Search

To what extent are personal trust, mutual interests, and third parties important in enforcing agreements to trade? How do firms combine these to form transactional-governance structures? This article answers these questions in a whole-economy, cross-country setting that considers a full spectrum of transactional-governance strategies. The data collection requires a new survey question answerable in any context. The question is applied in six South American countries using representative samples, with the resultant survey weights facilitating a whole-economy analysis. Without imposing an a priori model, latent class analysis estimates meaningful governance structures. Bilateralism is always used. Law is never used alone. Bilateralism and formal institutions are rarely substitutes. Within country, inter-regional variation in governance is greater than inter-country variation. The usefulness of the data is shown by testing one element of Williamson's discriminating-alignment agenda: greater uncertainty in the transactional environment increases the involvement of third parties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social quality focusses on the nature of ‘the social’, arguing that people are realised as social beings through interacting with a range of collectives, both from the formal world of systems and the informal lifeworld. Four conditional factors are necessary for this to occur, which at the same time are assumed to influence health and well-being: socio-economic security, social cohesion, social inclusion and social empowerment. In this paper we test the utility of social quality in explaining self-rated health as a response to arguments that the social determinants of health (SDH) framework often lacks a theoretical basis. We use multilevel models to analyse national English and Welsh data (the Citizenship Survey) to test for both individual- and neighbour-level affects. Our key findings are that (1) neighbourhood contextual (cross-level) effects are present with respect to collective action, personal trust, cross-cutting ties, income sufficiency, and income security; (2) measures of national, community and personal identity as indicators of social cohesion show clear associations with health alongside more common measures such as trust; (3) the security aspects of socioeconomic determinants are especially important (housing security, income sufficiency, and income security); (4) social rights, including institutional rights but especially civil rights have effects of particularly large magnitude. Social quality offers a theoretically-driven perspective on the SDH which has important policy implications and suggests a number of promising avenues for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of indigenous technological capability and interpersonal trust on product innovation through supply-chain learning under a dynamic environment.Design/methodology/approach The proposed model is tested with a sample of 300 manufacturers in China.Findings The results show that the learning from customers partially mediates the relationship between indigenous technological capability and product innovation, as well as between interpersonal trust with customers and product innovation. In addition, the influence of indigenous technological capability on learning from customers is weakened under a dynamic environment as well as the influence of learning from customers on product innovation.Originality/value This study illustrates the comparative roles of indigenous technological capability and interpersonal trust in learning customer knowledge and promoting innovation. It also enriches the innovation research by understanding the learning roles of indigenous technological capability and interpersonal trust under a dynamic environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose Successful change implementation is crucial for organizational prosperity, and even survival. The purpose of this paper is to examine the impacts of personal trust and communication on change success, through affective commitment.Design/methodology/approach Based on an empirical study conducted among 307 employees of Canadian organizations and using structural equation modeling techniques.Findings The authors find that communication has a direct impact on change success, as well as an indirect impact through affective commitment. Trust only exerts an indirect effect through affective commitment.Originality/value This research thus extends the literature on the role of “soft” organizational factors on organizational change. Since the authors have limited this study to “soft” variables, it can be complemented with a study of hard factors contributing to change success, in order to build a comprehensive organizational change success model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to test a model of banking system trust as an antecedent of bank trust and bank loyalty. Six determinants of trust and loyalty are included: competence, stability, integrity, customer orientation, transparency, and value congruence. The study provides insights which determinants are crucial for explaining bank trust and bank loyalty, and thus for rebuilding trust and loyalty.Design/methodology/approach Survey among 1,079 respondents of 18 years and older in The Netherlands on person trust, system trust, bank trust, and their scores on determinants of trust and loyalty. Structural equations modeling (AMOS) has been performed to provide insights into the relationships between concepts such as person trust, system trust, bank trust, and bank loyalty. The importance of determinants to explain bank trust and bank loyalty has been assessed as well.Findings Integrity is the most important determinant of bank trust. Transparency, customer orientation, and competence are also significant. Trust is a strong predictor of loyalty. Determinants explaining bank loyalty are: competence, stability, transparency, and value congruence. System trust is also a determinant of bank trust. The meaning of these results is discussed in the paper, as well as the managerial implications of these findings.Research limitations/implications Data were collected in May 2014 with a large sample, when the financial crisis came to an end. Distrust still remained as a consequence of the crisis. Banks are now rebuilding trust and loyalty. This research provides indications which determinants of trust and loyalty are important in this process and should be focused upon. A longitudinal study how trust and loyalty are developing would give insights and feedback on managerial actions.Practical implications Results provide insights into the causes and reasons of (dis)trust. From this study, banks get insights with a priority matrix which determinants are below par but important for specific banks and should be focused on and improved at the short term.Social implications Trust in banks and other financial institutions is crucial for the functioning of the banking system and for society at large. Restoring trust is a matter of fundamental changes of the bank-customer relationships, not only by communication but by sincere behavior (integrity) and benevolence in the customer interest.Originality/value The authors are not aware of research using all six determinants (competence, stability, integrity, customer orientation, transparency, and value congruence) to explain and predict bank trust and bank loyalty, and their implications for trust and loyalty in banks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A cross-cultural analysis of trust and cooperation networks in Northern Ghana (NGHA) and Oaxaca (OAX) was carried out by means of ego networks and interviews. These regions were chosen because both are inhabited by several ethnic groups, thus providing a good opportunity to test the cultural group selection hypothesis. Against the predictions of this approach, we found that in both regions cooperation is grounded in personal trust groups, and that social cohesion depends on these emotional bonds. Moreover, in agreement with Fiske's notion of "evolved proclivities," we also found two distinct kinds of trust networks, one for each region, which vary in terms of the degree of ethnic interrelation. This pattern suggests that social cohesion increases when environmental resources are scarce. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to assess changes of life-satisfaction and trust in transitional countries as well as their interaction resulting from the global economic and financial crisis of 2007, and its aftermath. For all indicators used, the level of life-satisfaction significantly decreased in transitional countries after the crisis. The smallest reduction can be observed in general life-satisfaction, while the reduction was larger for economic satisfaction and for confidence in better life of children. However, change in post-crisis trust experienced a mixed picture. Levels of institutional trust decreased after crisis, while the degree of interpersonal trust increased. Interpersonal trust continued to have a positive impact on life-satisfaction after the crisis, but the magnitude of its effect stagnated during the post-crisis period. Conversely, the significant magnitude of institutional trust effect grew after crisis for all types of indicators used. These findings suggest that both interpersonal and institutional trust, which are used here as indicators of social capital, are powerful resources that can directly improve life-satisfaction during transition. Most importantly, these resources can be employed to mitigate the outcomes of the crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Canadian Tax Journal / Revue Fiscale Canadienne is the property of Canadian Tax Foundation and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Even before trust became a buzzword, theoretical developments were made, which have instigated the development of two forms of trust which are described as personal trust and system trust/confidence. However, this distinction remained rather secondary in the overall literature. There is an overall lack on the historical developments of these forms of trust, their internal logic and how they interlink, overlap, or work against each other. The paper aims to advance these three aspects: first through a historical overview of the semantic of this distinction, followed by a theoretical reconstruction of the historical material and third by demonstrating how these theoretical concepts can be applied to political crises (Revolutions of 1989), thus revealing their logic and mutual interlocking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study uses the British National Child Development Study to examine the effect of educational attainment on social capital at the individual level. Social trust and membership of voluntary groups are considered as two basic indicators of social capital. We employ the IV analysis and nonparametric bound analysis to tackle the problem of education endogeneity. Both the approaches reveal that the OLS estimator of the educational effect suffers from an upward bias in the study of group membership. We do not observe any significant bias in the educational effect on social trust. Our empirical findings indicate that education has a positive influence in promoting social trust and membership of voluntary groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The growing Chinese economy has attracted foreign ventures from around the world to engage in business partnerships with Chinese firms. However, many foreign businesses confront the liability of foreignness of operating in China. This paper examines how cultural, institutional, and socio-economic influences are communicated through Chinese business people's intentions to engage in business with foreign firms. Interviews and a survey were conducted with business executives across different industries and regions in China. The findings show that Chinese business people's intentions to engage in business with foreign firms are most likely to be influenced by the extent of personal trust, institutional network ties, government support, and common understanding of business norms. This study generates insights on how foreign ventures can minimize the liability of foreignness and effectively manage business relationships with Chinese partners through effective communication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Third opinion is leadership that rely on outsiders to influence their decision-making process. There are three dimensions of third opinion leaders proposed in the present article, which are habit of mind (knowledge and high thinking level), relationship (personal trust) and focus (creativity and innovativeness). This article advocates that third opinion leadership is contingent upon the relationship between leadership behavioural style of the decision maker and financial decision-making quality. This new construct, which is termed as "Third Opinion Leadership", will investigates (1) Desired characteristics of third opinion decision to influence financial decision making process; (2) the degree to which an individual is able to influence other individuals in decision making; and (3) the relationship of third opinion leadership to quality of financial decision making. Findings from this study will extend the growing of literature in all variables. For decision maker, it would be important for them to find the best informer to get information from outside people for quality results in their decision and identify whether the role of third opinion will enhance their decision quality. For future research, much work needs to be done specifically aiming to (a) achieve greater clarity of construct definitions, (b) address measurement issues, and (c) avoid construct redundancy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exercises, drills, or simulations are widely used, by governments, agencies and commercial organizations, to simulate serious incidents and train staff how to respond to them. International cooperation has led to increasingly large-scale exercises, often involving hundreds or even thousands of participants in many locations. The difference between 'large' and 'small' exercises is more than one of size: (a) Large exercises are more 'experiential' and more likely to undermine any model of reality that single organizations may create; (b) they create a 'play space' in which organizations and individuals act out their own needs and identifications, and a ritual with strong social implications; (c) group-analytic psychotherapy suggests that the emotions aroused in a large group may be stronger and more difficult to control. Feelings are an unacknowledged major factor in the success or failure of exercises; (d) successful large exercises help improve the nature of trust between individuals and the organizations they represent, changing it from a situational trust to a personal trust; (e) it is more difficult to learn from large exercises or to apply the lessons identified; (f) however, large exercises can help develop organizations and individuals. Exercises (and simulation in general) need to be approached from a broader multidisciplinary direction if their full potential is to be realized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - Since 9/11, hawalii banking (financial service providers who carry out financial transactions whereby cash, cheques or other valuable goods are accepted at one location and a corresponding sum in cash or other remuneration is paid at another location) has attracted a great deal of attention. Much has been written on the subject, but so far little empirical research has been conducted into the misuse of hawala banking for criminal purposes. This paper aims to fill this gap. Design/methodology/approach - The paper contains an analysis of 12 police files on the use of hawala banks by perpetrators of crime. The data gathered from these cases are compared to what has been reported on hawala banking in the existing literature. Findings - The literature emphasises the importance of trust between client and banker, as well as between hawala bankers themselves. Trust is supposedly based on strong social ties (ethnic and family ties). The 12 cases studied (almost all of which concerned the misuse of hawala banking by drug dealers) put the significance of trust into perspective: the importance of ethnicity and personal trust should not be exaggerated. When the stakes are high, a common social background and shared ethnicity between bankers, as well as between bankers and their clients, seems to be less important than is often assumed. Originality/value - The paper goes beyond the traditional focus on trust and strong social ties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the analysis of the aspects of client trust on professionals such as the Swedish auditors, based on theoretical elaboration. The study has shown that practicing auditors have experienced the personal dimension of trust as primary, the processual as secondary and the impersonal as tertiary. The result has demonstrated the significance of personal trust between the auditor and client which is stabilized by the individual character and conduct of professionals. The institutional roles of professionals have assured a minimum of trust from the market and the client which exist before personal trust is created.