Financial researchers agree that allocating money to employer stock in a 401(k) plan is a poor strategy, yet many employees do so. Not only does this investment strategy bear unrewarded idiosyncratic risk, but it also correlates employees' retirement portfolios with their human capital. I find evidence that this selection is influenced by the investment preferences of peers, which includes both management at the firm and employees at other firms headquartered in the same city. Specifically, the percentage allocated to company stock by employees in the 401(k) plan is positively related to both the net open-market purchases of company stock by management and the average allocation to company stock in 401(k) plans by employees at other firms headquartered in the same city. Surprisingly, the allocation to company stock in 401(k) plans increases with investment in employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs), which are a dominant substitute since they often offer stock at a discount. To identify the cause of this relationship between employees and management, I provide additional support for the peer effects hypothesis through interaction tests. The relationship between employees and management is influenced by distance between peers and trust within the firm - two factors that alter group cohesion and, in turn, the effect of peer influence. These results are robust to size of the firm and also exist for the subsample of firms that have only made matching contributions in cash. Consistent with our understanding of the inertia that exists in employee investment decisions, employee allocations to company stock are influenced for many years by management's initial investment choices made near the time of going public. Lastly, alternative methodologies, including propensity score matched samples and panel regressions, yield the same conclusions.

The aim of this research is to highlight the factors and barriers that render mobile phone users averse to using their mobile handsets as an internet platform in Jordan. Three studies were conducted to achieve the aim of the conducted research of this PhD thesis. Both quantitative and qualitative approaches were used in all studies. Data was collected from the participants using questionnaires, open-ended questions and sketching techniques. Firstly, mobile internet usage in Jordan was explored in its wider sense. On the basis of these results, the second study compared PC and mobile internet use. This comparison resulted in the preference of PC internet rather than mobile internet. The study covered many aspects such as usability, familiarity, achievement and satisfaction in dealing with both mobile and stationary tools internet. The third study was divided into two sections. The first part required participants to design (using a sketching technique) a mobile application with regard to handling a critical issue (car violations), to establish the possibility for internet users in Jordan to perform tasks on a mobile platform that they currently perform on stationary internet tools. The second part of the study was an evaluation of this prototype application. The results revealed that the application was found to be very easy and useful by the participants of the study. They added that they would benefit from using such applications in their lives. There was an observed issue of security and trust related to the payment option provided as an option in the application. Participants were cautious and declined to use any ―untrusted‖ method of payment. In addition to lacking trust in e-commerce, participants lack trust and confidence in online payment methods, and stated that they would not recommend the payment option to anyone. Finally, the outcome of the study showed that the application is a novel idea in Jordan, and it is very easy to handle and use. Participants commented that it was easy to interact with the mobile application in order to complete different tasks. The key benefit of the application for participants lies in saving time, by avoiding long queues at the Traffic Department.

Many authors have argued that social capital is positively related to economic prosperity, regional development, collective action, and democratic governance. But it alone can not explain all of these phenomena in societies. The concept of trust can not be neglected in the social capital literature. Considerable confusion exists concerning the relationship between social capital and trust, namely whether trust is a precondition of social capital or a product of it. This paper begins to explore their relationships by tracing the origins and development of the concept of social capital. It then discusses the relationship between social capital and trust by comparing their origins or sources. Finally, these two ideas are placed in organizational context to develop an analytical distinction between trust and social capital while clarifying and exploring the implications of these two primary perspectives on organizational effectiveness. The paper concludes that trust and social capital are mutually reinforcing -- social capital generates trusting relationships that in turn produce social capital. / Master of Public and International Affairs

Social capital is becoming a core concept in economics, political science, sociology and public policy. Trust, norms and social networks, constitute the three major components of social capital. These three factors interact together and play a significant role in transactions between people and organizations. However, there is no consensus about the influence of social capital on transaction costs. Some researchers have stated that social capital could reduce transaction costs associated with adapting, monitoring and enforcing transactions; some have analyzed the negative impacts of social capital on transaction costs; and still some have focused on transaction costs in the formation of social capital. Using organizations as the unit of analysis and concentrating on trust, this paper analyzes how trust, the central concept of social capital, impacts transaction costs in inter-organizational transactions. At the same time, it is argued that trust building is costly, and some activities that constitute transaction costs help to form a mutual-trust between organizations. Further, the paper points out that transaction costs and trust differ depending on the characters of transactions. The paper also studies the lock-in effects of trust on inter-organizational relationships and the role of intermediaries to mitigate the negative impacts. Finally, the paper intends to find policy and strategy implications for organizations and government to build a healthy and vigorous transaction environment. / Master of Urban and Regional Planning

Trust is a good approach to explain the functioning of markets, institutions or society as a whole. It is a key element in almost every commercial transaction over time and might be one of the main explanations of economic success and development. Trust diminishes the more we perceive others to have economically different living realities. In most of the relevant contributions, scholars have taken a macro perspective on the inequality-trust linkage, with an aggregation of both trust and inequality on a country level. However, patterns of within-country inequality and possibly influential determinants, such as perception and socioeconomic reference, remained undetected. This paper offers the opportunity to look at the interplay between inequality and trust at a more refined level. A measure of (generalized) trust emerges from ESS 5 survey which asks "...generally speaking, would you say that most people can be trusted, or that you can't be too careful in dealing with people?". With the use of 2009 EU-SILC data, measurements of income inequality are developed for age-specific groups of society in 22 countries. A sizable variation in inequality measures can be noticed. Even in low inequality countries, like Sweden, income imbalances within certain age groups have the potential to undermine social trust.

Business-to-Customer electronic commerce presents substantial opportunities to businesses even after the recent downturn in the dot-com business. However, the usage rate of online shopping in Hong Kong and worldwide is still very low. Risk perceptions and lack of trust have been identified as two major obstacles to the adoption of online shopping. However, there is paucity of research that investigates the complex relationships among these variables. There are even fewer studies examining the effectiveness of various trust building mechanisms and their interactions. In this thesis, this issue is addressed by developing an integrative research model based upon insights from a number of theoretical perspectives, including the Triandis Model, social exchange theory, Sitkin and Pablo's model of risk behavior, and the risk-return framework, to understand the factors affecting the intention to use online shopping. Some of the previously overlooked variables and relationships, such as risk propensity of customers, facilitating conditions, trust in the transaction medium, and the mediating role of perceived risks, were included in the model. This model elucidates the adoption process of electronic commerce. / Regression results show that all three trust building mechanisms have significant positive effects on trust in the online vendor. Their effects are not simple ones; the different trust building mechanisms interact with one another to produce an overall effect on the level of trust. Path analyses, via structural equation modeling, provide support for the validity and usefulness of the research model in explaining the intention to use online shopping. Seventy-five percent of the variance of the intention is explained by its antecedents. Most of the relationships posited in the model gain support from the data. / The scenario survey method was used for data collection. 463 usable questionnaires were collected from respondents with diverse backgrounds. The validity and reliability of the newly developed scales for perceived process risks were demonstrated using factor analysis. / Three trust building mechanisms (i.e., third-party certification, reputation, and return policy) and a new construct, perceived process risk, were proposed and examined in this study. / Chang Man-Kit. / "August 2003." / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 64-09, Section: A, page: 3376. / Supervisor: Waiman Cheung. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2003. / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, MI : ProQuest dissertations and theses, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, MI : ProQuest Information and Learning Company, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / School code: 1307.

Li, Ning. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2011. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 77-89). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / ABSTRACT --- p.v / Chapter 1 --- Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter 2 --- Theoretical Background --- p.6 / Chapter 2.1 --- Trust --- p.6 / Trust --- p.6 / Trust Repair --- p.8 / Perspectives of Trust Repair Research --- p.10 / Trust Repair Effectiveness --- p.13 / Chapter 2.2 --- Commitment --- p.15 / Commitment --- p.15 / Continuance Commitment and Side Bet Theory --- p.17 / Consequences of Continuance Commitment --- p.23 / Sub-dimensions of Continuance Commitment --- p.24 / Chapter 3 --- Hypothesis --- p.28 / Chapter 4 --- Study 1 --- p.34 / Chapter 4.1 --- Experiment Design --- p.34 / Basic Game Settings --- p.34 / Specific Game Settings in Study 1 --- p.37 / Computer Interface --- p.37 / Procedure --- p.38 / Figure 1 Experiment Procedure of Study 1 --- p.40 / Trust Building --- p.40 / Trust Violation --- p.42 / Trust Repair --- p.42 / Trust Measurement --- p.43 / Investment Manipulation --- p.43 / Alternative Manipulation --- p.44 / Manipulation Check --- p.44 / Chapter 4.2 --- Results --- p.45 / Manipulation Check --- p.45 / Repeated Measures Analysis --- p.46 / Hypothesis Testing --- p.48 / Figure 2 Overall Pass Behavior in Study 1 (Estimated Marginal Means) --- p.48 / Chapter 5 --- Study 2 --- p.53 / Chapter 5.1 --- Methodology --- p.53 / Game Settings --- p.54 / Investment Manipulation --- p.54 / Alternative Manipulation --- p.55 / Procedure --- p.56 / Figure 3 Experiment Procedure of Study 2 --- p.56 / Chapter 5.2 --- Results --- p.57 / Manipulation Check --- p.57 / Hypothesis Testing --- p.59 / Figure 4 Overall Pass Behavior (Estimated Marginal Means) in Study 2 --- p.60 / Figure 5 Pass Behavior (Estimated of Means) by Investment Conditions --- p.65 / Figure 6 Pass Behavior (Estimated of Means) by Alternative Conditions --- p.66 / Chapter 6 --- Discussion --- p.70 / Reference --- p.77 / Appendix A: Manipulation Check Items --- p.90 / Study 1 --- p.90 / Study 2 --- p.91 / Appendix B: Screen Capture of Experiment --- p.92

Trust between individuals and groups has been identified as an important factor in determining organisational success, organisational stability and the well-being of employees. The present research contributes to the growing literature on trust by developing measures and models of how employees trust senior management. Drawing from the literature and the results of pilot studies, a six dimensional model of trust in senior management - consisting of dispositional, cognitive, affective, social and behavioural intent dimensions - was tested using confirmatory factor analysis (n = 416). The results clearly supported the convergent and discriminant validity of the measurement model. For example, all model fit indices were above minimum recommended values and all items loaded at significant levels on their specified factor.The measures were successfully cross- validated in a sample from a different organization (n = 249). Next, models portraying alternative structural relations between the dimensions were examined, before deriving a model which successfully summarized the data in a theoretically plausible way. The model showed trust in senior management, defined in terms of behavioural intentions, to be directly influenced by affective reactions and perceived social norms. Cognitive assessments about the overall effectiveness of senior management were shown to have an indirect influence on trust. This structural model was successfully cross- validated on an independent sample. The attitudinal dimensions of the model were shown to hold, longitudinally, over a twelve month period (n = 257).In contrast to previous cross-sectional research, disposition did not influence trust in senior management over time. In terms of determining the organizational consequences of trust in senior management, the results showed that trust in senior management influenced cynicism toward change ++ / over a twelve month time period. Theoretical implications and the practical implications for the diagnosis and management of trust in senior management are discussed.

This dissertation consists of four studies on the role of institutions, education and institutional reform in economic development. Three of the studies examine empirical aspects of the issue and the fourth provides an analysis of policy implications. A key theme of the dissertation is the recognition that institutions, both formal and informal, are important for development. The observation that some developing economies have been unable to substantively improve institutional structures, creates a vital agenda for studying institutional change. The first study empirically investigates the impact of education, both quantitatively and qualitatively, on the informal institution of social capital measured as social trust. Differences in levels of education are considered to find the separate effects of primary, secondary and tertiary education. The relationship between education and social trust levels in countries is found to be positive. The sample is further split into developed and developing countries which also substantiates the main hypothesis. The results can be interpreted as schooling playing a transformative role in the society. The second study develops a framework for studying education inequality and institutional development. A range of economic, political and social measures of institutional quality are used in a cross-country analysis. The study confirms that the cross-country differences in institutional variables are influenced negatively by the education inequality. Several competing hypotheses of institutional improvement are used to test the sensitivity of the results. The sample is further split into OECD and non-OECD countries, with no new results arising from this split. The third study investigates the relationship of education inequality and institutional quality using panel data techniques and an alternative data set of institutional measures, than the one used in the second study. This study initially estimates the relationship using the pooled OLS and fixed effects models. The issue of persistency in institutional variables is then investigated by using a system GMM estimator. The evidence suggests that the impact of reducing education inequality is associated with improvements in institutional quality. The fourth study analyses the implications from the first three studies with reference to the institutional reform agenda. Insight is given for improving the reform process. Areas of context specificity and sequencing of reforms are dealt with, using country examples. The intuition from this essay is that educational equality is a deliberate initiative which needs to be carried out through policy initiatives, although the process adopted would depend on the specific economy. It is suggested that there is a need to change the fundamental focus from emphasis on altering formal rules, to considering the current underlying structures in societies as a constraint, in developing a way forward to improving the reform agenda.

The researcher explored interpersonal trust (a construct from the fields of psychology and sociometry) in the context of engineering work groups. The study explored the potential antecedents of trust and the relationships among trust, creativity, communication, emotional empathy and positive affect. The study attempts to argue that 1) trust is deeply involved in the neurological development of humans from a very early age, 2) the level of trust is an important factor in the development of a person's emotional experience, 3) an individual's level of trust can improve with experience, 4) higher levels of trust can streamline task team performance, especially when creativity and communication are important, and 5) in industries that use task teams and that require innovation, high levels of interpersonal trust can be a source of competitive advantage. Analysis of the literature of social and industrial psychology leads to the hypothesis that trust is positively and significantly correlated with creativity, communication, emotional empathy and positive affect. Sociometric survey research of engineers (n=43) employed at a medical device manufacturing company fails to show support for this hypothesis. / Graduation date: 1998