IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/mnb/finrev/v24y2025i1p29-51.html

The Evolution of Trust in Central Banks during the Covid Crisis

Author

Listed:
  • Zoltan Korsos

    (Budapest Metropolitan University)

  • Eszter Baranyai

    (Magyar Nemzeti Bank, Budapest Metropolitan University)

Abstract

This paper examines the evolution of trust in central banks during the Covid-19 pandemic in euro area countries, using the example of the European Central Bank. The study focuses on the effects of the pandemic, but also analyses the role of demographic, economic and political factors. We use a probit model with data from Eurobarometer and the Oxford COVID-19 Government Response Tracker. Our results show that the pandemic led to a decline in institutional trust, though this effect is not specific to central banks. There is a positive relationship between stricter government measures and trust in central banks. Extreme political views - both left-wing and right-wing views - are associated with lower trust in central banks. Our results highlight the co-movements of trust in particular institutions, and draw attention to the need for a deeper understanding of the trust dynamics within extremist groups.

Suggested Citation

  • Zoltan Korsos & Eszter Baranyai, 2025. "The Evolution of Trust in Central Banks during the Covid Crisis," Financial and Economic Review, Magyar Nemzeti Bank (Central Bank of Hungary), vol. 24(1), pages 29-51.
    • Handle: RePEc:mnb:finrev:v:24:y:2025:i:1:p:29-51
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://hitelintezetiszemle.mnb.hu/sw/static/file/fer-24-1-st2-korsos-baranyai.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Michael Ehrmann & Marcel Fratzscher, 2011. "Politics and Monetary Policy," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 93(3), pages 941-960, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Fraccaroli, Nicolò & Giovannini, Alessandro & Jamet, Jean-François & Persson, Eric, 2022. "Ideology and monetary policy. The role of political parties’ stances in the European Central Bank’s parliamentary hearings," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    2. Jill Vardy, 2015. "Reputational Risk Management in Central Banks," Discussion Papers 15-16, Bank of Canada.
    3. Eijffinger, Sylvester C. W. & de Haan, Jakob, 2026. "Central bank independence: An update," IMFS Working Paper Series 229, Goethe University Frankfurt, Institute for Monetary and Financial Stability (IMFS).
    4. Helge Berger & Michael Ehrmann & Marcel Fratzscher, 2011. "Monetary Policy in the Media," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 43(4), pages 689-709, June.
    5. Ehrmann, Michael & Osbat, Chiara & Stráský, Jan & Uusküla, Lenno, 2014. "The euro exchange rate during the European sovereign debt crisis – Dancing to its own tune?," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 49(PB), pages 319-339.
    6. Salter, Alexander W. & Smith, Daniel J., 2019. "Political economists or political economists? The role of political environments in the formation of fed policy under burns, Greenspan, and Bernanke," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 1-13.
    7. Muhammed Bulutay, 2024. "Better than Perceived? Correcting Misperceptions about Central Bank Inflation Forecasts," Berlin School of Economics Discussion Papers 0034, Berlin School of Economics.
    8. de Haan, J. & Eijffinger, Sylvester, 2016. "The Politics of Central Bank Independence," Other publications TiSEM 54f2c3e3-46f2-4763-b1ac-b, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    9. Marcus Drometer & Thomas Siemsen & Sebastian Watzka, 2018. "The Monetary Policy of the ECB: Caring for the Weakest Links," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 71(4), pages 537-556, November.
    10. Ehrmann, Michael & Soudan, Michel & Stracca, Livio, 2012. "Explaining EU Citizens' Trust in the ECB in Normal and Crisis Times," Economics Series 289, Institute for Advanced Studies.
    11. Michael J. Lamla & Damjan Pfajfar & Lea Rendell, 2019. "Inflation and deflationary biases in inflation expectations," BIS Working Papers 789, Bank for International Settlements.
    12. Hyunwoo Kim, 2023. "Monetary technocracy and democratic accountability: how central bank independence conditions economic voting," Review of International Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(3), pages 939-964, May.
    13. Matthias Bauer, 2013. "Political Aversion To a Multilateral Fiscal Rule: The Dynamic Commitment Problem in European Fiscal Governance," Global Financial Markets Working Paper Series 44-2013, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena.
    14. Niţoi, Mihai & Pochea, Maria-Miruna, 2024. "Trust in the central bank, financial literacy, and personal beliefs," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 143(C).
    15. de Haan Jakob, 2019. "Some Reflections on the Political Economy of Monetary Policy," Review of Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 70(3), pages 213-228, December.
    16. Fraccaroli, Nicolò & Giovannini, Alessandro & Jamet, Jean-Francois & Persson, Eric, 2022. "Ideology and monetary policy: the role of political parties’ stances in the ECB’s parliamentary hearings," Working Paper Series 2655, European Central Bank.
    17. Wildmer Daniel Gregori & Wildmer Agnese Sacchi, 2016. "Has the Grexit news spilled over into euro area financial markets? The role of domestic political leaders, supranational executives and institutions," Mo.Fi.R. Working Papers 134, Money and Finance Research group (Mo.Fi.R.) - Univ. Politecnica Marche - Dept. Economic and Social Sciences.
    18. Alan S. Blinder & Michael Ehrmann & Jakob de Haan & David-Jan Jansen, 2024. "Central Bank Communication with the General Public: Promise or False Hope?," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 62(2), pages 425-457, June.
    19. Kamps, Christophe & Bussière, Matthieu & Niessner, Birgit & Tristani, Oreste & Christoffel, Kai & Kapadia, Sujit & Ferrero, Giuseppe & Gilbert, Niels & Vlassopoulos, Thomas & Motto, Roberto & Gerke, R, 2025. "Report on monetary policy tools, strategy and communication," Occasional Paper Series 372, European Central Bank.
    20. Klodiana Istrefi & Anamaria Piloiu, 2020. "Public Opinion on Central Banks when Economic Policy is Uncertain," Revue d'économie politique, Dalloz, vol. 130(2), pages 283-306.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • E58 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit - - - Central Banks and Their Policies
    • F33 - International Economics - - International Finance - - - International Monetary Arrangements and Institutions
    • Z13 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology; Language; Social and Economic Stratification

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:mnb:finrev:v:24:y:2025:i:1:p:29-51. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Morvay Endre The email address of this maintainer does not seem to be valid anymore. Please ask Morvay Endre to update the entry or send us the correct address (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/mnbgvhu.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.