Trust, norms and networks of indigenous institutions: The creation of moral economies in Nigeria

Through an empirical study of traders in Bokkos and Ero markets of Nigeria, this study examines the means by which trust is developed in the absence of efficient formal institutional arrangements (such as law courts and legal structures) taken for granted in advanced economies. The analysis from the multiple case studies of micro-trading groups examines moral norms through personalised and institutionalised based trust relationships. At its centre, trust is found to be indispensable to economic relationships and necessary for information sharing and sanction enforcements. The findings reached provide well founded insights into the perceived morality of indigenous institutional arrangements within Nigeria.