Trust in exchange relations as social capital: Exploratory study of informal freight transport

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Abstract

As the philosopher Aristotle ascertained 2400 years past, human beings are by nature social creatures. Trust is a social norm that promotes the foundation of relationships among individuals, groups, and other components of a society. It is a by-product of religion, tradition, shared historical experience, and other types of cultural norms. Without trust, a country’s economy cannot perform well, because transaction costs would be too high. Through this study, we attempt to explore the reasons behind the dynamics of informal freight transport in Morocco under the paradox of the total absence of contracts and the increasing regulatory constraints of the sector. For this purpose, both individual interviews of the various informal transporters, and the interpretation methodology were used. The results reveal that the exchange relations of informal freight transport in Morocco, a priori non-contractual, are governed by a “social algorithm” based on interpersonal trust, in lieu of “blind” or “calculative” trust (Williamson, 1973), and which “the Daman” plays the role of a guarantor of the community order (Lkelma, Niya, etc.) rather than the judicial order (contracts, formality, etc.) (Fukuyama, 1995; Balambo & Livolsi, 2010).

Keywords: Daman, Social Capital, Lkelma, Niya, Trust, Morocco

Authors’ individual contribution: The Author is responsible for all the contributions to the paper according to CRediT (Contributor Roles Taxonomy) standards.

Declaration of conflicting interests: The Author declares that there is no conflict of interest.

JEL Classification: D23, G39, Z13, Z19

Received: 06.09.2022
Accepted: 11.04.2023
Published online: 13.04.2023

How to cite this paper: Chafai, M. (2023). Trust in exchange relations as social capital: Exploratory study of informal freight transport. Journal of Governance & Regulation, 12(2), 27–35. https://doi.org/10.22495/jgrv12i2art3