Danish Exceptionalism: Explaining the Unique Increase in Social Trust over the Past 30 Years

Contrary to the general trend in most countries, social trust has been rising steadily in Denmark for the past three decades. The purpose of this paper is to understand this development. Our analyses show that the rise in trust can partly be attributed to generational differences, a rise in education, an improvement in the quality of state institutions, and the trust in these institutions among citizens. The analyses build on data from a number of Danish surveys, including both a cross-sectional and a panel survey.