Information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructure and social trust: global evidence

ABSTRACT Since social trust plays an important role in the economic and social development of society, much attention has been paid to the determinants of social trust. However, prior studies have shown ambivalent results. This study focuses on the role of information communication technology (ICT) in enhancing social trust. Using two-way fixed effects panel data analysis, this article examines the effects of two types of ICT infrastructure – mobile cellular capacity and fixed internet capacity – on social trust for more than 120 countries from 2000 to 2010 for the fixed internet capacity and 1990 to 2010 for the mobile cellular capacity. Our main results show that mobile cellular capacity displays a statistically robust and positive effect while fixed internet capacity shows negative effect on social trust, with robustness checks confirming the main results. Our analysis implies that for countries desiring to enhance social trust, increasing mobile cellular capacity is critical.