The Economic Crisis and its Impact on Trust in Institutions in Transition Countries

This paper examines citizen trust in social institutions, including government, and the impact of the 2008-2009 global economic crisis in transition countries. Empirical models are estimated that explain how the crisis affected trust in institutions, including the presidency, government/cabinet of ministers, parliament, courts, political parties, armed forces, police, banks and the financial system, foreign investors, NGOs, trade unions, and religious institutions. Beyond these institutions, models are estimated explaining citizen's reported trust in people in general. In addition, models are estimated to explain respondents' desired intensity of income redistribution and their support for a market economy. Data employed in the analyses are from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development's Life in Transition Survey (LITS), wave one collected in 2006 and wave two collected in 2010. By using these two waves of survey data and a set of control variables, the trust-impact of the economic crisis is identified for each institution examined, and preferences for redistribution and attitudes toward a market economy are modeled