ARRANGEMENTS OF TRUST AND CREDIBLE COMMIT MENTS

To act in an uncertain universe, actors resort to trust in a large num ber of situations (involving services, quality control or incomplete c ontracts). What concrete forms make it possible for trust to take root ? These forms are presented in terms of the twofold menace against the execution of a contract, namely: the opacify of the market and opport unism. By reducing ignorance, the ''arrangements for judging'' help de al with the first threat. In arrangements grounded in personal trust a s well as impersonal arrangements (trade names, instruction manuals an d the ranking of products), the central role played by ''delegates'' c ome to light. Arrangements based on promises make it possible to count er the risks of opportunism and the forementioned menace of nonexecuti on. They are based, in the first place, on the qualities of the person s and of the networks that have been tested and thus built up to over time. They suppose, in the second place, that norms are shared (unilat eral norms for lawyers but coproduced norms in partnerships). Transact ions cannot result from the mere convergence of common interests. Ther e are prerequisites.