IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/zbw/espost/335116.html

Institutional Trust and Subjective Well-Being in Post-Soviet Countries

Author

Listed:
  • Egamberdiev, Bekhzod
  • Bobojonov, Ihtiyor
  • Kuhn, Lena

Abstract

Post-Soviet countries have still been experiencing a transition in governance and institutional performance. However, such transitions are not always explained by citizens' high institutional trust, reflecting on their subjective well-being. One of the objectives of the study is to identify a typology of institutional trust using a post-Soviet context. We use the Life in Transition dataset by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development for twelve transitional countries. We apply a three-step approach for Latent Profile Analysis (LPA) in the estimation strategy. Using LPA with 11-item scale questions for subjective well-being, we obtain “Low Satisfaction”, “Medium Satisfaction”, and “High Satisfaction” homogenous profiles. Using Principal Component Analysis (PCA) with 14 personal statements, we also measure institutional trust towards the performance of institutions. The relationship between institutional trust and life satisfaction profiles indicates that the "Medium Satisfaction" and "High Satisfaction" classes, compared to the "Low Satisfaction" profiles, are positively associated with higher institutional trust. We also analyse the effect of institutional trust on life satisfaction through corruption. The findings confirm a positive effect of institutional trust on life satisfaction.

Suggested Citation

  • Egamberdiev, Bekhzod & Bobojonov, Ihtiyor & Kuhn, Lena, 2025. "Institutional Trust and Subjective Well-Being in Post-Soviet Countries," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 67(4), pages 779-805.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:espost:335116
    DOI: 10.1057/s41294-025-00259-z
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/335116/1/41294_2025_Article_259.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1057/s41294-025-00259-z?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. John F. Helliwell & Christopher P. Barrington‐Leigh, 2010. "Viewpoint: Measuring and understanding subjective well‐being," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 43(3), pages 729-753, August.
    2. Rainer, Helmut & Siedler, Thomas, 2009. "Does democracy foster trust?," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 37(2), pages 251-269, June.
    3. Vermunt, Jeroen K., 2010. "Latent Class Modeling with Covariates: Two Improved Three-Step Approaches," Political Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 18(4), pages 450-469.
    4. Miller, Arthur H. & Listhaug, Ola, 1990. "Political Parties and Confidence in Government: A Comparison of Norway, Sweden and the United States," British Journal of Political Science, Cambridge University Press, vol. 20(3), pages 357-386, July.
    5. Peter Graeff & Gert Svendsen, 2013. "Trust and corruption: The influence of positive and negative social capital on the economic development in the European Union," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 47(5), pages 2829-2846, August.
    6. Iddisah Sulemana & Abdul Malik Iddrisu & Jude E. Kyoore, 2017. "A Micro-Level Study of the Relationship Between Experienced Corruption and Subjective Wellbeing in Africa," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 53(1), pages 138-155, January.
    7. Behera, Deepak Kumar & Rahut, Dil B & Padmaja, M & Dash, Ajit Kumar, 2024. "Socioeconomic determinants of happiness: Empirical evidence from developed and developing countries," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 109(C).
    8. Leonie C. Steckermeier, 2021. "The Value of Autonomy for the Good Life. An Empirical Investigation of Autonomy and Life Satisfaction in Europe," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 154(2), pages 693-723, April.
    9. Yevgeny Ivanov, 2022. "Revolutions in Kyrgyzstan," Societies and Political Orders in Transition, in: Jack A. Goldstone & Leonid Grinin & Andrey Korotayev (ed.), Handbook of Revolutions in the 21st Century, pages 517-547, Springer.
    10. Paldam, Martin & Svendsen, Gert Tinggaard, 2000. "An essay on social capital: looking for the fire behind the smoke," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 16(2), pages 339-366, June.
    11. Kaasa, Anneli & Andriani, Luca, 2022. "Determinants of institutional trust: the role of cultural context," Journal of Institutional Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 18(1), pages 45-65, February.
    12. Frank Crowley & Edel Walsh, 2024. "Tolerance, social capital, and life satisfaction: a multilevel model from transition countries in the European Union," Review of Social Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 82(1), pages 23-50, January.
    13. Dong Zhou & Weiguang Deng & Xiaoyu Wu, 2020. "Impacts of Internet Use on Political Trust: New Evidence from China," Emerging Markets Finance and Trade, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 56(14), pages 3235-3251, November.
    14. Kaito Doi & Masato Hiwatari, 2023. "Heterogeneous Impacts of Community-Level Trust on Life Satisfaction in Transition Countries: Perspectives on Institutions and Regional Diversity," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 18(6), pages 2895-2934, December.
    15. Tatiana Karabchuk & Kazuhiro Kumo & Kseniia Gatskova & Ekaterina Skoglund (ed.), 2021. "Gendering Post-Soviet Space," Springer Books, Springer, number 978-981-15-9358-1, October.
    16. Hogan, Michael J. & Leyden, Kevin M. & Conway, Ronan & Goldberg, Abraham & Walsh, Deirdre & McKenna-Plumley, Phoebe E., 2016. "Happiness and health across the lifespan in five major cities: The impact of place and government performance," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 162(C), pages 168-176.
    17. Christoph Glatz & Andreas Schwerdtfeger, 2022. "Disentangling the Causal Structure Between Social Trust, Institutional Trust, and Subjective Well-Being," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 163(3), pages 1323-1348, October.
    18. Jeffrey M Wooldridge, 2010. "Econometric Analysis of Cross Section and Panel Data," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 2, volume 1, number 0262232588, December.
    19. McNamee, Paul & Mendolia, Silvia, 2014. "The effect of chronic pain on life satisfaction: Evidence from Australian data," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 121(C), pages 65-73.
    20. Ed Diener & Ronald Inglehart & Louis Tay, 2013. "Theory and Validity of Life Satisfaction Scales," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 112(3), pages 497-527, July.
    21. Nazim Habibov & Elvin Afandi, 2015. "Pre- and Post-crisis Life-Satisfaction and Social Trust in Transitional Countries: An Initial Assessment," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 121(2), pages 503-524, April.
    22. Henry Kaiser, 1958. "The varimax criterion for analytic rotation in factor analysis," Psychometrika, Springer;The Psychometric Society, vol. 23(3), pages 187-200, September.
    23. Marco Ciziceno & Giovanni A. Travaglino, 2019. "Perceived Corruption and Individuals’ Life Satisfaction: The Mediating Role of Institutional Trust," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 141(2), pages 685-701, January.
    24. Amanina Abdur Rahman & Spyridon Stavropoulos & Martijn Burger & Elena Ianchovichina, 2021. "Does Institutional Quality Moderate the Relationship between Corruption and Subjective Well-Being?," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 41(3), pages 975-996.
    25. Dina Sharipova & Alma Kudebayeva, 2023. "Changing Well-Being in Central Asia: Evidence from Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 24(3), pages 1233-1260, March.
    26. Bastien Perrot & Emmanuelle Bataille & Jean-Benoit Hardouin, 2018. "validscale: A command to validate measurement scales," Stata Journal, StataCorp LLC, vol. 18(1), pages 29-50, March.
    27. Christian Kroll, 2011. "Different Things Make Different People Happy: Examining Social Capital and Subjective Well-Being by Gender and Parental Status," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 104(1), pages 157-177, October.
    28. Dong Zhou & Weiguang Deng & Xiaoyu Wu, 2020. "Impacts of Internet Use on Political Trust: New Evidence from China," Emerging Markets Finance and Trade, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 56(14), pages 3235-3251, November.
    29. Pitlik, Hans & Rode, Martin, 2017. "Individualistic values, institutional trust, and interventionist attitudes," Journal of Institutional Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 13(3), pages 575-598, September.
    30. Sujarwoto Sujarwoto & Gindo Tampubolon, 2015. "Decentralisation and Citizen Happiness: A Multilevel Analysis of Self-rated Happiness in Indonesia," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 16(2), pages 455-475, April.
    31. Heikki Ervasti & Antti Kouvo & Takis Venetoklis, 2019. "Social and Institutional Trust in Times of Crisis: Greece, 2002–2011," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 141(3), pages 1207-1231, February.
    32. Hanyu Xiao & Ting Gong & Chilik Yu & Wen-Jong Juang & Baishun Yuan, 2020. "Citizens’ Confidence in Government Control of Corruption: An Empirical Analysis," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 152(3), pages 877-897, December.
    33. Isabella Mingo & Maria Paola Faggiano, 2020. "Trust in Institutions Between Objective and Subjective Determinants: A Multilevel Analysis in European Countries," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 151(3), pages 815-839, October.
    34. Qiang Li & Lian An, 2020. "Corruption Takes Away Happiness: Evidence from a Cross-National Study," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 21(2), pages 485-504, February.
    35. Marta Portela & Isabel Neira & Maria del Salinas-Jiménez, 2013. "Social Capital and Subjective Wellbeing in Europe: A New Approach on Social Capital," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 114(2), pages 493-511, November.
    36. Henry Kaiser, 1974. "An index of factorial simplicity," Psychometrika, Springer;The Psychometric Society, vol. 39(1), pages 31-36, March.
    37. Aribah Aslam & Uzair Mushtaq & Ghulam Ghouse & Rabeeya Raoof, 2025. "Corruption and Happiness: Fortune or Evil?," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 16(1), pages 5693-5713, March.
    38. Nikolova, Elena & Sanfey, Peter, 2016. "How much should we trust life satisfaction data? Evidence from the Life in Transition Survey," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 44(3), pages 720-731.
    39. Lucía Macchia & Anke C. Plagnol, 2019. "Life Satisfaction and Confidence in National Institutions: Evidence from South America," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 14(3), pages 721-736, July.
    40. Chiara Amini & Elodie Douarin, 2020. "Corruption and Life Satisfaction in Transition: Is Corruption a Social Norm in Eastern Europe?," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 151(2), pages 723-766, September.
    41. Alan C. Acock, 2013. "Discovering Structural Equation Modeling Using Stata," Stata Press books, StataCorp LLC, number dsemus, March.
    42. Orkhan Nadirov & Khatai Aliyev & Bruce Dehning & Ilaha Sharifzada & Rafiga Aliyeva, 2021. "Life Satisfaction and Tax Morale in Azerbaijan: Mediating Role of Institutional Trust and Financial Satisfaction," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-10, November.
    43. Iryna Storonyanska & Olena Ivashko & Elena Mieszajkina, 2022. "Trust as a Catalyst of Economic Growth: A National and Regional Breakdown," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(22), pages 1-14, November.
    44. Chris Bidner & Patrick Francois, 2011. "Cultivating Trust: Norms, Institutions and the Implications of Scale," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 121(555), pages 1097-1129, September.
    45. Minxiang Zhao & Yixuan Li & Junqi Lin & Yuan Fang & Yuchuan Yang & Boyang Li & Yan Dong, 2024. "The Relationship Between Trust and Well-Being: A Meta-Analysis," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 25(5), pages 1-26, June.
    46. Johan Graafland & Bjorn Lous, 2019. "Income Inequality, Life Satisfaction Inequality and Trust: A Cross Country Panel Analysis," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 20(6), pages 1717-1737, August.
    47. Camfield, Laura & Esposito, Lucio, 2014. "A Cross-Country Analysis of Perceived Economic Status and Life Satisfaction in High- and Low-Income Countries," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 212-223.
    48. Alma Kudebayeva & Alma Sharipova & Dina Sharipova, 2022. "Social Capital and Subjective Well-Being in Central Asia," Europe-Asia Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 74(1), pages 101-124, January.
    49. Christoph Glatz & Anja Eder, 2020. "Patterns of Trust and Subjective Well-Being Across Europe: New Insights from Repeated Cross-Sectional Analyses Based on the European Social Survey 2002–2016," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 148(2), pages 417-439, April.
    50. Christian Dippel & Andreas Ferrara & Stephan Heblich, 2020. "Causal mediation analysis in instrumental-variables regressions," Stata Journal, StataCorp LLC, vol. 20(3), pages 613-626, September.
    51. Viola Angelini & Danilo Cavapozzi & Luca Corazzini & Omar Paccagnella, 2012. "Age, Health and Life Satisfaction Among Older Europeans," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 105(2), pages 293-308, January.
    52. Vedran Recher, 2022. "History Matters: Life Satisfaction in Transition Countries," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 23(1), pages 171-193, January.
    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. Kaito Doi & Masato Hiwatari, 2023. "Heterogeneous Impacts of Community-Level Trust on Life Satisfaction in Transition Countries: Perspectives on Institutions and Regional Diversity," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 18(6), pages 2895-2934, December.
    2. Egamberdiev, Bekhzod & Bobojonov, Ihtiyor & Kuhn, Lena & Glauben, Thomas, 2023. "Household resilience capacity and food security: Evidence from Kyrgyzstan," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 15(4), pages 967-988.
    3. Călin Vâlsan & Elena Druică & Zizi Goschin & Rodica Ianole-Călin, 2024. "The Perception of Economic Growth and the Romanian “Mioritic Syndrome”," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 15(1), pages 3718-3739, March.
    4. Hoolda Kim & Baeyong Lee, 2026. "Exploring the Determinants of Subjective Well-Being in Older Adults: A Cross-National Analysis of Social, Political, Economic, and Demographic Factors," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 27(2), pages 1-35, February.
    5. Egamberdiev, Bekhzod, 2024. "Resilience Capacity and Food Security: Is There a Relationship Between Household Resilience Profiles and Food Security Outcomes?," EconStor Preprints 305322, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
    6. Minxiang Zhao & Yixuan Li & Junqi Lin & Yuan Fang & Yuchuan Yang & Boyang Li & Yan Dong, 2024. "The Relationship Between Trust and Well-Being: A Meta-Analysis," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 25(5), pages 1-26, June.
    7. Egamberdiev, Bekhzod, 2024. "Social capital effects on resilience to food insecurity: Evidence from Kyrgyzstan," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 36(1), pages 435-450.
    8. Paul Downward & Peter Dawson, 2016. "Is it Pleasure or Health from Leisure that We Benefit from Most? An Analysis of Well-Being Alternatives and Implications for Policy," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 126(1), pages 443-465, March.
    9. Sor Tho Ng & Nai Peng Tey & M Niaz Asadullah, 2017. "What matters for life satisfaction among the oldest-old? Evidence from China," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(2), pages 1-16, February.
    10. Elvisa Drishti & Zamira Shkreli & Edvin Zhllima & Blendi Gerdoçi, 2023. "Deprivation, Social Mobility Considerations, and Life Satisfaction: A Comparative Study of 33 European Countries," Comparative Economic Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Association for Comparative Economic Studies, vol. 65(3), pages 511-550, September.
    11. Felix Bittmann, 2022. "How Trust Makes a Difference: The Impact of the First Wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Life Satisfaction in Germany," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 17(3), pages 1389-1405, June.
    12. Ararat, Melsa & Black, Bernard S. & Yurtoglu, B. Burcin, 2017. "The effect of corporate governance on firm value and profitability: Time-series evidence from Turkey," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 113-132.
    13. Luca Andriani & Gaygysyz Ashyrov, 2022. "Corruption and life satisfaction: Evidence from a transition survey," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 75(4), pages 511-535, November.
    14. Justina Shiroka-Pula & Will Bartlett & Besnik A. Krasniqi, 2023. "Can the Government Make Us Happier? Institutional Quality and Subjective Well-Being Across Europe," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 18(2), pages 677-696, April.
    15. Amendolagine, Vito & von Jacobi, Nadia, 2023. "Symbiotic relationships among formal and informal institutions: Comparing five Brazilian cultural ecosystems," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 47(3).
    16. Habibov, Nazim & Cheung, Alex & Auchynnikava, Alena, 2017. "Does social trust increase willingness to pay taxes to improve public healthcare? Cross-sectional cross-country instrumental variable analysis," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 189(C), pages 25-34.
    17. David G. Blanchflower & Carol L. Graham, 2022. "The Mid-Life Dip in Well-Being: a Critique," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 161(1), pages 287-344, May.
    18. Nazim Habibov & Elvin Afandi, 2015. "Pre- and Post-crisis Life-Satisfaction and Social Trust in Transitional Countries: An Initial Assessment," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 121(2), pages 503-524, April.
    19. Andriani, Luca & Ashyrov, Gaygysyz, 2025. "Life satisfaction and tax preferences in transition economies," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 49(3).
    20. Bhuiyan, Muhammad Faress & Ivlevs, Artjoms, 2019. "Micro-entrepreneurship and subjective well-being: Evidence from rural Bangladesh," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 34(4), pages 625-645.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
    • J17 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Value of Life; Foregone Income
    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration
    • P20 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Socialist and Transition Economies - - - General

    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:zbw:espost:335116. 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: ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/zbwkide.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.