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Differing conceptions of the causes of the economic crisis: Effects of culture, economic training, and personal impact

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  • Leiser, David
  • Benita, Rinat
  • Bourgeois-Gironde, Sacha

Abstract

We report findings from a survey regarding the lay perception of the causes of the worldwide economic and financial crisis. Respondents (N=2245) from a variety of countries were included: China (Hong Kong), Turkey, Russia, Israel, Germany, USA, and France. We have previously documented a range of factors that affects lay understanding of the crisis The present study expanded the database and focuses on the combination of factors that jointly predict whether the respondents view the crisis as a complex impersonal system that malfunctioned, or hold a moral/intentional view about its origins. We show that respondents from Western World countries, who were unaffected by the crisis and have economic training, interpret the crisis differently from all other respondents (i.e., those living in Turkey, Russia, or Hong Kong, and those who were personally affected by the crisis or without economic training). These differences have important implications on how policies are perceived and evaluated by the public, and should inform how they are presented to the public.

Suggested Citation

  • Leiser, David & Benita, Rinat & Bourgeois-Gironde, Sacha, 2016. "Differing conceptions of the causes of the economic crisis: Effects of culture, economic training, and personal impact," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 154-163.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:joepsy:v:53:y:2016:i:c:p:154-163
    DOI: 10.1016/j.joep.2016.02.002
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Lay understanding; Financial crisis; Social representations; Naive economic cognition; Culture; Classification tree analysis;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G1 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets
    • A14 - General Economics and Teaching - - General Economics - - - Sociology of Economics
    • A29 - General Economics and Teaching - - Economic Education and Teaching of Economics - - - Other
    • E6 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook
    • E60 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - General
    • H3 - Public Economics - - Fiscal Policies and Behavior of Economic Agents
    • P1 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Capitalist Economies
    • Z1 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics

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