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A Comment on “Inherited Trust and Growth”

Author

Listed:
  • Daniel Müller

    (School of Economics and Finance, Queensland University of Technology)

  • Benno Torgler

    (School of Economics and Finance, Queensland University of Technology)

  • Eric M. Uslaner

    (Department of Government and Politics, University of Maryland)

Abstract

Algan and Cahuc (2010) argue that “inherited trust” is a key factor in explaining growth rates across countries. They derive a measure of inherited trust by linking respondents' “home countries” in the United States General Social Survey (1972-2004) and the 2000 wave of the World Values Survey. Algan and Cahuc then estimate trust levels for people born before 1910 (inherited trust in 1935) and afterwards (inherited trust in 2000). They show a strong link between economic growth rates and inherited trust. We do not challenge this result, but we do argue that: (1) the 2000 World Values Survey has many anomalous results; (2) the estimates for inherited trust in 1935 are mostly based upon tiny samples for most ethnic heritage groups in the General Social Survey; and (3) Algan and Cahuc's findings are based upon two-tailed rather than one-tailed tests. We reestimate their model using the more reliable waves of the World Values Survey and find much weaker relationships between inherited trust in 1935 and trust in the home country. We also suggest caution in the overall measure of inherited trust in 1935.

Suggested Citation

  • Daniel Müller & Benno Torgler & Eric M. Uslaner, 2012. "A Comment on “Inherited Trust and Growth”," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 32(2), pages 1481-1488.
    • Handle: RePEc:ebl:ecbull:eb-12-00319
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    File URL: http://www.accessecon.com/Pubs/EB/2012/Volume32/EB-12-V32-I2-P142.pdf
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Clemens, Michael & Pritchett, Lant, 2016. "The New Case for Migration Restrictions: An Assessment," Working Paper Series rwp16-054, Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government.
    2. Clemens, Michael A. & Pritchett, Lant, 2019. "The new economic case for migration restrictions: An assessment," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 138(C), pages 153-164.
    3. Verena Jung & Sascha L. Schmidt & Benno Torgler, 2012. "Antecedents of Attitudes Towards Risky Career Choices," CREMA Working Paper Series 2012-20, Center for Research in Economics, Management and the Arts (CREMA).
    4. Alexandre Padilla & Nicolás Cachanosky, 2018. "The Grecian horse: does immigration lead to the deterioration of American institutions?," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 174(3), pages 351-405, March.
    5. Eric M. Uslaner, 2016. "A Reconsideration of Olivera’s “Changes in Inequality and Generalized Trust in Europe”," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 128(2), pages 723-729, September.
    6. Sascha L. Schmidt & Benno Torgler & Verena Jung, 2017. "Perceived trade-off between education and sports career: evidence from professional football," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 49(29), pages 2829-2850, June.
    7. Verena Jung & Sascha L. Schmidt & Benno Torgler, "undated". "Antecedents of Attitudes Towards Risky Career Choices," School of Economics and Finance Discussion Papers and Working Papers Series 297, School of Economics and Finance, Queensland University of Technology.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    inherited trust; generalized trust; US immigrants;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Z1 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics
    • D1 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior

    Lists

    This item is featured on the following reading lists, Wikipedia, or ReplicationWiki pages:
    1. A Comment on "Inherited Trust and Growth" (EB 2012) in ReplicationWiki

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