Trust and government contracting

Meeyoung Lamothe, Scott Lamothe and Alperen Zararsiz

Chapter 24 in Handbook on Trust in Public Governance, 2025, pp 395-407 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: The early contracting literature generally gave short shrift to the concept of trust, opting more commonly to adopt an agency perspective that emphasised the importance of formal controls. Over time, a greater emphasis on trust has emerged with realisations that reliance on formal controls alone is not sufficient to reap the potential benefits of intersectoral collaboration in service delivery. Taking a multidisciplinary approach, this chapter traces this evolution in the literature, focusing on defining trust and the forms it may take in the context of government contracting, how trust interacts with formal controls (specifically, is trust best conceived of as a substitute or a complement to formal controls?), and the ways such interactions may enhance or hinder the efficiency and effectiveness of contracting. It closes with a discussion of avenues for future research, with emphasis on better understanding the balance between formal and informal mechanisms to improve contracting outcomes.

Keywords: Trust; Government contracting; Relational contracting; Informal control mechanisms; Formal contracting; Transaction costs (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
ISBN: 9781802201390
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