Why it Matters What People Think: Beliefs, Legal Origins and the Deep Roots of Trust

摘要: This paper deals with the direction of causality between culture and formal institutions. It does so by analysing causal relationship legal origins (institutions) trust (culture). empirically investigates deep historical roots constructing a proxy for persistent component trust. By making use these scores, drawing on information about exogenous or endogenous introduction origins, it assesses whether is to institutions there two-way both variables as suggested recent theoretical studies. Here, provides evidence that: (i) countries which are developed different depending their (ex-ante) values; (ii) that effects an (through e.g. colonization) vary levels. In consequence, concludes complex origins. result has important policy consequences, since means institutional change can be successful in long-run only if takes into account already existing affected countries.