Study Of The Issue Of Trust In Economic Transactions

This paper wants to examine the trust question in the economic transaction.The new classical economics claims that the behaviors that individuals seek for their interests' maximization, can harmonize the conflicts between individual interests and social interests, and also can realize the equilibrium of social optimum. However, new classical economists didn't explore the relationship between the two parts of transaction, especially the trust problem between them. In this case, this paper wants focus on this question.This paper has four parts. Firstly, we discussed the basic concepts of transaction and trust. Different theories have different concepts. After reviewing on much literature, we present our concept of trust.Secondly, this paper talked about the root of trust in economic activities from personal and social factors. We believe the dependence relationship among transactors is the individual root of trust, and assimilation effect in socialization and differentiation effect in labor division are the social roots of trust.Thirdly, we examine the effects of trust to economic transaction. We argue that different trust level and structure can take different effects to the behaviors and development of transactors. Moreover, trust can reinforce transaction patterns in natural economy, and can promote the development of transaction patterns in market economy. The effect of trust to transaction structure is that trust promotes the monopoly power as soon as reduces the transaction costs.Finally, this paper discussed the trust's evolution problem in economic transaction. One hand, we argued the choice units and copy mechanism and choice mechanism of trust evolution from the viewpoints of evolutionary economics. Another hand, we built a trust evolution model by game theory. After this, we got our conclusions that trust is unstable that the social economy may achieve equilibrium under low trust degree between individuals.