dr. F.A. (Andrea) Ganzaroli

This thesis focuses on the problem of creating trust between local and global systems. The development global institutions and technologies, such as the credit card system, tends to replace the value of local relationships of trust based on mutual knowledge and to standardize the way trust is established and created between people and firms. In this thesis we argue that the trust embedded within local networks of relationships represents a value for the whole global society. In this perspective we provides three major contributions. The first is to develop a model to interpret the process of trust creation between local and global systems. The second is to apply this model in a number of case studies of Italian industrial districts. The third is to highlight advantages and disadvantages associated to alternative strategies of trust creation between local and global systems.