The importance of trust is today highlighted within all branches of social science. In this timely book, Lars Huemer argues that conventional economic theory has tended to disregard the notion of trust. Economic actors are assumed to be guided solely by their self-interest. People engaged in economic relationships are even assumed to make false or empty threats and to mislead in order to realise individual advantages.
However, current developments of real life business relationships have turned trust into an increasingly popular scholarly concept. Drawing on theoretical reviews and empirical inquiries, this book argues that conventional economic logic alone cannot capture the essential aspects of trust in business relationships. The focus needs to be broadened beyond economic reasoning, to take account of the importance of social interactions.
Trust is commonly associated with risks present in a business relationship. In the book an additional dimension of trust is proposed: its deployment as a means by parties to an exchange to realise opportunities. Moreover, by making it possible to deviate from established routines and habits, trust is actively used in order to create a new competitive logic.
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Lars Huemer tilldelades ”Civilekonomernas Ekonomipris för bästa doktorsavhandling i företagsekonomi 1998” för boken Trust in Business Relations. Han är professor och verksam vid Department of Strategy and Entrepreneurship, Norwegian Business School.