Terms of trust

This chapter analyzes trust as consisting of three elements: vulnerability, benefit, and reciprocity. The problem of trust is then presented as the idea of overcoming the “trust gap” in one of two ways: narrowing the gap, making the risks involved less worrisome, and thus encouraging cooperation on the basis of self-regarding prudential reasons; or bridging the gap, leaving the risks as they are while procuring non-prudential resources to encourage cooperation. Only the latter can be truly classified as trust. Three ways in which the gap may be bridged are specified: non-prudential reasons to reciprocate trust (empathy, fairness, and reciprocity) correspond to the three elements of trust. Finally, it is argued that confidence-building measures (guarantees, incentives, and sanctions), designed to narrow the trust gap and facilitate cooperation, may unwittingly demolish the foundations for bridging the gap. Some policy implications are tentatively proposed.