Mining and mistrust in government
研究利用中欧、东欧和前苏联28个国家的调查与矿山位置数据，发现采矿活动会降低居民对地方政府的信任，主要机制是腐败感知和腐败行为，环境问题在特定情境下也有影响。
Natural resource extraction can undermine institutions through its negative impact on corruption and public goods provision, potentially affecting individual trust in local government. We examine this conjecture by combining geo-referenced survey data with spatial data on mine locations across 28 post-communist countries of Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. Using information on the development status of mineral reserves, we employ a cross-sectional difference-in-differences approach comparing individuals living near active versus not-yet-active mines. Our findings reveal a robust negative relationship between mining production and trust in local government. Analysis of mechanisms indicates that corruption perceptions and practices primarily drive this relationship. While examining alternative non-institutional channels, we find that environmental concerns may also contribute to government mistrust in specific contexts.