Institutional Quality and Generalized Trust: A Nonrecursive Causal Model

This paper investigates the association between institutional quality and generalized trust. Despite the importance of the topic, little quantitative empirical evidence exists to support either unidirectional or bidirectional causality for the reason that cross-sectional studies rarely model the reciprocal relationship between institutional quality and generalized trust. Using data from the World Values Survey, World Bank, and other data sources in an identified nonrecursive structural equation model, results show that generalized trust and institutional quality form a positive reciprocal relationship, where the connection is stronger from generalized trust to institutional quality. The conclusion discusses implications for theory and policy in this area.     

Online Social Networks and Trust

Social Indicators Research - We use Italian data from the Multipurpose Household Survey to explore how participation in social networking sites (SNS) such as Facebook and Twitter affects the most...     

The Value of Trust: An Analysis of Social Capital in Natural Areas

This paper defines and analyses the characteristics of social trust that develop in natural areas, examining the connections and interactions between the people and institutions involved. It offers a deeper understanding of the different degrees of trust and the identification of those attributes that affect the generation of this trust at three different levels: strategic, normative and cognitive. The study of the value of trust allows, or at least contributes to, an understanding of different levels of development. The study population consists of local associations, as a sample of existing social structures, and is taken from two areas in Andalusia, Spain. From the application of the proposed method a null hypothesis for the runs and Mann–Whitney tests is accepted at the three levels of trust for both areas. For strategic and cognitive trust, the behaviours of both areas are homogenous, while in the case of normative trust for the Chi square test the alternative hypothesis is accepted. The methodology that is developed demonstrates the interest presented by trust as a study variable in research dealing with social capital and its direct influence on the development of territories. Trust should be considered alongside physical, natural and human capital, since none of these alone is sufficient for complete territorial development.

     

Intercultural Experience as an Impediment of Trust: Examining the Impact of Intercultural Experience and Social Trust Culture on Institutional Trust in Government

Government is an important institution in every society, but public trust in government has been declining worldwide. Like social trust, institutional trust in government manifests in two forms—goodwill-based (based on intentions and purposes) and competence-based (based on competence and performance). Using archival data of the AsiaBarometer (2004), I found a cross-level interaction effect of intercultural experience and social trust culture on goodwill-based, but not competence-based, institutional trust in government. Intercultural experience was negatively related to goodwill-based institutional trust in government within regions of low social trust but not within regions of high social trust. Both types of institutional trust in government within regions of high social trust were lower than those within regions of low social trust. Furthermore, both types of institutional trust in government were positively related to socioeconomic, public, and personal life satisfaction. These findings shed light on the tension between institutional trust in government and social trust as well as a government’s dilemma posed by intercultural experience.     

Education and Life Satisfaction in Relation to the Probability of Social Trust: a Conceptual Framework and Empirical Analysis

We employ cross-sectional microdata from 2010 through 2012 collected by the Italian National Institute of Statistics to investigate the proposed conceptual framework regarding the joint relationship between education, life satisfaction and the probability of social trust. The analysis has been carried out using two alternative specifications of the logit model: parametric and semiparametric. Our findings suggest that (a) both modelling methods that we utilise yield consistent results in terms of the positive effects of education and life satisfaction on social trust; (b) for unsatisfied individuals, social trust is generally low and largely unresponsive to the individual’s education level, whereas for ‘sufficiently satisfied’ individuals, social trust increases strongly with education; (c) there are some gender differences in the joint relationship between education, life satisfaction and social trust and (d) the parametric approach tends to mask some interesting patterns that are captured by the semiparametric specification. This finding implies that the parametric approach leads to a biased interpretation of the results, with an apparent failure of some of the assumptions made in the conceptual framework.     

Social Trust,Social Partner Time and Television Time

Social trust is an important phenomenon, but the influence of important time-based measures upon trust has not been examined. Such measures include social contact and anti-social activity, such as television watching, which allows for the co-presence of other people. This paper reports on associations between trust and weighted means of co-present ‘social’ time (defined as time spent in various ‘social’ activities) and co-present time spent watching television, using the Australian Time Use Survey, 2006. It finds that trust is associated with social time spent in the co-presence of ‘strangers’ predominately from outside the household, and that TV watching in the co-presence of ‘familiars’—friends and family—is negatively associated with trust.     

An Exploratory Study of Religion and Trust in Ghana

Based on individual-level data from 2008 Afro-barometer survey, this study explores the relationship between religion (religious affiliation and religious importance) and trust (interpersonal and institutional) among Ghanaians. Employing hierarchical multiple regression technique, our analyses reveal a positive relationship between religious affiliation and both measures of trust among Ghanaians. A positive relationship between Catholic, Protestant, Muslim, Pentecostal/Evangelical faiths and interpersonal trust compared to non/traditional religion are detected. The data also reveal that upon controls, only Catholic and Pentecostal/Evangelical show significant positive effect on institutional trust among Ghanaians compared to non/traditional religion. It is worth noting that religious importance does not significantly predictor of neither interpersonal nor institutional trust among Ghanaians. The overall effect of religion on trust is weak, and weaker for institutional trust. Most of the difference relates to the difference between world religions and traditional religions. Place of residence, political affiliation, region of residence, ethnicity, and education are significant nonreligious predictors of both institution and interpersonal trust among Ghanaians. The findings further show that whereas age significantly influences only interpersonal trust, gender, life satisfaction, media exposure, sense of corruption, and sense of unfair treatment are significant factors molding institutional trust among Ghanaians. Policy implications of the study are discussed, emphasizing the need to incorporate religious organizations in efforts aimed at boosting interpersonal and institutional trust among Ghanaians. Religious-specific trust promotion program is suggested as possible strategy likely to succeed in Ghana. The need for more detailed studies in this important but ignored area is emphasized.     

Social Diversity,Institutions and Trust: A Cross-National Analysis

This cross-national investigation examines hypotheses derived from two major alternative perspectives on the determinants of trust in contemporary societies. Is a society’s level of generalized trust a function of its ethnic composition, or of its type of governance and political system? The argument that social diversity (ethnic, linguistic, and religious) leads to lower levels of trust, at least in the short run, is assessed with cross-national data (N = 98). Two hypotheses derived from this perspective are not confirmed. The alternative rational governance argument, which holds that trust is a function of rational governance, stable democracy, and civil rights is also assessed. Three hypotheses derived from this political perspective reveal mixed results. The findings highlight the complex interplay of multiple factors in shaping a society’s overall level of generalized trust.     

教育水平对失业风险影响的实证研究——“民工荒”和“大学生就业难”现象的再解释

利用201 1年中国社会状况综合调查数据,分析了教育水平对劳动者失业风险的影响,实证结果证明教育水平越高劳动者的失业风险越低,说明我国“民工荒”和“大学生就业难”现象是局部的和短期的,受到诸如摩擦性失业、劳动力市场分割、产业结构等其他因素的影响,而教育对劳动者就业的影响是显著而且正向的.因此,我们仍然需要大力发展教育,通过提高劳动者素质带动产业结构调整,同时通过产业结构调整来充分利用智力资源,此外,要促进劳动力市场的融合以及劳动者之间的自由流动和公平竞争.     

An Exploratory Study of Trust and Material Hardship in Ghana

We explore associations among interpersonal (thick and thin) and institutional (legislative, executive, and judicial) trust and material hardship outcomes in Ghana. We use data from the 2008 Afrobarometer survey. Material hardship is conceptualized in terms of frequency of going without five basic necessities/consumptive deprivations, each of which a separate outcome (food, water, medical care, cooking fuel, and cash income). Five multinomial logistic regression models are estimated. Models also include relevant socioeconomic and cultural factors. The stepwise forward entry method was used to identify important variables for each model, and common and unique predictors of each outcome are discussed. Results suggest that deprivations are trust-specific in Ghana. Interpersonal and institutional trust types matter differentially (for example, trust in parliament/national assembly is a unique food deprivation predictor; trust in courts is a unique water deprivation predictor; and trust in police is a unique cash income deprivation predictor). Common trust predictors across models are thin trust (trust in other Ghanaians) for predicting food and cooking fuel infrequency outcomes and executive trust for predicting water, medical care, and cash income infrequency outcomes. Some of the non-trust variables, like education and ethnicity, were prominent predictors of deprivation outcomes across all models. This is one of the beginning studies to explore micro-level data in an important area of trust and material hardship in Sub-Saharan Africa. The study also attempts to conceptualize material hardship within the context of a developing country and provides insightful results that could be beneficial to other research investigators and further probed in future studies building on this work. The study draws important implications for intervention policies based on analyses of material hardship composite parts which provide insights with great detail into specific target groups on specific component-outcomes.     

Causal Effects of Single-Sex Schools on College Entrance Exams and College Attendance: Random Assignment in Seoul High Schools

Despite the voluminous literature on the potentials of single-sex schools, there is no consensus on the effects of single-sex schools because of student selection of school types. We exploit a unique feature of schooling in Seoul—the random assignment of students into single-sex versus coeducational high schools—to assess causal effects of single-sex schools on college entrance exam scores and college attendance. Our validation of the random assignment shows comparable socioeconomic backgrounds and prior academic achievement of students attending single-sex schools and coeducational schools, which increases the credibility of our causal estimates of single-sex school effects. The three-level hierarchical model shows that attending all-boys schools or all-girls schools, rather than coeducational schools, is significantly associated with higher average scores on Korean and English test scores. Applying the school district fixed-effects models, we find that single-sex schools produce a higher percentage of graduates who attended four-year colleges and a lower percentage of graduates who attended two-year junior colleges than do coeducational schools. The positive effects of single-sex schools remain substantial, even after we take into account various school-level variables, such as teacher quality, the student-teacher ratio, the proportion of students receiving lunch support, and whether the schools are public or private.     

Changes in Social Trust: Evidence from East German Migrants

Social Indicators Research - Using three waves of the Germany's individual-level panel data, this paper analyses whether there are any changes in the trust levels of East German migrants who...     

Causal Analysis in Population Research: An Economist's Perspective

The problem of determining cause and effect is one of the oldest questions in the social sciences. This note provides a perspective on the analysis of causal relationships in population research, drawing upon recent discussions in the field of economics. Within economics, thinking about causal estimation has shifted markedly in the last decade toward a more pessimistic reading of what is possible and a retreat in the ambitiousness of claims of causal determination. The framework that underlies this conclusion is presented, methods for isolating causal effects are discussed, and an example from the field of population research is given.     

Trust,Social Networks and Subjective Wellbeing in China

Using data from the World Values Survey, this study examines the associations among trust, social networks and subjective wellbeing in China. We address the endogenous nature of trust and social networks, and examine how these elements of social capital affect subjective wellbeing. We also explore the interplay between trust and social networks. Existing literature suggests that trust and social networks positively impact wellbeing, with one strand of the literature suggesting that in developed countries social capital is a stronger determinant of wellbeing than income. However, we find that this is not the case for China (a developing country) where the effects of trust and social networks on wellbeing are found to be relatively weaker compared to the effect of income.     

Social Exclusion and Quality of Life: An Empirical Study from Turkey

We examine the perception of social exclusion and quality of life and their interactions among a group of Turkish citizens. For this purpose we used the social exclusion scale developed by Jehoel-Gijsbers and Vrooman and the WHOQOL-BREF scale. The study group consists of 2,493 participants who are residents of a city in Turkey. Our study was based on self reporting and voluntary participation. We used SEM (Structural Equation Modeling) for the analysis. We observed significant paths among several dimensions of quality of life and social exclusion. We found that the material deprivation dimension of social exclusion has a direct and negative impact on the environment and social relationships domains of quality of life. The material deprivation dimension explains 36% of the variation in the environment and 16% of the variation in social relationship domains of quality of life. This finding indicates that the material deprivation and social participation play an important role in the perception of environmental and psychological life quality. Physical health, social relationships, and environmental domains of life quality are important in the social participation dimension of perceived social exclusion.     

香港人在上海的社会融合—个案实证研究

本文通过对18名在沪香港人的个案访谈实证研究。探讨了香港人在上海的社会融合情况,主要从经济、生活、心理和文化几方面展开,同时对香港人在上海发展面临的机遇和挑战以及上海存在的优点和不足等进行了分析和思考。研究中。许多香港人表达了对上海生活的满意,但同时认为上海在政府管理体制、工作理念和个人素养等方面与香港存在一定差距．需要上海在未来的建设中加以关注和改进。     

市场转型、社会资本与城市居民的贫困缓解：以广州和兰州的贫困居民为例

使用广州和兰州的实证数据,在对贫困居民的社会资本测量的基础上,对贫困居民所拥有的各种资本包括社会资本、人力资本和传统体制资本与贫困居民的贫困缓解关系进行探讨。结果表明,个体的社会资本对居民的贫困缓解具有显著意义,但是人力资本、体制资本对个体生活机遇建构无显著意义。文后对市场转型论进行回应,并对城市贫困居民主要资本类型作用的制度环境进行了解释与讨论。     

Advocacy Communication and Social Identity: An Exploration of Social Media Outreach

Increasingly, advocacy organizations employ social networking sites as inexpensive and often effective ways to disseminate outreach messages. For groups working to reach lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) youth, social media provide key platforms for connecting with target audiences. Although these young people increasingly utilize social media, little is known about how digital advocacy campaigns influence their sexual identity formation. This article applies concepts of social identity to examine how LGBTQ youth understand advocacy campaigns, how they perceive LGBTQ as a social category presented in campaigns, and what values they assign to LGBTQ group membership.     

论生育关怀行动与构建社会公平机制

以“生育传承希望,关怀相伴和谐”为主题,以关怀计划生育困难家庭、关怀育龄群众生殖健康、关怀独生子女、关怀女孩健康成长、关怀基层计划生育工作者为重点内容的生育关怀行动,在全国范围内拉开了帷幕。生育关怀理念的形成,标志着我国计划生育的实现方式在科学发展观的统领下,发生了根本的转变,走上了一条既坚持“计划生育”,又倡导“生育关怀”两手抓的新路子。生育关怀理念的形成,丰富和发展了社会公平机制的内涵,对实现社会主义和谐社会必将产生重要的促进作用。1成就、缺失和问题的检省30年来,中国的计划生育是建立在以人均GDP增长为…