Influence of interpersonal and institutional trusts on welfare state support revisited

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to focus on the effects of interpersonal and institutional trust on welfare state support in the countries of Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union (FSU). Design/methodology/approach The authors use micro-data from two rounds of a multinational survey conducted in these countries in 2010 and 2016. The outcome variable of interest is the willingness to pay more taxes to support the welfare state. The authors define the welfare state broadly, and focus on support for three main domains of the welfare state, namely, support for the needy, public healthcare and public education. Binomial regression is used to establish influence of interpersonal and institutional trust on welfare state support. Findings The authors find that both interpersonal and institutional trust have positive influences on strengthening support for the welfare state against a number of alternative explanations for public support for the welfare state. These positive effects remain the same for all three domains under investigation, namely, helping the needy, public healthcare and public education. Furthermore, these positive effects were observed both in the relatively less developed countries of the FSU and in the more developed Eastern European countries. Moreover, the positive effects of interpersonal and institutional trust on support for the needy, public healthcare and public education were found to grow over time. Research limitations/implications The findings indicate that the benefits of nurturing social capital will likely be substantial. Decision-makers, politicians, welfare state administrators and multinational founders (e.g. the UN and World Bank) should acknowledge the role played by trust in influencing the citizenry’s support for the allocation of financial resources toward the development and maintenance of the welfare state. The findings imply that welfare state reforms could prove be more effective within a social context where levels of trust are high. Thus, special attention should be paid to initiatives aimed at developing strategies to build trust. Practical implications Social welfare reforms in post-communist transitional countries may fail without active strategies aimed at nurturing institutional trust. One way to nurture institutional trust is through making additional efforts at enhancing the levels of accountability and transparency within a society as well as through increasing citizen engagement. Another way to build increased levels of trust is to take part in a variety of initiatives in good governance put forth by multinational initiatives. Originality/value As far as the authors know, this is the first paper which studies effect of interpersonal and institutional trust on support of the welfare state using a large and diverse sample of 27 countries over the period of five years. This is the first study which focuses on post-communist countries where trust is inherently low.

Trust, Transparency and Welfare: Third-Sector Adult Social Care Delivery and the COVID-19 Pandemic in the UK

“…As earlier work emphasises, the degree of institutional trust depends on the perceived ability of institutions to deliver the expected outcomes (Wong et al 2011;Habibov et al 2019). The current study highlights two dimensions to trust in the pandemic response: government officials' attitudes towards community groups and citizens' attitudes towards government (as well as state, private and third-sector ASC providers).…”

Public trust in the Chinese government and life satisfaction during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic

“…Therefore, it is necessary to pay attention to increasing the level of public trust in the government and transform it into a driving force for government officials to improve their work efficiency. Providing public services, increasing the levels of accountability and transparency within society, increasing citizen engagement and participating in various good governance initiatives proposed by multinational initiatives are all effective ways to foster institutional trust ( Habibov et al., 2019 ).…”

“…In contrast to advanced industrialized western countries, the progression of institutional trust in post-communist countries is a distinct circumstance. For example, Habibov et al (2019) point out that the transformation from centrally planned to market economies is accompanied by increases in poverty and inequality, and the decline of the quality and efficiency of public services. With this background in mind, this paper examines the role of institutional trust in China.…”

Trust and the educational gap in the demand for redistribution: Evidence from the World Values Survey and the European Value Study

“…In light of these discussions, the literature has clarified that institutional trust reinforces support for redistribution in each country, such as Norway and the United States (Goubin and Kumlin, 2022;Macdonald, 2019). Moreover, several international comparative analyses have also reported similar results among post-communist countries and European countries (Habibov, 2014;Habibov et al, 2019).…”

“…In addition, Van Oorschot (2006) has reported that social and institutional trust improve the perception of the deservingness of welfare state beneficiaries. In line with these arguments, recent studies on the welfare state have regarded social and institutional trust as the crucial determinants of welfare state support among citizens (Daniele and Geys, 2015;Edlund and Lindh, 2013;Habibov et al, 2019;Habibov et al, 2017a;Roosma et al, 2016;Svallfors, 2002); therefore, social and institutional trust may be important conditions for maintaining the welfare state (Bjørnskov and Svendsen, 2013;Brandt and Svendsen, 2010;Rothstein, 2001). In particular, some studies have uncovered that social trust may weaken the role of self-interest mechanisms in preferences for redistribution based on income (Nagayoshi and Sato, 2014;Yamamura, 2012).…”