The impact of trust on employee participation in Poland

This paper comments on five problems concerning the transformation of the P olish economy with special emphasis on employee participation and trust. 1) There can be no ethical evaluation or justification of employee participat ion independent of the goals of the transformation. 2) In Poland this parti cipation is affected by deep distrust towards the whole process of transfor mation. 3) Privatisation is the topic most often mentioned in this connecti on. 4) The definition of trust becomes even more crucial when the phenomeno n of distrust has to be explained. 5) Institutions can become the substitut e of trust.