Introduction
Most technologies are brought to the market at a slower pace than technically possible. Most technologies take time before they are accepted to a broader audience. The trust within these technologies is not readily established. Most technologies are created in prosperous countries. However, not all these countries can create a society in which everyone has access to the benefits of these technologies.
In this article, I would like to focus on the future of these new technologies by applying the science of this wonderful paper. More and more frequently I hear and read about the growing inequality on a global scale. Inequality and a larger social distance between institutions and individuals play a negative role in establishing trust. This could in part explain the growing support for rather polarized political opinions.
A little less politically colored are usually the entrances of new technologies. However, the infrastructure is largely facilitated by governments and so there is a crucial role for institutions to regulate the market entry of electric cars and autonomous driving systems. Potential customers would have to be convinced first to adapt to the new situation of such a radical switch in our infrastructure. For both car-brands and governments, the interests are significant and to the customer, it remains for a large part unclear how daily life will change after the transition. One thing that is sure for them, is that they will lose further control over their modes of transportation and basic maintenance. Because there is this large gap between a hopeful industry and a doubtful customer trust that will prove vital in overcoming the moral hazard.
What is the research about
The research takes into account valuable findings by the World Value Survey and tries to determine how the trust-index influences the relationship between a broker and a private investor.
Private investors typically have little insight into how their capital is invested. There needs to be trust between the private investor and the broker to cooperate. The theoretical argument here is that the amount of research being done by the private investor on the broker is the indicator of trust between them.
Investors have limited access to real information about the side-effects and risks that come with investments. Brokers, on the other hand, do benefit from high sales and ambiguous information that favors their position. The outcome of this model aims to generalize the principal-agent relationships in any given situation in which there is something to gain and something to lose. For that reason it very applicable to many different cases.
What can curious executives learn from the evidence?
To overcome the trust challenges of this revolutionary new way of driving the institutional bodies need to trust the automotive industries first. However, that is not the center of the paper. So we will have a further look at three things that the government should look at once convinced that introducing the new technologies will benefit society.
+ Cheating needs to be punished severely by local governments if the automotive companies appear to be dishonest about the products that are being offered.
+ Unambiguous role of governments on the allowance of such new technologies. Approvals by governments on topics such as tax-regulations and special treatments are often perceived as strange by members of society.
+ The willingness to co-create for governments with the new technological opportunities arising could be an indicator of trust in the new technology by institutions.
We need to be careful though with trusting our institutions to take care of the technologies that enter the market. For decades the most powerful and trustworthy institutions in the world have been approving industrial and technological products that now seem to harm our society. From chemical farming to disruptive smartphone-addiction, both medicines have been taken without reading the prescription.
