Skip Navigation



European Sociological Review Advance Access published online on February 20, 2008
European Sociological Review, doi:10.1093/esr/jcn004
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
24/3/271    most recent
jcn004v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Bjørnskov, C.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The Author 2008. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Social Trust and Fractionalization: A Possible Reinterpretation

Christian Bjørnskov

Department of Economics, Aarhus School of Business, University of Aarhus, Prismet, Silkeborgvej 2, DK-8000 Aarhus C, Denmark. Tel: +45 89 48 61 81; Fax: +45 89 48 61 97; Email: ChBj{at}asb.dk

This paper takes a closer look at the importance of fractionalization for the creation of social trust. It first argues that the determinants of trust can be divided into two categories: those affecting individuals’ trust radii and those affecting social polarization. A series of estimates using a much larger country sample than in previous literature confirms that fractionalization in the form of income inequality and political diversity adversely affects social trust while ethnic diversity does not. However, these effects differ systematically across countries, questioning standard interpretations of the influence of fractionalization on trust.

Manuscript received: March 1, 2007.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.