This dissertation investigates trust as a managerial resource. While admitting the importance of trust, public management scholars have not paid as much attention to it as scholars of other social science fields. Focusing on subordinates' trust in their immediate supervisors and middle-level managers, this research fills research gaps by investigating three specific issues. First, it investigates the effects of trust in managerial leadership within federal government agencies on organizational performance. Second, it tests whether the trustworthiness of managerial leadership is an antecedent of trust, as well as having its own effect on performance. Third, it explores several institutional factors as moderators of the effects of trustworthiness and trust.

This dissertation uses a distinctive methodology in investigating these issues. Existing research in public administration provides useful insights on the importance of trust, but they are largely confined to qualitative analyses or normative discussion. In an effort to produce more generalizable findings, this research implements quantitative analysis. It uses large-N surveys of federal employees and other documents reflecting institutional characteristics and program performance. It investigates the effects of trust, trustworthiness, and institutional factors by using quantitative methods, including a structural equation model (SEM) and a hierarchical linear model (HLM).

The analyses demonstrate the value of trust and trustworthiness within federal agencies. First, public managers can build trust by nurturing their trustworthiness. Second, trust and trustworthiness have substantial effects in facilitating high performance from staff; trust and managerial trustworthiness increase employee satisfaction, cooperation, and perceived work quality. The effect of trust is also maintained at a sub-agency level: the average level of trust within federal agencies is positively and significantly associated with their program performances. Third, the value of trust and trustworthiness further increases under external turbulence and pressure. In spite of some exceptions, the effects of trust and trustworthiness are increased under high levels of external control on bureaucracy, top-level leadership change, and structural change. All these results indicate that research on trust has the potential to contribute to effective human resource management.