Standard-setting activities and new institutional economics

From a New Institutional Economics (NIE) perspective, standards are acknowledged to play a central role in building efficient market infrastructure by defining what is exchanged and reducing the level of transaction and measurement costs. Nevertheless, only a few prior NIE studies have considered st...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of institutional economics 2017-09, Vol.13 (3), p.599-621
Main Author: MAZÉ, ARMELLE
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Agriculture
Collective action
Consortia
Economic models
Economic theory
Economics
Efficient markets
Farmers
Food safety
International standards
Legitimacy
Life Sciences
Open standards
Operating costs
Quality control
Quality standards
Retail stores
Studies
Suppliers
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Summary:From a New Institutional Economics (NIE) perspective, standards are acknowledged to play a central role in building efficient market infrastructure by defining what is exchanged and reducing the level of transaction and measurement costs. Nevertheless, only a few prior NIE studies have considered standard-setting activities as coordination and governance issues per se. This article aims to fill this gap by adapting and extending the classical Williamsonian analytical framework to the governance of standard-setting institutions. This analysis is substantiated by empirical data on global private standards in the agricultural sector. Our results highlight the importance of standard selection and the limits to current harmonisation as regards institutional failure to define alternative multilateral governance mechanisms at the international level.
ISSN:1744-1374
1744-1382
DOI:10.1017/S174413741600045X