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Social Trust and Democracy

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  • Khalifa, Sherif

    (California State University)

Abstract

This paper examines the effect of social trust on democracy and identifies the channels of transmission. The paper uses the World Values Survey to examine the effect of social trust on democracy. To account for potential endogeneity, the paper uses instrumental variables for social trust. The instruments used are the mean elevation and the terrain ruggedness. The estimation results for cross section and panel data show that trust, instrumented by these topographic variables, has a statistically significant positive effect on democracy. The evidence also indicates that trust affects democracy indirectly through enhancing institutional quality which improves democratic governance according to the Hayek-Friedman hypothesis, and through inducing the accumulation of human capital which in turn improves democratic governance according to the modernization theory. The results are robust using alternative techniques and different indicators and datasets.

Suggested Citation

  • Khalifa, Sherif, 2024. "Social Trust and Democracy," Journal of Economic Development, The Economic Research Institute, Chung-Ang University, vol. 49(4), pages 1-23, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:ris:jecdev:0098
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Geography; Trust; Democracy;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O10 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - General
    • P50 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Comparative Economic Systems - - - General
    • Z10 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - General

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