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Trust and Control at the Workplace: Evidence from Representative Samples of Employees in Europe

Author

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  • Grund, Christian

    (RWTH Aachen University)

  • Harbring, Christine

    (RWTH Aachen University)

Abstract

Based on two representative samples of employees, the German Socio Economic Panel and the European Social Survey, we explore the relation between certain measures of control in employment relationships (i.e. working time regulations, use of performance appraisal systems, monitoring by supervisors, autonomy to organize the work) and individuals’ inclination to trust others. Trust is measured by the general trust question like in most other economic studies based on surveys. We find that strict working time regulations, monitoring and lack of autonomy – all indicators for control at the workplace – are negatively related to trust. Moreover, we contribute to the literature on trust by gathering hints to other potential determinants of trust.

Suggested Citation

  • Grund, Christian & Harbring, Christine, 2009. "Trust and Control at the Workplace: Evidence from Representative Samples of Employees in Europe," IZA Discussion Papers 4297, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp4297
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    Cited by:

    1. Tamilina, Larysa & Tamilina, Natalya, 2017. "Trust as a Skill: Applying Psychological Models of Skill Acquisition to Explain the Social Trust Formation Process," MPRA Paper 84561, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Brown, Sarah & Gray, Daniel & McHardy, Jolian & Taylor, Karl, 2015. "Employee trust and workplace performance," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 116(C), pages 361-378.
    3. Larysa Tamilina & Natalya Tamilina, 2018. "Trust as a Skill," Psychology and Developing Societies, , vol. 30(1), pages 44-80, March.
    4. Anna Lipka & Małgorzata Król, 2021. "Sustainable Loyalty of Employees in Poland as a Result of the COVID-19 Pandemic," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-21, August.
    5. John T. Addison & Paulino Teixeira, 2020. "Trust and Workplace Performance," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 58(4), pages 874-903, December.
    6. Noda, Tomohiko, 2020. "Employee trust in management and mutual gains hypothesis in Japanese firms," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 55(C).
    7. Niina Zuber & Jan Gogoll & Severin Kacianka & Alexander Pretschner & Julian Nida-Rümelin, 2022. "Empowered and embedded: ethics and agile processes," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 9(1), pages 1-13, December.
    8. Tamilina, Larysa & Tamilina, Natalya, 2019. "Social Trust Formation in the Workplace: Applying the Job Strain Model to Explain Variations in Social Trust Levels among Employed Individuals," MPRA Paper 93559, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    9. Tamilina, Larysa & Tamilina, Natalya, 2019. "Social Trust Formation in the Workplace: Applying the Job Strain Model to Explain Variations in Social Trust Levels among Employed Individuals," MPRA Paper 96708, University Library of Munich, Germany.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    performance appraisal; monitoring; control; autonomy; regulation of working time; trust;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D03 - Microeconomics - - General - - - Behavioral Microeconomics: Underlying Principles
    • J81 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Standards - - - Working Conditions
    • M12 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - Personnel Management; Executives; Executive Compensation
    • M5 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Personnel Economics

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