research-article

Learning to Trust: : From Relational Exchange to Generalized Trust in China

Authors:

Victor Nee, Håkan J. Holm, Sonja OpperAuthors Info & Claims

Organization Science, Volume 29, Issue 5

Pages 969 - 986

https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.2018.1213

Published: 01 October 2018 Publication History

Abstract

Where does generalized trust—that is, the inclination to place trust in strangers—come from? Our claim is that in economic action, sources of generalized trust may not differ much from the sources of personalized trust. Contrary to a common assumption of a sharp distinction between personalized and generalized trust, we assert a likely spillover effect from relational exchange to a person’s expectations in interacting with an anonymous other. Our research integrates behavioral measures elicited by a novel incentivized trust game with survey data using a random sample of 540 entrepreneurs of private industrial firms in the Yangzi delta region of China. We show that entrepreneurs with more experience in relational exchange display greater trust in strangers. Likewise, we find robust evidence of a positive association between beliefs in the effectiveness of community business norms and generalized trust.

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Cited By

Molina MNee VHolm H(2023)Cooperation with StrangersOrganization Science10.1287/orsc.2021.152134:6(2315-2331)Online publication date: 1-Nov-2023
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1287/orsc.2021.1521
Lumineau FWang WSchilke O(2021)Blockchain Governance—A New Way of Organizing Collaborations?Organization Science10.1287/orsc.2020.137932:2(500-521)Online publication date: 1-Mar-2021
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1287/orsc.2020.1379
Choi EÖzer ÖZheng Y(2020)Network Trust and Trust Behaviors Among Executives in Supply Chain InteractionsManagement Science10.1287/mnsc.2019.349966:12(5823-5849)Online publication date: 1-Dec-2020
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1287/mnsc.2019.3499

Index Terms

Learning to Trust: From Relational Exchange to Generalized Trust in China
1. Applied computing
  1. Law, social and behavioral sciences
2. Human-centered computing
  1. Collaborative and social computing

Index terms have been assigned to the content through auto-classification.

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cover image Organization Science

Organization Science Volume 29, Issue 5

September-October 2018

235 pages

ISSN:1526-5455

DOI:10.1287/orsc.2018.29.issue-5

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Copyright © 2018, INFORMS.

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Linthicum, MD, United States

Publication History

Published: 01 October 2018

Accepted: 01 February 2018

Received: 13 March 2017

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Cited By

Molina MNee VHolm H(2023)Cooperation with StrangersOrganization Science10.1287/orsc.2021.152134:6(2315-2331)Online publication date: 1-Nov-2023
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1287/orsc.2021.1521
Lumineau FWang WSchilke O(2021)Blockchain Governance—A New Way of Organizing Collaborations?Organization Science10.1287/orsc.2020.137932:2(500-521)Online publication date: 1-Mar-2021
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1287/orsc.2020.1379
Choi EÖzer ÖZheng Y(2020)Network Trust and Trust Behaviors Among Executives in Supply Chain InteractionsManagement Science10.1287/mnsc.2019.349966:12(5823-5849)Online publication date: 1-Dec-2020
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1287/mnsc.2019.3499

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