Trust we lost: the impact of the Treuhand experience on political alienation in East Germany

Saved in:

Authors and Corporations:

Kellermann, Kim Leonie (Author)

Edition:

This version: October 2022

Type of Resource:

E-Book

Language:

English

published:

Berlin, Germany German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP), DIW Berlin [2022]

Series:

Subjects:

East Germany

trust

political alienation

privatization

radical voting

Graue Literatur

Source:

Verbunddaten SWB
Lizenzfreie Online-Ressourcen

Description
Summary:	Do politically administered mass layoffs undermine trust and political interest? During the German reunification, formerly state-owned socialist firms in East Germany were privatized by the Treuhand, which came at the cost of massive job losses and public protest. I demonstrate that these activities had a detrimental effect on attitudes and political behavior of the affected individuals. Using survey data from the German Socio-economic Panel and election results, I find that East Germans who lost their jobs exhibit significantly lower trust levels, lower political interest and a lower identification with mainstream democratic parties, even up to 30 years after reunification. I corroborate the causality of the results using fixed-effects estimations and a placebo analysis, which fails to explain political disenchantment by reasons other than the Treuhand experience. I interpret the findings as the persistent, negative effect of perceived political mismanagement during a crucial phase of economic transition on long-run political identification.
Physical Description:	1 Online-Ressource (circa 65 Seiten); Illustrationen