I forgot to retrieve my bank card at an ATM at the Mexico City airport. A woman behind me in line walked up to the ATM and chose not to let me know about my card. Instead, within 30 minutes there were three fraudulent transactions on my card for items purchased at convenience stores near the airport. The amount charged was $120.
My trust in others was diminished a bit after that incident. It got me wondering to what extent do individuals in different countries trust each other and is there a level where the trust is so low that an economy seeks to function.
Not Much Trust
I was surprised to find out how low interpersonal trust actually is. Since the early 1980s, the World Values Survey has been asking citizens around the world the following question, “In general, do you think that most people can be trusted, or can’t you be too careful?”
There are some countries such as Sweden, the Netherlands, and China in which 60% or more of respondents say that others can be trusted. In the U.S., however, only 35% of individuals said others could be trusted. 29% said so in the UK. 19% in France. In Mexico, only 12% of survey respondents thought most people could be trusted.
Those are shockingly low levels of interpersonal trust. Particularly because countries with low levels of interpersonal trust also have low levels of trust in public institutions including the government, the court system and police.
Individuals don’t even trust most of the brands from whom they purchase according to the Edelman Trust Barometer. Only 34% of consumers around the world say they trust the brands they buy and use. Yet 81% say, “Trust in brands is an important part of my purchase behavior.”
Social Capital and the Trust Economy
How is it the economy still functions with such low levels of trust?
In the absence of a trust economy, most transactions would for paid for in cash with goods or services delivered immediately. That’s not the predominant economy that exists in most areas of the world. Instead, the majority of transactions occur across space and time. Often goods are ordered online for credit and sent long distances for delivery at a later date. Corporations source inventory and build and deliver products, relying on complex logistical networks that are based on trust.
These networks are part of a trust economy’s social capital. Social capital consists of the structures, norms, and networks that motivate individuals and companies to coordinate with each other in order to produce goods and services rather than steal from each other. In other words, social capital provides incentives to generate income and increase wealth by making things rather than taking things from others.
We participate in the trust economy because the payoff for doing so (i.e., getting what we want) is greater than the uncertainty of whether the transaction will go through or not. The benefit of receiving the good or service we want is higher than the cost of protecting ourselves from getting ripped off or being harmed in some way.
Enforcement Mechanisms That Support the Trust Economy
Stephen Knack outlined three enforcement mechanisms that facilitate economic transactions based on trust.
The first is personal integrity. He writes, “We do the right thing because of our moral code and trust that others have a moral code.”
While it would be nice if we could rely on this base layer of trust, most transactions do not. Instead, there is a second party enforcement mechanism. We trust that the business or individual with which we transact wants to have a continuing relationship. That they are playing the long game and don’t want their reputation harmed.
There are also third-party enforcement mechanisms consisting of entities or structures that are not part of the immediate transaction but exist in the background to protect both parties. These third-party enforcement mechanisms consist of regulators, the court system or entities that can intervene if something goes wrong.
While in Mexico City we used Uber to travel from one part of the city to another. I did not know the individual drivers so there was a low level of interpersonal trust. Yet I was willing to get into a stranger’s car because I believed the driver wanted to maintain his or her five-star reputation on the Uber platform. I wanted to conveniently get to a new location and was willing to do so via Uber because mechanisms built into their platform reduced the cost of uncertainty.
Why the Trust Economy Thrives
Enforcement mechanisms, networks, and information technology have allowed the trust economy to thrive. An economy’s social capital allows us to enter into complex transactions with others that occur across time and space despite low levels of interpersonal trust. In most places around the world, the incentives to contribute to a maker society is greater than the incentive to steal from others.
To learn more about the trust economy please listen to this episode of the Money For the Rest of Us podcast.
Show Notes
Trust by Esteban Ortiz-Ospina and Max Roser—Our World in Data
Can people be trusted—GSS Data Explorer—NORC at the University of Chicago
Public Trust in Government: 1958-2024—Pew Research Center
5 KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM THE 2019 EDELMAN BRAND TRUST SURVEY by Ethan Jakob Craft—AdAge
Psychological Foundations of Trust by Jeffry A. Simpson—Current Directions in Psychological Science
How Does Social Trust Affect Economic Growth? by Christian Bjørnskov
Trust, Associational Life and Economic Performance by Stephen Knack
Uber 2017-2018 US Safety Report
Are We Killing the Markets of Mexico City? by Madeleine Wattenbarger
Turismo en CDMX crece 17%: Sectur by Bertha Teresa Ramirez—La Jornada (Page Discontinued)
Hoteles resienten auge de Airbnb en la CDMX by Israel Zamarrón—El Sol de México
Rechazan riesgos por Airbnb en Centro Histórico by Israel Zamarrón—El Sol de México
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Transcript
Welcome to Money for the rest of us. This is a personal finance show on money, how it works, how to invest it, and how to live without worrying about it. I’m your host, David Stein. Today is episode 280. It’s titled, “The Trust Economy.”
David’s traveling rules-of-thumb
LaPriel and I have been in Mexico City for the past few days. When I travel, and I’m sure when you travel, you have rules of thumb, heuristics based on prior experiences. Things that didn’t work out so well. Here is an example of mine when we arrive in a new country. First, get cash at the airport, because of the time that I got stranded in Tokyo with my family because I didn’t get cash and we were in the middle of Tokyo late into the night, no ATM would take our card and we never made it to our Airbnb. So get cash at the airport.
Second, use an ATM to get that cash because you get a better exchange rate. Three, use a bank ATM. I learned that from getting my debit card compromised at a sketchy ATM in Brooklyn. Fourth, make sure you grab all the things from the ATM after you get your money. I learned that because I lost my travel pillow because I left it on the ATM at London-Gatwick Airport.
And finally, retrieve your ATM card, because, well that’s just common sense, except this time I forgot to get my card back from the machine. LaPriel saw a woman in the line behind us, and the woman didn’t say anything. And it wasn’t until I got to our Airbnb that I saw, because I got a text from Charles Schwab that there was $120 charged on the ATM card at a convenience store. Three different transactions.
We canceled the card. I felt stupid. And I felt mad because somebody stole my card and used it. My trust in others was diminished a little bit. Now we’ve had things stolen before, after leaving them behind. My son lost his backpack that was full of his electronics and a sketchbook at a restaurant rest stop on the Autobahn in Germany. But we have also left things and no one has touched them. I left a bag in the middle of Manhattan, no one took it. A camera, we left at a restaurant on the table in Seoul for almost 45 minutes. It was still there when we got back.
Can individuals be trusted?
This idea of trust got me wondering: Is there a level where the trust in others is so low that the economy ceases to function? So then I wanted to know, well, how trustworthy are individuals in different countries.
There’s a survey called the World Value Survey that’s been going on since the early 1980s. And they ask individuals in different countries. Here’s the question: “In general, do you think that most people can be trusted? Or can’t you be too careful?” The country that has the highest level of trust, according to that survey based on that question is Norway with 73% say that most people can be trusted. The Netherlands at 66%, Sweden and China are at 60%. Australia is at 54%.
Then there are a number of countries below 50%, less than half the people believe that others can be trusted. Germany is at 45%, Canada 41%, Japan 36%, the U.S. 35%, India 33%, the U.K. is at 29%. And then near the bottom, France is at 19%. Here in Mexico 12% of individuals say they trust others. And Brazil was the lowest I could find at 7%.
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