entrepreneurs to support the government and to exert effort in its stabilization. In return, politically connected firms get access … to profitable markets and are exempted from the regime's extortion. We show that such a gift exchange between government …

This paper studies how political fragmentation affects government stability. We show that each additional party with … representation in Parliament increases the probability that the incumbent government is unseated by 4 percentage points. Governments … with more resources at their disposal for bargaining are less likely to be replaced. When they are, new government leaders …

different measures of trust in government as well as including various controls, such as precautionary behaviors, first …

the most suffered the biggest loss in confidence in institutions, particularly in trust in government and the financial …We document that trust in public institutions - and particularly trust in banks, business and government - has declined … sector. Finally, analysis of several repeated cross-sections of confidence within U.S. states yields similar qualitative …

We present a theory linking political and social trust to explain trust erosion in modern societies. Individuals … heterogeneity has two important effects on trust. First, disappointment with the policy rule enacted by the government breeds … institutional distrust. Individuals that are more worried blame the government because the rule is too lenient. The less worried …

by government announcements, temporary educational subsidies, or (exogenous) tariff liberalization by trading partners …

organizations. We test this theory empirically by examining how the United States uses bilateral aid and IMF loans to buy other …