Trust and the Economic Theory of the Firm

Keywords

trust, governance, exchange relationships

Abstract

During the past two decades the literatures in strategic management and
organizational theory have exploded with papers studying the impact of trust on exchange relationships, be they dyadic or within a network.1 Scholars have investigated how trust can be built (Gulati 1995; Nooteboom 1996; Lorenz 1999; Zaheer, McEvily, and Perrone 1998; Lewicki, Tomlinson, and Gillespie 2006), how it is maintained and used (Barney and Hansen 1994; Nooteboom, Berger, and Noorderhaven 1997; Zaheer, McEvily, and Perrone 1998; Dirks, Lewicki, and Zaheer 2009; Gillespie and Dietz 2009), the ways in which trust is damaged (Robinson 1996; Zaheer, McEvily, and Perrone 1998), and the implications on the relationship when it is lost (Bies and Tripp 1996; Dirks and Ferrin 2001). Most of the research adopts units of analysis that reflect interpersonal relationships. For example, scholars in organizational behavior mostly explore how trust operates within groups or between superiors and subordinates (Dirks and Ferrin 2001; Ferrin, Dirks, and Shah 2006). Some scholars have explored the role of trust in the structuring and performance of interorganizational exchanges (Chiles and McMackin 1996; Nooteboom 1996; Nooteboom, Berger, and Noorderhaven 1997; Gulati and Nickerson 2008), including the role of interpersonal trust in interorganizational trust (e.g. Zaheer, McEvily, and Perrone 1998). Other scholars have investigated the extent to which pre-existing trust influences the choice of a firm’s decision to make, buy, or ally and the extent to which a particular governance choice encourages the emergence of trust during the exchange relationship (Williamson 1996; Malhotra and Murnighan 2002; Ferrin and Dirks 2003; Gulati and
Nickerson 2008).

Original Publication Citation

"Nickerson, Jackson, Timothy Gubler, and Kurt Dirks (2013). “Trust and the Economic Theory of the Firm” in Handbook of Advances in Trust Research, eds. Aks Zaheer and Reinhard Bachman. Edward Elgar (Cheltenham)."

Document Type

Peer-Reviewed Article

Publication Date

2013

Publisher

Washington University in St. Louis

Language

English

College

Marriott School of Business

Department

Marketing

University Standing at Time of Publication

Associate Professor

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