Keynote Address by Sir Tim Besley, "Trust as State Capacity"

Chaired by UNU-WIDER Director Kunal Sen, Sir Tim Besley discusses the link between trust in government and building states that are effective in taxing, regulating and providing public services. He begins by reviewing a standard top-down approach to state capacity building and then lays out a canonical framework where trust is central. The framework reflects on some empirical evidence. He also discusses what we know about how trust is built and sustained as well as the link between trust and forms of unrest. More at https://go.unu.edu/IFahR