This study investigates the effects of North Koreans’ informal market activities on their trust. Using survey data on North Korean refugees living in South Korea, we find that North Korean refugees who previously traded goods in markets in North Korea have higher trust in most people. By contrast, the experience of trading in markets did not affect trust in other North Korean refugees, suggesting little evidence of in‐group favoritism. Our main result is robust when we apply the instrument variable approach. This finding suggests the possibility that increased marketization in North Korea leads to a weakened control of the authorities over the North Korean society.

中文翻译：

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朝鲜难民的市场活动和信任

本研究调查了朝鲜人的非正式市场活动对其信任的影响。通过对居住在韩国的朝鲜难民的调查数据，我们发现以前在朝鲜市场交易过商品的朝鲜难民对大多数人的信任度更高。相比之下，市场交易的经历并没有影响对其他朝鲜难民的信任，这表明几乎没有证据表明群体内有偏袒。当我们应用工具变量方法时，我们的主要结果是稳健的。这一发现表明朝鲜市场化程度的提高可能导致当局对朝鲜社会的控制减弱。