Department of Economics and Business Economics

This paper asks whether the sensitivity of market long-term interest rates and credit ratings is associated with cross-country differences in social trust. We note a number of theoretical mechanisms that suggest that macroeconomic shocks are more likely to be effectively dealt with in higher-trust societies. A set of panel estimates across middle- and high-income countries reveals that interest rates and credit ratings are substantially more sensitive to inflation and growth problems in low-trust countries. This finding sheds light on the differential market reactions to macroeconomic problems in seemingly comparable countries.