The role of trust and cooperation between different economic actors

• Main Author: Whittam, Geoff
• Other Authors: De-Ruyter, Alex
• Published: Glasgow Caledonian University 2015
• Subjects: 330.01
• Online Access: http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.687432

This thesis is a collection of five papers from over forty I have co-edited over a twenty year period whilst being employed as an academic. However, the underpinning philosophy and cognitive processes evident in the selected papers can be traced back to my undergraduate days. The thesis reflects my continuing struggle to undermine the neo-classical dominance of economics. This struggle is borne out of, on the one-hand, frustration; frustration that one school of thought has come to dominate all others within the field of economical , on the other, grudging respect at the ability of the neo-c1assical school to adapt and reform its central components and thereby maintain its dominance. The thesis highlights within the selected papers a central thesis that trust and cooperation have been understated in the relationships that exist between different economic actors. This central thesis is identified in different scenarios from the networks of small medium enterprises In 'the Third Italy' to the Community Buy-Outs of the Islands and Highlands of Scotland and yet the underpinning relationships unified by trust and cooperation are readily identifiable.