In Public Education Expenditures We Trust: Does Trust Increase Support for Public Education Expenditures?

Abstract

Trust is one crucial prerequisite for the welfare state. However, very few empirical studies exist that help us understand the mechanisms through which trust affects the welfare state. Influencing public support for developing friendly public policies might be one of these mechanisms. In this study, we use unique micro data from 34 countries to investigate the relationship between trust and support for public education expenditures. We use the Life in Transition Survey (LiTS) conducted by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the World Bank in 2010. Our empirical results show that trust has a positive effect on support for public education expenditures. Our results are robust when controlled for various individual characteristics and country fixed effects, tested using OLS and Probit models and different samples. This empirical evidence helps us understand the micro foundations of support for public education expenditures.