Studies on benefits of standards

This webpage contains information on studies on the economic and social benefits of standards for trade, national economies, industry sectors, individual companies and citizens. It is intended as a reference repository of studies that address economic and other benefits of standards, their impacts and their relevance for international trade, innovation and economic development. The studies have been undertaken by different authors, such as national and international standards bodies, research institutes, universities and other international agencies.

An effort has been made to include in this repository studies based, as far as possible, on recent and original field research. However, the repository remains a working tool: it does not attempt or claim to be exhaustive, nor does it set any form of hierarchy among existing studies.

ISO members, researchers and anybody interested in this matter are invited to provide input and feed-back, thus contributing to improving the quality and extent of the inventory.

The list of publications and resources identified are organized in three sections:

Main studies

This section contains information on major studies on the economic and social benefits of standards for national economies as well as basic research on the functioning of standards and on how standards impact trade, the economy and innovation.

Title / Abstract	Year
Economic Benefits of Standards - International case studies - Volume 2 This is the second volume of case studies carried out using the ISO Methodology developed by ISO, with the support of Roland Berger Strategy Consultants to assess and quantify the economic benefits of standards mainly from a microeconomic perspective. It contains ten studies from nine countries ... more Author(s): Daniele Gerundino (ISO Central Secretariat), Reinhard Weissinger (ISO Central Secretariat)	2012
Economic Benefits of Standards - International case studies This book contains a set of 11 case studies from 10 countries about the economic benefits of standards from the point of view of different companies. In the studies a methodology was implemented that had been developed by ISO, with the support of Roland Berger Strategy Consultants, to assess and ... more Author(s): Daniele Gerundino (ISO Central Secretariat), Reinhard Weissinger (ISO Central Secretariat)	2011
The Economic Benefits of Standards to New Zealand The Standards Council of New Zealand, and several industry stakeholders, co-sponsored Business and Economic Research Ltd (BERL) to undertake a project to measure the economic effects of Standards on the New Zealand economy, in particular in the building and construction sector. The project ... more Author(s): Dr. Amapola Generosa, Dr. Ganesh Nana, Fiona Stokes, Hugh Dixon	2011
Assessing Economic Benefits of Consensus-Based Standards - The ISO Methodology Substantiating and quantifying the economic and social benefits of consensus-based standards is key, both for the monitoring and prioritizing of standardization activities and for communication purposes, in order to encourage support and involvement from public, private and societal stakeholders at ... more Author(s): International Organization for Standardization - ISO	2010
The Economic Impact of Standardization. Technological Change, Standards Growth in France The AFNOR study, which was authored by AFNOR's Marketing and Innovation Department, comprises two dimensions: Firstly, a macroeconomic analysis in order to assess the relationship between standards and growth in the long term. This analysis is based on a methodology which was used for the ... more Author(s): Hakima Miotti (AFNOR Group)	2009
Economic Value of Standardization The Standards Council of Canada (SCC) retained The Conference Board of Canada to undertake a study to examine the impact of standardization on the Canadian economy. The study was based on research methodology that was originally used in Germany (DIN 2000) and the United Kingdom (BSI 2005) and ... more Author(s): Joanne Warren, Joseph Haimowitz	2007
Standards, Innovation and the Australian Economy The report, Standards, innovation and the Australian economy, undertaken by the Canberra based Centre for International Economics studies the impact of standards on the Australian economy. It is part of Standards Australia's submission to the Australian Productivity Commission research study into ... more Author(s): Centre for International Economics	2007
International Standardization as a Strategic Tool This IEC book is a compilation of commended papers from the IEC Centenary Challenge, a competition for papers on the economic, business and social impact of International Standards on business. The competition was organized in association with The Economist magazine and in partnership with three ... more	2006
World Trade Report 2005: Standards, Offshoring and Air Transport Written by WTO economists, this report underlines the important benefits that standards can deliver in terms of information for consumers, environmental protection and compatibility of related goods and services. It also draws attention to the fact that technical standards can also be used as ... more	2005
The Empirical Economics of Standards This study, commissioned by DTI, is a very important contribution to the analysis of standardization's impact, as it is one of the most recent and comprehensive aiming to quantify the value of standards to the economy. The document presents the results of an investigation of the role and impact of ... more Author(s): UK Dept of Trade and Industry	2005
Standards & Sustainable Trade: A Sectoral Analysis for the Proposed Sustainable Trade & Innovation Centre (STIC) This study was conducted as part of a wider feasibility study for the 'Sustainable Trade and Innovation Centre' (STIC). It analyses the contribution of standards to sustainable development in terms of sustainability and market access, using case studies from food, forestry and tourism as examples. ... more Author(s): Bill Vorley (IIED), Dilys Roe (IIED), Steve Bass (IIED)	2002
The Benefits of Standards: Trading With and Within Europe Two economists look at standards, from a broad historical perspective, as a "public good" and also as an instrument of marketing policy in the life cycle of products. They examine issues behind the provision of standards by the market only and/or by intervention of public authorities. They analyze ... more Author(s): Geoffrey Williams, Paul Temple	2002
The Economics of Standardization This study, undertaken by the Manchester Business School for the UK Department of trade and industry (DTI), provides an overview and classification of the literature on standardization and different ways of standards setting (formal standards setting process versus consortia process). ... more Author(s): G.M. Peter Swann (Manchester Business School, Manchester University)	2000
Economic Benefits of Standardization. Summary of Results. Final Report and Practical Examples The DIN study is a comprehensive investigation into the economic benefits of standardization. The joint research project Economic benefits of standardization initiated by DIN was carried out simultaneously in Germany, Austria and Switzerland by two contractors: the Department of Market-Oriented ... more	2000
The Aims and Principles of Standardization In this early publication by ISO, the objectives of standardization are explained as well as the organizational structures of standardization at the international, national and company level. Examples are given for various technical fields to demonstrate the effect standards and harmonized ... more Author(s): T.R.B. Sanders	1972
The Economics of Standards, Theory, Evidence, Policy This book provides a comprehensive overview of the important topic of standards, which remains a vastly underresearched field of empirical inquiry. It presents a variety of interesting empirical analyses which reveal the driving forces and the economic impacts of standardization in both the ... more Author(s): Knut Blind