A single highly trustworthy actor can raise the trustworthiness of competitors

Evidence

For example, in a market one exceptionally trustworthy dealer may force others to be more trustworthy in order to stay in competition, as John Mueller (1999, 79–80) argues for the case of John Wanamaker and the modern department store. On the other hand, in certain contexts, in a society in which personal relationships are generally not deviously exploitative, one can take a lot for granted on first meeting a new associate. Con artists, sexual exploiters, and many others have a field of play only because the background standards and expectations of behavior are relatively high. — Russell Hardin, Trust and Trustworthiness, 871

Categorization

• XREF: The doctor’s wife as the singular trustworthy actor in Saramago’s blind society parallels Wanamaker’s one dealer forcing others upward. — connects to: A concession to one actor legitimizes that claim type for all others.
• SEED: Angle on how one honest person in a corrupt system raises the floor: applies to markets, bureaucracies, and the governance-of-blindness scenario.