Trust Issues: Evidence on the Intergenerational Trust Transmission Among Children of Immigrants

This paper estimates the intergenerational transmission of trust by studying children of immigrants in 29 European countries with ancestry in 87 nations. There is significant transmission of trust on the mother's side, and the transmission is significantly stronger than on the father's side. The transmission is stronger in high trust countries. Building trust in high trust environments is a process lasting generations. Intriguingly, trust transmission is strong also in low trust birth countries if ancestral trust is very high. There is persistence of very high trust in low trusting environments through cultural transmission in the family.