Has the Financial Crisis Eroded Citizens’ Trust in the European Central Bank? Panel Data Evidence for the Euro Area 1999-2011

Abstract

In the aftermath of the financial crisis trust, in the European Central Bank (ECB) has reached an historical low. Taking panel data and using a fixed effects DFGLS estimation for a 12–country sample over the time period 1999 to 2011 with a total of 312 observations, this paper detects a structural break in citizens’ trust in the ECB. The paper confirms that during the pre-crisis period, citizens’ trust in the ECB was driven by economic growth. In crisis time, however, trust in the ECB is both driven by inflation and unemployment.