Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/214508 
Year of Publication: 
2012
Series/Report no.: 
CREMA Working Paper No. 2012-04
Publisher: 
Center for Research in Economics, Management and the Arts (CREMA), Basel
Abstract: 
Algan and Cahuc in "Inherited Trust and Growth" (AER, 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.
Subjects: 
inherited trust
generalized trust
US immigrants
JEL: 
N31
N32
Z12
Z13
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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