The language of trust: reputation and the spread and maintenance of social norms in sixteenth century Genoese trade
Abstract
Economists are interested in the mechanics of trust. Trust, however, is not mechanical. Trust is a skill, an emotion, an ideology, and a state of mind. Trust is communicated. First, I will consider the place of language in the mechanics of trust and then provide several illustrative examples taken from Gio Francesco De Negro's letter register of 1563-1564 preserved in the Doria Archive in Genoa. My evidence shows that the Mediterranean traders examined here were able to trust each other when they had reason to believe that it would be in a trader's best interest to be trustworthy in the appropriate way at the appropriate time. Trust exists beyond formal and informal institutional supports. Trust exists beyond mechanics.
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