Trust in institutions and economic inequality: the case of Ukraine in 2020
[ 1 ] Wydział Inżynierii Zarządzania, Politechnika Poznańska | [ P ] employee
2024
scientific article / paper
english
- economic inequality
- trust in institutions
- economic growth
- democracy
- Ukraine
EN Purpose: In theory, economic inequality should have a negative impact on trust in institutions. However, empirical studies report mixed findings. This article investigates the proposition that the effect of economic inequality on trust in public institutions is non-linear. Design/methodology/approach: The study employs several OLS models to test hypotheses regarding the influence of economic inequality, the level of income at the individual level, and general trust on trust in public institutions in Ukraine before the full-scale military invasion. The data for Ukraine from the World Values Survey, Wave 7, was used to obtain individuallevel variables. Trust in public institutions was measured as the average level of confidence the respondent had in police, justice system/courts, civil servants, government and parliament. The indicator of regional economic inequality was calculated on the basis of government statistics for territories not occupied by Russia in 2014. Findings: The research points to the “inverted U” relationship between economic inequality and trust in public institutions. Hypotheses about the existence of (1) a positive and significant relationship between an individual income level and trust in public institutions, and (2) a positive and significant relationship between the level of trust in individuals and trust in institutions were also confirmed. In addition, the findings suggest that the level of individual income positively and significantly affects the influence of economic inequality on trust in public institutions. Research limitations/implications: The study used data from one country at one point in time, which requires further research using a wider dataset. Originality/value: The identified “inverted U” relationship can be used to explain the ambiguous results of research on the relationship between economic inequality and trust in public institutions.
517 - 533
CC BY-NC-ND (attribution - noncommercial - no derivatives)
open journal
final published version
at the time of publication
public
70