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Economic inequality provides a fertile breeding ground for corruption and, in turn, leads to further inequalities. Most corruption models focus on the institutional determinants of government dishonesty. However, such accounts are problematic. Corruption is remarkably sticky over time. There is a very powerful correlation between crossnational measures corruption in 1980 and in 2004. In contrast, measures of democracy such as the Freedom House scores are not so strongly correlated over time, and changes in corruption are unrelated to changes in institutional design. On the other hand, inequality and trust-like corruption are also sticky over time. The connection between inequality and the quality of government is not necessarily so simple. The aggregate relationships between inequality and corruption are not strong. The path from inequality to corruption may be indirect, through generalized trust, but the connection is key to understanding why some societies are more corrupt than others. This study estimates a simultaneous equation model of trust, corruption, perceptions of inequality, confidence in government, and demands for redistribution in Romania, and shows that perceptions of rising inequality and corruption lead to lower levels of trust and demands for redistribution. – corruption ; inequality ; trust ; transition

Some researchers claim that diverse populations lead to less trust. Generalized trust is a core value that leads to positive outcomes in societies

There are multiple dimensions of trust. The standard meaning I call strategic trust. But more important is moralistic trust, which does not stem from experience, but rather is learned early in life and is largely stable over time. Moralistic trust leads people to do good works such as contributing to charity and volunteering time and to be more tolerant toward minorities. Countries with high levels of trust have better functioning governments and redistribute resources from the rich to the poor. Moralistic trust rests upon a foundation of economic equality: The most equal countries have the highest levels of trust.