Trust Gap Research Articles

Organisational barriers and bridges to crowd openness in equity crowdfunding

Entrepreneurs can leverage investor networks generated in the course of equity-based crowdfunding campaigns to obtain extra financial resources. While much is known about how the resources that improve venture success are configured, less attention has been paid to the organisational challenges involved in their utilisation and how to overcome them. These challenges represent an impediment to crowd openness for new ventures. Through an in-depth qualitative study of 60 European equity crowdfunded ventures, we identify the organisational barriers—resource gap, trust gap and information gap—to crowd openness. We also identify specific bridges—coordination technology, crowd stratification, mapping investors’ expertise and network and direct and proactive communication—that reduce these barriers and facilitate engagement with external actors.

Filling the trust gap of food safety in food trade between the EU and China: An interconnected conceptual traceability framework based on blockchain

AbstractGlobal food trade has become an increasingly crucial element for feeding the world's population. Enhancing bilateral or multilateral trust in food safety in international food trade is not only important for promoting the sustainable development of trade but is also beneficial for cooperation when facing a global food crisis. However, highly credible traceability systems (TSs) for the cross‐border movement of food are still absent in many countries and regions. Blockchain is regarded as a promising technology that can help build trust for transparency and security issues. In this paper, an interconnected conceptual traceability framework based on blockchain is proposed in order to increase trust in food safety during food trade. Taking the food trade between China and the European Union as an example, a conceptual framework is designed in order to take full advantage of existing TSs in these two locations, and the features of logistical flow, data flow, and blockchain flow are analyzed. Considering the data capacity and data privacy level, a hybrid data storage method combining on‐chain and off‐chain is adopted. Smart contracts according to the features of cross‐border food trade—including the recording of exportation data, exporter inspection data, shipment data, importer inspection data, importation data, and tracing queries—are packaged and deployed to a blockchain network. An effective operation mechanism involving the distribution of related rights for different roles is presented. The blockchain‐based TS framework has the advantages of enhancing bilateral trust in cross‐border food trade, providing a flexible and intelligent technical framework, and having effective operability. Future challenges, such as data security, special smart contracts, and consensus mechanisms, and interoperability with other systems, are discussed.

What explains the EU north-south gap in institutional trust: socioeconomic conditions or behavioural differences? A case study

ABSTRACT A characteristic of institutional trust levels in EU members is the difference detected between north and south. Using the Blinder–Oaxaca decomposition methodology, the paper examines whether behavioural or socioeconomic conditions explain the observed differences in institutional trust. The findings indicate that the biggest part of the observed gaps in trust towards both EU and national institutions are primarily attributable to the observed characteristics of the individuals and not to behavioural or cultural differences.

Repairing Political Trust for Practical Sustainability

High levels of trust in government are important in addressing complex issues, including the realization of the mainstream sustainability agenda. However, trust in government has been declining for decades across the western world, undermining legitimacy and hampering policy implementation and planning for long-term sustainability. We hypothesize that an important factor in this decline is citizen disappointment with the current types of public participation in governance and that this could be reversed through a change from informing/consulting to a relationship of partnership. Using case studies from Western Australia, the paper investigates whether an intervention targeted at establishing a partnership relationship through mini-public, deliberative, participatory budgeting would improve trust and help the implementation of sustainability. These results show evidence of improvements in trust and provide conceptual and practical tools for government administrations wishing to close the detrimental trust gap that may hamper the implementation of a sustainability agenda.

Can we trust them again? A Framework for Repairing Trust in SMEs in an Economic Crisis Context

The economic crisis has undermined the foundations of trust-based relationships, creating a trust gap between organizations and their stakeholders and threatening business practice. The purpose of this study is to explore the breakdown of trust within small and medium-sized enterprises from an intra and inter-organizational perspective, drawing lessons from the fallout of the Greek economic crisis. Based on an in-depth investigation of four case-studies, this research offers insights on organization-stakeholder trust challenges created by the wider economic context. The paper presents a framework that can help entrepreneurs and managers for repairing trust in stakeholder relationships in times of economic crisis. This framework can also be used from consultants that are involved in small and medium sized companies’ development and growth.

Former NICU Families Describe Gaps in Family-Centered Care.

Care and outcomes of infants admitted to neonatal intensive care vary and differences in family-centered care may contribute. The objective of this study was to understand families' experiences of neonatal care within a framework of family-centered care. We conducted focus groups and interviews with 18 family members whose infants were cared for in California neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) using a grounded theory approach and centering the accounts of families of color and/or of low socioeconomic status. Families identified the following challenges that indicated a gap in mutual trust and power sharing: conflict with or lack of knowledge about social work; staff judgment of, or unwillingness to address barriers to family presence at bedside; need for nurse continuity and meaningful relationship with nurses and inconsistent access to translation services. These unmet needs for partnership in care or support were particularly experienced by parents of color or of low socioeconomic status.

The Role of Forensic Accounting in Reducing the Financial Fraud in Business

After the overlapping of science and with the cases of corruption and financial fraud experienced by most countries in the world, academic studies began to unite to create dual professional disciplines. One of the most important of these unions is the union of law with accounting to produce the concept of forensic accounting after the legal accounting with unlimited powers to go further to detect corruption and fraud. In this paper, we discussed many issues such as the nature of financial fraud in business, the extent of its impact on the confidence of the public mainly, the types of financial fraud and the most important factors affecting it, in addition to clarifying the theoretical framework of forensic accounting, its historical background, and its role in reducing financial fraud through a review of the most important global experiences. The importance of this paper can be presented as a scientific study that examines the possibility of using forensic accounting as an effective tool to eliminate cases of fraud in business, and to benefit the management, investors and lenders by narrowing the trust gap between these parties.

The trust gap: Social perceptions of privacy data for energy services in the United Kingdom

The integration of distributed renewable resources relies increasingly on ‘smart’ solutions, requiring data to schedule, control and plan the operation of distributed assets within future energy systems. Such data can include household and even personal information. Personal location data can give valuable insights with relevance for energy consumption. Movement patterns and occupancy states help with scheduling of appliances, heating loads or storage, and other applications may yet emerge. Many smart home business models rely on data for their service provision. The potential upsides from the use of personal location data are met with growing concerns over information privacy. We present results from a representative UK survey on attitudes towards location data sharing. Our findings suggest that many of the resulting service benefits are widely appreciated. However, trust in the organisations delivering them is low and may inhibit their uptake. Less than 20% of people are were willing to share their location data with an energy utility. In addition, the sense of control over location data appears low. Only 15% claim to understand who had access to their location data and 70% of participants feel that these settings are outside their control. These findings pose challenges for policy and regulation of data access. We make policy recommendations that seek to ensure smart solutions are not inhibited by a lack of public trust. In some cases this may require default settings that better match public expectations of data sharing defaults.

Living near volcanoes: Scoping the gaps between the local community and volcanic experts in southern Chile

Human societies have always inhabited volcanic zones, but only recently scientists and decision-makers have turned the attention to volcanic risk prevention and reduction. Despite a growing consensus about the importance of engaging with nearby populations, in practice there is little dialogue with them regarding volcanic threats and opportunities. We study the experiences, impacts and concerns of an indigenous community, inhabiting in-between two major volcanic systems (Carrán Los Venados and Puyehue-Cordón Caulle), regarding past and recent eruptions. Results show a longstanding cultural and economic interrelationship between people and volcanoes, representing both benefits and barriers to development; existing local/traditional knowledge is necessary but not sufficient to meet people’s needs for adequate understanding and forecasting; despite community interest on volcanic science and risk reduction, important communication and trust gaps with experts persist. Our findings suggest the importance for scientists to establish collaborative and participatory relationships with local communities and decision-makers, with the goal of not only reducing negative volcanic impacts and uncertainty, but also taking advantage of the potential of volcanic environments to boost local sustainable livelihoods.

Polarization and partisanship: Key drivers of distrust in media old and new?

Some worry that increased partisanship is lowering trust in the news media, as people increasingly come into contact with cross-cutting news coverage. We use multilevel analysis of online survey data from 35 countries and find that left-right partisans (1) have slightly less trust in the news media in general, (2) slightly higher levels of trust in the news they consume and (3) perceive a larger ‘trust gap’ between the news they use and the rest of the news available within their country. However, we do not find evidence to support the idea that people in more politically polarized countries have less trust in the news, or that the association between partisanship and trust is strengthened in polarized political environments. Although in most cases the relationship between partisanship and trust is weak, it is noticeably stronger in the United States. However, the United States is home to a unique media system, and our analysis highlights the problems of assuming that the processes at work in one relatively well-understood country are playing out in the same way globally.

Factors influencing adoption of facility-assisted delivery - a qualitative study of women and other stakeholders in a Maasai community in Ngorongoro District, Tanzania

BackgroundTanzania’s One Plan II health sector program aims to increase facility deliveries from 50 to 80% from 2015 to 2020. Success is uneven among certain Maasai pastoralist women in Northern Tanzania who robustly prefer home births to facility births even after completing 4+ ANC visits. Ebiotishu Oondomonok Ongera (EbOO) is a program in Nainokanoka ward to promote facility births through a care-group model using trained traditional birth attendants (TBAs) as facilitators. Results to date are promising but show a consistent gap between women completing ANC and those going to a facility for delivery. A qualitative study was conducted to understand psychosocial preferences, agency for decision-making, and access barriers that influence where a woman in the ward will deliver.MethodsIn-depth interviews, focus group discussions and key-informant interviews were conducted with 24 pregnant and/or parous women, 24 TBAs, 3 nurse midwives at 3 health facilities, and 24 married men, living in Nainokanoka ward. Interviews and discussions were transcribed, translated, and analyzed thematically using a grounded theory approach.ResultsMost women interviewed expressed preference for a home birth with a TBA and even those who expressed agency and preference for a facility birth usually had their last delivery at home attributed to unexpected labor. TBAs are engaged by husbands and play a significant influential role in deciding place of delivery. TBAs report support for facility deliveries but in practice use them as a last resort, and a significant trust gap was documented based on a bad experience at a facility where women in labor were turned away.ConclusionsEbOO project data and study results show a slow but steady change in norms around delivery preference in Nainokanoka ward. Gaps between expressed intention and practice, especially around ‘unexpected labor’ present opportunities to accelerate this process by promoting birth plans and perhaps constructing a maternity waiting house in the ward. Rebuilding trust between facility midwives, TBAs, and the community on the availability of health facility services, and increased sensitivity to women’s cultural preferences, could also close the gap between the number of women who are currently using facilities for ANC and those returning for delivery.

Trusted systems of records based on Blockchain technology ‐ a prototype for mileage storing in the automotive industry

SummaryBlockchain technology has the potential to bring transparency and trust to a multitude of use cases. Our research demonstrates that the technology can reduce asymmetric information in markets by bridging trust gaps. The combination of blockchain and Internet of Things technology that automatically collects sensor data, provides a feasible, decentralized technological solution for such an inefficient “Market of Lemons” coined by nobel laureate Georg Akerlof. In this paper, we develop a system prototype to reduce mileage fraud on the used car markets. Our work demonstrates the feasibility of a trusted system of records for (vehicle) data such as mileage data using a distributed database based on the public Ethereum network and smart contracts. We have identified eight requirements that are fulfilled by the prototype and the functional logic and design of thesolution can be reproduced to any other application area characterized by a lack of trust between actors or by the absence of a trusted central authority. However, the developed prototype suffers from similar limitations and challenges as the technology itself. Low throughput causes limitations in scalability and transaction costs are unpredictable. Further development of the blockchain technology and considering more cost‐efficient consensus mechanisms will address these issues.

Trust, culture and communication: determinants of eye health and care among Indigenous people with diabetes in Australia

IntroductionOur study aimed to identify factors that influence access to eye care and eye health outcomes for remote Indigenous Australians living with diabetes.MethodsIn collaboration with Indigenous Community-Based Researchers (CBR) and...

Adapting Care Groups to Urban Slums: A Case Study of a Church-Based Effort to Improve Maternal and Child Health Outcomes in Mathare, Nairobi, Kenya

Progress on maternal and child health has been slow and uneven in Africa, with widening geographic and socio-economic disparities despite economic growth and continued investments in health systems. In Kenya, modest national-level gains mask wide disparities in progress, with near stagnation among the very poor, those with the least education, and those living in either extremely rural contexts or dense informal urban slums. Progress toward Kenya’s maternal and child health Sustainable Development Goals will depend on finding new ways to work effectively in dense urban slums where poverty and ill-health are increasingly concentrated. Effective approaches require addressing significant knowledge, behavior, and trust gaps, especially with the most vulnerable residents of slum communities like Nairobi’s Mathare. Care groups were designed to address these gaps but have only been effectively tested and scaled in rural and peri-urban environments. The Center for Peacebuilding and Nationhood’s Maternal and Child Health Care Group project supported by Mennonite Central Committee in Mathare, one of the largest informal settlements in Kenya, was one of the first to adapt the Care Group model to an urban slum. Adapting the model was necessary in this challenging context characterized by high population density, crowding, extremely transient and unstable populations, low social trust, lack of traditional social structures, high crime, political disruption, and frequent rapid onset disasters. This study shows the pilot’s success and challenges in adapting care groups to the realities of a dense African urban slum, the innovative strategies the project has used, and the unique benefits of doing this work on a small scale rooted in a local church organization.

Stochastic analysis for one dimensional photonic crystals

Tolerance variations of the design parameters of the photonic crystals due to fabrication processes have a strong effect on the performance of the photonic crystals and their operating wavelengths. In this work, the uncertainties of the design parameters of one-dimensional photonic crystals (1D-PCs) and their impacts on the PCs optical properties and the operating performance are investigated. The effects of these uncertainties for different tolerances are studied for both defect-free PCs and PCs with a defect air layer. The probability distribution function and the standard deviations of the photonic gap bandwidth, the defect mode wavelength and the trust gap width are studied. These stochastic analyses and modeling are based on the transfer matrix and Monte Carlo simulations.

Economic conditions and native-immigrant asymmetries in generalized social trust

Previous research suggests that individual-level factors such as socio-economic disadvantage and discrimination account for lower levels of generalized social trust of immigrants when compared to natives. This study examines how individual and contextual economic conditions impact such trust gaps. We argue that—beyond objective economic circumstances—evaluations of economic opportunities matter for immigrants’ integration, and for their social trust. Using data from the European Social Survey 2012, 2016, merged with regional economic conditions, results from two-way fixed effects multilevel models show that gaps in social trust are wider in regions where the state of the economy is predominantly evaluated as being prosperous. Additional tests show that, in those regions, immigrants report higher levels of discrimination and lower levels of satisfaction with social life. This study adds the important finding to the literature on social inequality and immigrant integration that favorable economic conditions may, paradoxically, increase native-immigrant trust asymmetries.

205.6: Challenges of deceased organ donation in a low middle income country-A case study from Kerala, India.

Kerala the southernmost part of India with a high life expectancy rate and maternal and child health indicators with a population of 34.8 million has shown a sudden growth in deceased organ donation after brain death and an equally abrupt decline. The study aims to find out the reasons for rise and fall of donations from brain death. Donation after brain death in Kerala was spearheaded by Kerala network for organ sharing formed in 2012 by Government of Kerala to coordinate brain death certification, equitable organ allocation and ensure transparency with accountability in the entire process of donation after brain death. Before that, organ donation after brain death has remained sporadic although a legislation recognising brain death was in place as early as 1994. The observations made in the study is obtained by a qualitative study using purposive sampling of stake holders and conducting in depth interviews and focus group discussions. The newly created KNOS succeeded in creating a sudden increase in donation after brain death in initial years of its inception but soon it plummeted. At one point of time Kerala topped India in term of deceased donation after brain death with 2.3 pmp while the national average was a meagren 0.08 pmp donors. The organ utilisation rate was also too good as show in the figure. However, in 2016 media shed light on petition alleging abuses in brain death determination and the program suffered due to misinformation campaign and public loosing trust in the entire process. To regain the trust in the process Government introduced video recording for certifying death and insisted that a doctor working in a public hospital must be a part of certifying team. This action virtually stopped the brain death determination on neurological criteria in private hospitals. This obligations was badly perceived by professional in private sector and they took it as mistrust of the sector and disdain of their professional expertise. Along with that the hospital administrators felt that it could lead to their bad reputation and also there is a growing trust gap between public and private hospitals because of the cost involved in transplantation. In fact many donor families feel that the altruistically donated organs are used as profit making objectives for corporate hospitals as transplant surgeries do yield more money. This public perception may also have contributed to sharp decline in donation after brain death. In spite of Kerala having a high development index, the transplant is accessible mostly to the rich as public hospital transplant activity is sparse to nil. There was general agreement that lack of notification and certification as the single most hinderance in the pathway to donation. The biggest barrier in donation after brain death is lack of uniform practice pattern in hospitals on brain death diagnosis, inequity in access to transplantation and the expense factor. Luc P J Noel.

Blockchain: Embedding Trust in Organic Products’ Supply Chain

Blockchain is set to disrupt supply chain activities. Research has barely begun to assess its effects on various inter-organizational interactions and on the end-consumer. This paper explores the lack of trust that consumers of organic products have on its supply chain, why it is important to reduce that trust gap and how blockchain is likely to help in embedding trust in it. Special emphasis has been placed on roles of smart-contracts and internet-of-things in blockchain based solutions.

Sociaal werk in stadswijken waar problemen zich opstapelen

The impact of residualisation on social work has so far hardly been explored. Based on existing literature and recently started empirical research in Amsterdam we analyze several consequences. Residualisation refers to the process whereby urban social housing is strictly allocated to the lowest income groups. What does this concentration of disadvantaged households mean for the role of social workers? Firstly, for community workers residualisation mostly implies a renewed role as instigators of residents’ participation in urban renewal trajectories for social mix. Furthermore community activities are increasingly used to offer safe havens for new and old groups of residents and also to prevent expensive treatments for several residential groups. For social workers focusing on individual support or casework residualisation results in an increasingly complex caseload. Residualisation does not imply extra formation for social work, but rather extra attention for the effortful coproduction of welfare between formal and informal actors. Within this playing field, we distinguish link work as vital for both formal and informal social work. Link work is about establishing vertical and horizontal connections between different worlds, across sectoral, professional or trust gaps. We expect that in areas of residualisation successful urban social work is dependent on strong linking skills.

Temporal dynamics of political trust in China: A cohort analysis

This article focuses on the changing trends in political trust in China. Based on data drawn from the Asian Barometer Survey for 2002, 2008, and 2011, as well as the Chinese General Social Survey for 2010 and 2012, we find a declining trend in the level of political trust in China, whether it be trust in the central government, trust in the local government, or the central–local government trust gap. Additionally, the results of our analysis show a strong cohort effect on the erosion of political trust. This study provides solid empirical evidence of declining political trust in China and increases our understanding of the changing dynamics of political trust. By analysing changes in citizens’ values and in the political expectations of the new generation, this article sheds light on the antecedents of political trust in China, which is gradually changing across different generations.