Replication Data for: Institutional Quality Causes Generalised Trust: Experimental Evidence on Trusting Under the Shadow of Doubt

Generalised trust is essential for collective action, which is at the heart of many societal problems. Institutional quality has been proposed as a determinant of generalised trust, though while the correlation between the two is strong and robust, the evidence on the causal link is scant. We show that this relationship is causal. We first experimentally expose individuals to institutions of different quality, operationalised as their ability to prevent corrupt behaviour. We then measure generalised trust using a trust game. The results show that institutional quality drives generalised trust and that this effect is generated by the mere doubt that corrupt behaviours might succeed, even without knowledge of occurrence or success of such behaviours. Cross-country comparisons with novel data support our results. Our contributions are the first causal experimental evidence on the link between institutional quality and trust and a novel experimental design for modelling institutional quality in laboratory settings.

普遍信任（generalised trust）对于集体行动至关重要，而集体行动正是诸多社会问题的核心所在。制度质量（institutional quality）此前被视作普遍信任的影响因素，尽管二者间的相关性显著且稳健，但关于二者因果关联的实证证据仍较为匮乏。本研究证实二者间存在因果关系。我们首先通过实验让受试者接触不同质量的制度，将制度质量操作化为其预防腐败行为的能力；随后借助信任博弈（trust game）对普遍信任进行测量。研究结果表明，制度质量驱动普遍信任，且该效应仅源于个体对腐败行为可能得逞的疑虑——即便个体并不知晓此类行为是否发生或成功。采用全新数据集开展的跨国比较分析进一步验证了本研究结论。本研究的贡献在于：首次通过实验为制度质量与信任间的关联提供了因果性实证证据，同时提出了一套在实验室环境中建模制度质量的全新实验设计方案。