The Empire Is Dead, Long Live the Empire! Long-Run Persistence of Trust and Corruption in the Bureaucracy

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Becker, Sascha O.; Boeckh, Katrin; Hainz, Christa; Woessmann, Ludger
• 署名单位: University of Warwick; Centre for Economic Policy Research - UK; Leibniz Association; Ifo Institut; IZA Institute Labor Economics; University of Munich; University of Augsburg
• 刊物名称: ECONOMIC JOURNAL
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0013-0133
• DOI: 10.1111/ecoj.12220
• 发表日期: 2016
• 页码: 40-74
• 关键词: regression discontinuity designs; institutions; culture; TRADE; Europe; transmission; integration; beliefs; origins; HISTORY

摘要

We hypothesise that the Habsburg Empire with its well-respected administration increased citizens' trust in local public services. In several Eastern European countries, communities on both sides of the long-gone Habsburg border have shared common formal institutions for a century now. We use a border specification and a two-dimensional geographic regression discontinuity design to identify from individuals living within a restricted band around the former border. We find that historical Habsburg affiliation increases current trust and reduces corruption in courts and police. Falsification tests of spuriously moved borders, geographic and pre-existing differences and interpersonal trust corroborate a genuine Habsburg effect.