Do Natural Disasters Erode or Foster Social Trust? New Evidence from Brazilian Municipalities

• In Event: Trust, Accountability, and Political Change in Latin America

Brief Overview

Using two decades of Brazilian data, the study finds that natural disasters increase social trust, especially in areas with strong state capacity. By analyzing disasters across time and space, it resolves mixed findings in disaster-trust research.

Authors

• Alexander Kustov, University of North Carolina at Charlotte

• Ivan Flores Martinez, University of North Carolina at Charlotte

• Giuliana Pardelli, New York University

• James Igoe Walsh, National Science Foundation