How is credibility defined?

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“Credibility is defined as the collective expression of the functionality of institutions, or, more specifically, the reflection of actors’ [simple_tooltip content='For starters, we are dealing with perceptions at an aggregate level, which sets credibility apart from the individual’s views about institutions such as land lease, communal irrigation, corporate boards, laws or policies. (ibid., p. 1125).']cumulative[/simple_tooltip] perceptions of [simple_tooltip content='In addition, credibility is ‘always secured endogenously…rather than exogenously’ (Grabel 2000, 1), differentiating it from legitimacy, which bears greater connotation to intentional, externally induced governance (ibid., p. 1125).']endogenously [/simple_tooltip]emerged institutions as a [simple_tooltip content='Lastly, credibility is about actors seeing the working of institutions as a common arrangement that is shared by two or more parties” (ibid., p. 1125).']common arrangement[/simple_tooltip]. This definition contains various critical elements. See P. Ho, “An Endogenous Theory of Property Rights”, Journal of Peasant Studies, 2016, 43/6, p. 1125. [ap_toggle title="READ MORE" status="close"]"[C]redibility can be best conceptualized as a theoretical continuum that varies between “fully” or “partially credible” to “non-credible”, or even “empty institutions”, which exist on government, non-governmental, or firm paper only. That continuum is temporally and spatially determined, that is, an institution perceived as credible at one given time and location could well be entirely non-credible, thus empty, at another time and location, and vice versa.” See P. Ho, “The ‘Credibility Thesis’ and its Application to Property Rights: (In)secure Land Tenure and Social Welfare in China", Land Use Policy, 2014, 40, Sept, p.16[/ap_toggle]