The evidence suggests that reputation is important but no substitute for experience. My information pertains primarily to the client’s perception of the subcontractor and I would not want to exclude entirely the likelihood of asymmetry here. The client firms are comparatively visible, being prominent members of the Lyons engineering community and in most cases larger than the subcontractors. My interviews suggested that they are acutely aware of their reputation for reliability. When asked how they signalled their trustworthiness to potential subcontractors, they invariably referred to this.

Diego Gambetta, Trust - Making and Breaking…, loc. 2606