И доверие, и закон: как социальный капитал и формальные институты влияют на соблюдение ковидных ограничений

Вопросы теоретической экономики. 2025. № 4. С. 133–143.

Kazun A.

Th is article analyzes the interaction between social capital and formal institutions in the context of compliance with restrictive measures during the COVID-19 pandemic in Russia. Developing a theoretical framework based on concepts of social capital and institutional economics, the study tests hypotheses regarding the substitution or complementarity of these mechanisms. Drawing on data from the online survey “RoCIRR 2” (more than 10,000 respondents from 61 regions of Russia in 2024), it examines the infl uence of generalized interpersonal trust and subjective assessments of the quality of public services (healthcare, police, courts) on the population’s degree of intolerance to violations of the self-isolation regime. Hypotheses are formulated about the positive eff ect of institutional quality and trust, as well as their interaction as substitution or mutual reinforcement. OLS models with fixed regional eff ects and controls show that trust has no independent eff ect but enhances the infl uence of institutional quality at high assessments. At low institutional quality, trust reduces the need for regulation. The results contribute to understanding the role of informal norms under conditions of moderately developed formal institutions, which are characteristic of Russia. Th e conclusions have implications for policies aimed at increasing the population’s readiness to follow government directives in crises, emphasizing the need to strengthen both trust and formal institutions.

Keywords: социальный капитал, доверие, social capital, trust, COVID-19, formal institutions, COVID-19, norm compliance, формальные институты, соблюдение норм

Publication based on the results of: Institutions, human capital and regional Development: historical analysis and contemporary challenges (2025)