Domicile, Social Segmentation And Trust

Social segmentation brought by household registration(hukou) system in China might act as a strong factor reducing trust,while trust has insightful benefits in improving socio-economic development.Using data from Shanghai community survey,this paper exploits the determinants of trust of residents in Shanghai,especially how hukou affects their trust.We find that:People without local hukou in Shanghai always have less trust in their neighborhoods,the majority of the society and the government, and this lack of trust cannot be eliminated or reduced by the increase of their income and/or education.There are significant peer effects in the determination of social and public trust,therefore,through the combination of peer effects and residential segregation based on hukou, the effects of hukou on trust would be magnified in community.