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

Author

Listed:
  • Victor Nee

    (Department of Sociology, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853)

  • Håkan J. Holm

    (Department of Economics, Lund University, 22007 Lund, Sweden)

  • Sonja Opper

    (Department of Economics, Lund University, 22007 Lund, Sweden)

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.

Suggested Citation

  • Victor Nee & Håkan J. Holm & Sonja Opper, 2018. "Learning to Trust: From Relational Exchange to Generalized Trust in China," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 29(5), pages 969-986, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:ororsc:v:29:y:2018:i:5:p:969-986
    DOI: 10.1287/orsc.2018.1213
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    3. Jie Liang & Peng Shao, 2019. "Sequential Alliance Portfolios, Partner Reconfiguration and Firm Performance," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(21), pages 1-20, October.
    4. Yijun Xing & Yipeng Liu & Fabian Jintae Froese & Manli Huang, 2023. "Advancing Chinese leadership research: review and future directions," Asian Business & Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 22(2), pages 493-508, April.
    5. Zahoor, Nadia & Adomako, Samuel, 2023. "Be open to failure: Open innovation failure in dynamic environments," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 193(C).
    6. Christopher Pryor & Shaker A. Zahra & Garry D. Bruton, 2023. "Trusting without a Safety Net: The Peril of Trust in Base of the Pyramid Economies," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 60(4), pages 767-799, June.
    7. Håkan J. Holm & Victor Nee & Sonja Opper, 2020. "Strategic decisions: behavioral differences between CEOs and others," Experimental Economics, Springer;Economic Science Association, vol. 23(1), pages 154-180, March.
    8. H. Christoph Steinhardt & Jan Delhey, 2020. "Socio-Economic Modernization and the “Crisis of Trust” in China: A Multi-level Analysis of General and Particular Trust," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 152(3), pages 923-949, December.
    9. Stefan Gehrig & Achim Schlüter & Peter Hammerstein, 2019. "Sociocultural heterogeneity in a common pool resource dilemma," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(1), pages 1-16, January.

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