Perceived trustworthiness and inter-firm governance: empirical evidence from the UK printing industry

The paper describes six representative theoretical positions regarding the impact of trustworthiness on the organisation of inter-firm relations. The positions are then assessed on the basis of a survey of 184 buyer--supplier relationships in the UK printing industry. The widely accepted transaction cost argument for trust as a parameter reducing hierarchy is dismissed. Instead, the so-called triadic forces argument based on Bradach, J. L. and Eccles, R. G. (1989. Price, authority and trust: from ideal types to plural forms, Annual Review of Sociology , vol. 15, 96--118) receives the strongest support. Market, hierarchy and trust represent alternative mechanisms that can be combined in a variety of ways. This pluralistic model is enriched further by the acknowledgement of variable roles for contracts and a sceptic stance regarding rationality in practice.