Does the empirical trust literature tell us how to restore trust?

ABSTRACT

This comment discusses the empirical trust literature that Vallier leverages in his book. It underlines that, to find policy instruments to restore trust, one must be confident that the estimated relations of trust with its determinants are causal and investigate the dynamics of those relations. The note also emphasizes the role of heterogeneity in those relations and in trust itself.

KEYWORDS:

• Empirics of trust
• causality
• dynamics
• quantitative significance
• heterogeneity

Acknowledgments

I thank the editor and three anonymous referees and participants to the online CRISPP symposium on Kevin Vallier’s book for useful comments.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Pierre-Guillaume Méon

Pierre-Guillaume Méon is professor of economics at Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB). He specializes in political and institutional economics. He has in particular worked on the effects of trust and corruption on development, total factor productivity, and the size of the shadow economy.