Trust Trap? Self-Reinforcing Processes in the Constitution of Inter-Organizational Trust
Sasaki, M. (Ed., 2018) Trust in Contemporary Society. Leiden: Brill.
31 Pages Posted: 12 Mar 2018 Last revised: 20 Aug 2018
Date Written: August 10, 2018
Abstract
This chapter points to the peculiar nature of trust as a property of inter-organizational relations that may be desirable though not easily established, but also sometimes undesirable though hard to abandon. We argue that this is due to self-reinforcing processes that may be slow to get started but that tend to spiral up to levels that essentially lock organizations into their trust-based relationships, even when the trust has been jeopardized.
Keywords: trust, network, organization, management, path dependence
JEL Classification: L20
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation