Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/214613 
Year of Publication: 
2019
Series/Report no.: 
CREMA Working Paper No. 2019-04
Publisher: 
Center for Research in Economics, Management and the Arts (CREMA), Zürich
Abstract: 
Do crises erode trust in government? To answer this question, we leverage the quasi-experimental setting of the sharply increased military threat to the neutral county of Switzerland during the two world wars as an exogenous shock. In doing so, we exploit a unique feature of Swiss politics: government issuance of pre-referenda voting recommendations. We use constitu ent adherence to government recommendations as a behaviour al proxy for trus t in government, measured in real time prior to, duri ng, and after the crisis. Our difference-in- differences estimates provide strong evidence that constituents are significantly less likely to follow governmental voting recommendations during wartime.
Subjects: 
Trust in Government
Crisis
WWII
World War II
Referenda
Switzerland
JEL: 
D72
D74
H56
H79
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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