Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/267308 
Year of Publication: 
2022
Series/Report no.: 
CESifo Working Paper No. 10075
Publisher: 
Center for Economic Studies and ifo Institute (CESifo), Munich
Abstract: 
This paper empirically links the efficiency and performance assessment of the general government, proxied by efficiency scores, to the trust in government. Government spending efficiency scores are first computed via data envelopment analysis (DEA). Then, relying on panel data and instrumental variable approaches, we estimate the effect of public sector efficiency on citizens trust on national governments. The sample covers 36 OECD countries between 2007 and 2019. We find that the more efficient countries in terms of government spending are Australia, Chile, Ireland, New Zealand, South Korea, Switzerland. Secondly, our main finding is that better public sector spending efficiency is positively associated with citizens' higher trust in governments. In general, political economy variables and the existence of fiscal rules do not seem to significantly affect our measure of trust. Results were held using alternative proxies for public sector efficiency, specifications with different control variables and instrumental variables approaches.
Subjects: 
government spending efficiency
DEA
panel data analysis
confidence effects
ideology
fiscal rules
JEL: 
C14
C23
E44
G15
H11
H50
Document Type: 
Working Paper
Appears in Collections:

Files in This Item:
File
Size





Items in EconStor are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.