The role of governance in SDG through public trust in government: Study in selected OIC member states

Abstract

This study’s focus addresses how governance—the leading indicators in the 16th Goal of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)—affects the government public trust that plays an essential role in SDG achievement. This study examines the effect of governance on public trust in the government using six governance indicators from the World Governance Index for 24 Islamic Cooperation Organizations (OIC) member countries during the 2011-2018 period. This study also examines the effect of two macroeconomic indicators, namely real GDP growth and the unemployment rate, to determine the potential influence of a country’s economic conditions in determining the level of public trust in the government. This study uses the Fixed and Random Effect Regression for panel data. The results show that two governance indicators, Political Stability and Absence of Violence/Terrorism and Control of Corruption, proved to influence the level of public trust in the government positively. However, Voice and Accountability indicator and the unemployment rate are found to negatively affect public trust in government. Standardized Coefficients Regression is also used to compare the effects of governance and macroeconomic indicators and it is found that macroeconomic conditions’ influence is slightly above the governance aspects in determining the level of public trust in government.