（1. Jiangxi University of Finance and Economics, Nanchang Jiangxi 330013; 2. Zhongnan University of Economics and Law, Wuhan Hubei 430073）
Abstract: The level of trust not only has a profound influence on the economic development, but also has a significant impact on the policy preferences of the general public. Based on the background of decentralization and reconstruction of social credit system in China and using the Chinese data from 1990 to 2012 in WVS, this paper systematically assesses the impact of social trust level on the Chinese residents' support for regulation. It is found that social trust levels significantly reduce the level of residents' support for regulation. On average, every 1 SD increase in social trust level leads to a 3.75% decline in residents' support for regulation. In addition, the results indicate that the effect of social trust level on the support for regulation varies with different sub-samples. Overall, the level of social trust has a significant influence on the middle or lower income groups, as well as youth and middle aged groups, while no significant effect is observed on the higher income and old age groups. Therefore, if China's decentralization reform is to be further promoted and the effect of the reform is to be enhanced, a few supporting reformative operations, such as social credit construction, need to be implemented and perfected.
Key Words: Decentralization; Support for Regulation; Social Trust level