George Beers

Trust and Tracing game: learning about transactions and embeddedness in a trade network

This paper introduces a gaming simulation, the Trust and Tracing game, for learning about the relation between social structure and the co-ordination of transactions in a trade network. This paper describes experiences from 15 sessions with the game. Its model allows the use of network and market coordination mechanisms by participating groups. During debriefing participants typically indicated they learned that prior relationships were more important to the course of the session than economic theory predicts. Number of participants, language barriers, nationality, perceived group membership, and prior experience determined which transaction governance mechanism emerged in the game.