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The Empire Is Dead, Long Live the Empire! Long-Run Persistence of Trust and Corruption in the Bureaucracy

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  • Becker, Sascha O.
  • Boeckh, Katrin
  • Hainz, Christa
  • Woessmann, Ludger

Abstract

Do empires affect attitudes towards the state long after their demise? We hypothesize that the Habsburg Empire with its localized and well-respected administration increased citizens’ trust in local public services. In several Eastern European countries, communities on both sides of the long-gone Habsburg border have been sharing common formal institutions for a century now. Identifying from individuals living within a restricted band around the former border, we find that historical Habsburg affiliation increases current trust and reduces corruption in courts and police. Falsification tests of spuriously moved borders, geographic and pre-existing differences, and interpersonal trust corroborate a genuine Habsburg effect.

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Paper provided by C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers in its series CEPR Discussion Papers with number 8288.

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Date of creation: Mar 2011
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Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:8288

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Keywords: borders; corruption; Habsburg Empire; institutions; trust;

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Citations

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Cited by:
  1. Jan Fidrmuc, 2012. "How Persistent is Social Capital?," CEDI Discussion Paper Series 12-04, Centre for Economic Development and Institutions(CEDI), Brunel University.
  2. Fischer, Justina AV, 2012. "Globalization and political trust," MPRA Paper 37763, University Library of Munich, Germany.
  3. Nico Voigtländer & Hans-Joachim Voth, 2011. "Persecution Perpetuated: The Medieval Origins of Anti-Semitic Violence in Nazi Germany," Working Papers 551, Barcelona Graduate School of Economics.
  4. Justina AV Fischer, 2011. "Living under the ‘right’ government: does political ideology matter to trust in political institutions?," CEIS Research Paper 212, Tor Vergata University, CEIS, revised 14 Oct 2011.
  5. Michael Fritsch & Michael Wyrwich, 2012. "The Long Persistence of Regional Entrepreneurship Culture: Germany 1925 - 2005," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 1224, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
  6. Fischer, Justina, 2011. "Living under the ‘right’ government: does political ideology matter to trust in political institutions? An analysis for OECD countries," MPRA Paper 33344, University Library of Munich, Germany.
  7. Sascha O. Becker & Katrin Boeckh & Christa Hainz & Ludger Wößmann, 2011. "Wie das Habsburger Reich heute in den osteuropäischen Verwaltungen sichtbar ist," Ifo Schnelldienst, Ifo Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 64(12), pages 20-23, 07.
  8. Helmut Stix, 2012. "Why Do People Save in Cash? Distrust, Memories of Banking Crises, Weak Institutions and Dollarization," Working Papers 178, Oesterreichische Nationalbank (Austrian Central Bank).
  9. James Fenske, 2012. "African Polygamy: Past and Present," Economics Series Working Papers WPS/2012-20, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
  10. Mendelski, Martin & Libman, Alexander, 2011. "History matters, but how? An example of Ottoman and Habsburg legacies and judicial performance in Romania," Frankfurt School - Working Paper Series 175, Frankfurt School of Finance and Management.
  11. Ludger Wößmann, 2011. "Die Bedeutung von Bildung für die Wirtschaftsentwicklung: Eine neue wirtschaftshistorische Forschungsagenda anhand preußischer Kreisdaten, Teil 2," Ifo Schnelldienst, Ifo Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 64(01), pages 41-47, 01.

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