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Institutional trust and welfare state support: on the role of trust in market institutions

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 October 2013

Jonas Edlund  and
Arvid Lindh
Jonas Edlund
Affiliation:
Department of Sociology, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden E-mail: [email protected]
Arvid Lindh
Affiliation:
Department of Sociology, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden E-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

The importance of institutional trust for structuring welfare state support (WSS) has been advanced by several scholars. Yet, the thesis has not received convincing empirical support. We argue that the weak evidence observed by previous research is caused by the failure of not extending the analytical framework beyond the study of public institutions. Using Sweden as a test case, our analytical framework covers trust in public institutions (TPI) and market institutions (TMI). The main findings are: (1) TMI has a robust negative effect on WSS; (2) the expected relationship between TPI and WSS is strengthened controlling for TMI; (3) TMI mediates the relationships between socio-economic variables and WSS. These findings underline the importance of bringing in other institutional configurations that are seen as conceivable alternatives to the state for administrating social welfare, not the least in studies primarily interested in the link between TPI and support for state-organised welfare.

Keywords

attitudesinstitutionsmarketpublictrustwelfare state
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Public Policy , Volume 33 , Issue 3 , December 2013 , pp. 295 - 317
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2013 

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