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Ethnic Diversity, a Desolation Row for Interpersonal Trust?

Lundstedt, Jonas LU and Nissling, Simon LU (2016) NEKH01 20152
Department of Economics
Abstract
In this paper we will investigate whether the ethnic composition of a county affects their
trust. More specifically we will answer the question: does the ethnic composition affect
the level of trust in Sweden and are there any specific factors that increase this effect? In
order to do this we use data on Swedish citizens from the year 2001 to the year 2012. As
an approximation for ethnicity we use the individuals country of birth and to estimate
trust we use two different measures: general trust and local trust. We also collected
numerous of context variables to control for unwanted effects. Using a multiple regression
analysis we isolate the impact of ethnic heterogeneity on trust. In addition to this we
tested for several... (More)
In this paper we will investigate whether the ethnic composition of a county affects their
trust. More specifically we will answer the question: does the ethnic composition affect
the level of trust in Sweden and are there any specific factors that increase this effect? In
order to do this we use data on Swedish citizens from the year 2001 to the year 2012. As
an approximation for ethnicity we use the individuals country of birth and to estimate
trust we use two different measures: general trust and local trust. We also collected
numerous of context variables to control for unwanted effects. Using a multiple regression
analysis we isolate the impact of ethnic heterogeneity on trust. In addition to this we
tested for several interaction effects to see if some factors are especially harmful on trust
when combined with ethnic heterogeneity. Starting with a paper by Putnam (2007)
there has been a debate in Europe regarding whether ethnic heterogeneity affect the
level of trust and much research on the subject has been published. However, our paper
contributes to this research in two ways: It looks at the relation between the change
as well as the level of ethnic heterogeneity on trust and with the basis in the theories
from Lipset and Rokkan (1967) we check for interaction effect that might increase the
negative effect on trust. Our study shows that ethnic diversification has a significant
negative effect on local trust while no significant conclusions can be made when it comes
to general trust. No significant interaction effects are found. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Lundstedt, Jonas LU and Nissling, Simon LU
supervisor
organization
course
NEKH01 20152
year
type
M2 - Bachelor Degree
subject
keywords
Local trust, General trust, Ethnic diversity
language
English
id
8521615
date added to LUP
2016-02-11 14:59:31
date last changed
2016-02-11 14:59:31
@misc{8521615,
  abstract     = {{In this paper we will investigate whether the ethnic composition of a county affects their
trust. More specifically we will answer the question: does the ethnic composition affect
the level of trust in Sweden and are there any specific factors that increase this effect? In
order to do this we use data on Swedish citizens from the year 2001 to the year 2012. As
an approximation for ethnicity we use the individuals country of birth and to estimate
trust we use two different measures: general trust and local trust. We also collected
numerous of context variables to control for unwanted effects. Using a multiple regression
analysis we isolate the impact of ethnic heterogeneity on trust. In addition to this we
tested for several interaction effects to see if some factors are especially harmful on trust
when combined with ethnic heterogeneity. Starting with a paper by Putnam (2007)
there has been a debate in Europe regarding whether ethnic heterogeneity affect the
level of trust and much research on the subject has been published. However, our paper
contributes to this research in two ways: It looks at the relation between the change
as well as the level of ethnic heterogeneity on trust and with the basis in the theories
from Lipset and Rokkan (1967) we check for interaction effect that might increase the
negative effect on trust. Our study shows that ethnic diversification has a significant
negative effect on local trust while no significant conclusions can be made when it comes
to general trust. No significant interaction effects are found.}},
  author       = {{Lundstedt, Jonas and Nissling, Simon}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Ethnic Diversity, a Desolation Row for Interpersonal Trust?}},
  year         = {{2016}},
}