of individuals in this group reporting trust in executive institutions.<sup>21</sup> In addition, institutional trust is slightly higher in rural areas than in urban areas, with respectively 58 and 54 percent of the population reporting trust in government.

These socio-demographic factors have a cumulative impact: our statistical model approximates that a high-income male age 51-54 has an 81 percent probability of trusting the government, compared to 46 percent for a low-income female age 20-24.

# **5 Conclusion**

This paper shows, using a large-scale survey on trust in Morocco, that positive perceptions of policy outcomes and positive perceptions of policy processes are both associated with trust in institutions but that the e↵ect of process-based drivers appears to be greater. Policy outcomes indeed matter, as positive perceptions of the delivery of public goods and services are positively associated with Moroccan citizens’ trust in institutions; yet, we find that the relation between trust and process-based drivers such as policy credibility and public integrity is stronger.

This paper also contributes to the broader understanding of institutional trust by documenting the substantial variation in trust over individual-level demographic and socioeconomic factors. Data analysis provides empirical insights on these questions and shows that institutional trust is contingent on individual-level social capital and characteristics. Specifically, the paper finds that individuals with lower levels of social trust, women, individuals living in rural areas, middle class individuals and youth are less likely to express trust in national institutions.

Some of the paper’s findings related to perceptions of public action or socio-demographic factors and institutional trust are surprising and could warrant further research. For example, findings show that trust in institutions is not correlated in a linear way with measures of income. Institutional trust according to households’ income level follow a U shape, where households with the lowest income and the highest income express the highest levels of trust in institutions. The reason for this non-linearity is not instantly clear. Also, it appears that improved access to services sometimes generates a lower trust dividend than could be expected. Trust in government is indeed below the levels that could be expected given the objective improvements in infrastructures and access to services over the past two decades.

Additional data collection and experimental studies could help further understand the drivers of trust in public institutions and address concerns related to endogeneity and reverse causality. For example, future research could investigate how trust in public institutions evolves with election cycles and major policy or reform decisions. Additional survey waves would also have the significant advantage to enable time-series analysis

> 21This finding echoes empirical evidence that while welfare inequalities are declining in Morocco, vulnerable and lower middle-class households have a relatively worse perception of the evolution of their living standards than better-o↵households. See Clementi et al. 2019.

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