEAS
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Siria Angino & Federico M Ferrara & Stefania Secola, 2022. "The cultural origins of institutional trust: The case of the European Central Bank," European Union Politics, , vol. 23(2), pages 212-235, June.
    2. Fazio, Andrea & Reggiani, Tommaso & Sabatini, Fabio, 2022. "The political cost of sanctions: Evidence from COVID-19," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 126(9), pages 872-878.
    3. Antoci, Angelo & Sabatini, Fabio & Sacco, Pier Luigi & Sodini, Mauro, 2022. "Experts vs. policymakers in the COVID-19 policy response," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 201(C), pages 22-39.
    4. Bellani Luna & Fazio Andrea & Scervini Francesco, 2023. "Collective negative shocks and preferences for redistribution: Evidence from the COVID-19 crisis in Germany," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 21(2), pages 381-403, June.
    5. Abel Brodeur & David Gray & Anik Islam & Suraiya Bhuiyan, 2021. "A literature review of the economics of COVID‐19," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(4), pages 1007-1044, September.
    6. Ligthart, Jenny E. & van Oudheusden, Peter, 2015. "In government we trust: The role of fiscal decentralization," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 116-128.
    7. Monica Martinez-Bravo & Carlos Sanz, 2022. "The Management of the Pandemic and its Effects on Trust and Accountability," Working Papers wp2022_2207, CEMFI.
    8. Nunkoo, Robin & Smith, Stephen L.J., 2013. "Political economy of tourism: Trust in government actors, political support, and their determinants," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 120-132.
    9. Aksoy, Cevat Giray & Eichengreen, Barry & Saka, Orkun, 2020. "The Political Scar of Epidemics," SocArXiv p25nh, Center for Open Science.
    10. Yajun Jiang & Yu Guo & Huiling Zhou, 2023. "Residents’ Perception of Tourism Impact, Participation and Support in Destinations under the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Intermediary Role of Government Trust," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-18, January.
    11. Ankush Goyal & Rajender Kumar, 2022. "Does Social Welfare Programmes Influence Households Trust in Local Administration and Their Political Participation? Evidence from the MGNREG Scheme in India," Indian Journal of Human Development, , vol. 16(3), pages 602-617, December.
    12. Anna Kern, 2017. "The Effect of Direct Democratic Participation on Citizens’ Political Attitudes in Switzerland: The Difference between Availability and Use," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 5(2), pages 16-26.
    13. Gavresi, Despina & Litina, Anastasia, 2023. "Past exposure to macroeconomic shocks and populist attitudes in Europe," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(3), pages 989-1010.
    14. Newton, Kenneth, 2005. "Support for democracy: Social capital, civil society and political performance," Discussion Papers, Research Group Civil Society, Citizenship and Political Mobilization in Europe SP IV 2005-402, WZB Berlin Social Science Center.
    15. David E. Bloom & Michael Kuhn & Klaus Prettner, 2022. "Modern Infectious Diseases: Macroeconomic Impacts and Policy Responses," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 60(1), pages 85-131, March.
    16. Eichengreen, Barry & Aksoy, Cevat Giray & Saka, Orkun, 2021. "Revenge of the experts: Will COVID-19 renew or diminish public trust in science?," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 193(C).
    17. Nunkoo, Robin, 2015. "Tourism development and trust in local government," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 623-634.
    18. repec:zbw:bofitp:2020_014 is not listed on IDEAS
    19. Klaus Gründler & Armin Hackenberger & Anina Harter & Niklas Potrafke, 2021. "Covid-19 Vaccination: The Role of Crisis Experience," CESifo Working Paper Series 9096, CESifo.
    20. Gianmarco Daniele & Andrea F.M. Martinangeli & Francesco Passarelli & Willem Sas & Lisa Windsteiger, 2023. "Externalities and the Erosion of Trust," CESifo Working Paper Series 10474, CESifo.
    21. Andrea F.M. Martinangeli & Marina Povitkina & Sverker C. Jagers & Bo Rothstein, 2020. "Institutional Quality Causes Social Trust: Experimental Evidence on Trusting Under the Shadow of Doubt," Working Papers tax-mpg-rps-2020-04, Max Planck Institute for Tax Law and Public Finance.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    COVID-19; Pandemic; Crisis; Survey data; Trust; Institutions;
    All these keywords.

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp-2024-14. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Siméon Rapin (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/widerfi.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.