Institutional Foundations of Trust: Sociolegal Perspectives

Abstract

This article discusses how institutions, including the law, can artificially produce trust between people and between people and organizations through the imposition of standards of behavior, procedures and competencies. Building on the rational choice theory, on institutionalism and constructivism, this study systematizes theoretical and empirical findings in three ideal types. The ideal types have been called “calculative trust”, “institutional trust”, and “active trust”.