Cultural Values, Institutions, and Trust

Using experimental surveys as a primary source, Kim and Kim compare a wide range of developed countries to assess the determinants of generalized social trust. With data from Belgium, France, Italy, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, the Netherlands, and the United States, Kim and Kim present a detailed picture of trust at the individual level, across different ethnic groups, and across different regions with economic and cultural distinctions. They focus on a range of concepts, including generalized trust and familism; causal relationships among cultural values, particularized trust, and institutional trust at the individual level; and relationships between culture, wealth, and governance at the macro-level. In doing so, they consolidate substantial quantitative data with rigorous theoretical analysis and advance our understanding of social trust and prosociality in general. A valuable resource for researchers and advanced students in political science, sociology, and social psychology around the world.

Seung Hyun Kim is a professor emeritus of public administration at Seoul National University of Science and Technology, Seoul, South Korea, and a visiting scholar of political science at Purdue University. His research interests focus on social trust, methodology, and the third sector. His research has been published in many journals, including Administration & Society, International Journal of Public Opinion Research, International Public Management Journal, International Review of Public Administration, and Review of Public Personnel Administration. He wrote a book on the nonprofit sector and translated Albert O Hirschman's The Passions and the Interests into Korean. Sangmook Kim is a professor of public administration at Seoul National University of Science and Technology, Seoul, South Korea. His research interests include public service motivation, organizational behavior, human resource management, and social trust. His research has been published in numerous journals, including Administration & Society, American Review of Public Administration, International Journal of Public Opinion Research, International Public Management Journal, International Review of Administrative Sciences, Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, Public Administration Review, and Review of Public Personnel Administration. He is the author, co-author, and co-editor of numerous books including Public Administration and Policy in Korea (co-editor, Routledge, 2018).

Introduction Part One: Controversies in Social Trust Research 1. Defining and Measuring Generalized Trust 2. Particularized Trust and Familism 3. Familism, Acculturation, and Generalized Trust 4. Causality: Antecedence of Institutional Trust Part Two: Changes in Culture, Institutions, and Wealth 5. Measuring Cultural Values and Their Effects: The Case of South Korea 6. Case Selection and Cultural Scales 7. Comparative Analyses at the Regional and Country Level 8. Societal Perspective: The Second Modernity 9.Concluding Remarks