Corruption and Trust in Government: Evidence from China

Research on corruption and trust in government in Western democracies shows that there is an association between corruption perception and trust in government. Corruption hinders the support for government. However, what is... [ view full abstract ]

Research on corruption and trust in government in Western democracies shows that there is an association between corruption perception and trust in government. Corruption hinders the support for government. However, what is less clear is whether the relationship exists in authoritarian regimes. The current research, using the Asian Barometer Survey II data set on China, finds that the level of corruption perception in the public sector has a negative and significant impact on trust in government including local governments, the police and the judicial system. We use instrumental variable method to address the endogeneity issue in this study. The article will report some policy implications for public
governance.