Economic benefits of standardization : result of a German scientific study

Knoop, Hans

In recent years, technical standardization has been the subject of numerous academic research projects. Although these projects did not ignore economic aspects, they lacked the theoretical background necessary for a detailed analysis. Industry has become increasingly interested in assessing its economic efficiency, and thus is more interested in the role of standardization. Systematic and reliable results can only be attained on a common basis. Because there is greater pressure on industry to rationalize, the costs and benefits of standardization must be examined from both a microeconomic and a macroeconomic viewpoint. The Presidial Board of DIN therefore asked research institutes to initiate research into the economic efficiency of standardization, with the aim of making the costs and benefits of standardization transparent from both economic perspectives. DIN, the German Institute for Standardizaton, contracted the Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research Karlsruhe (ISI Karlsruhe) and the Departments of Market- Orientated Business Management and of Political Economics and Economic Research at the Technical University of Dresden to jointly carry out this research project in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

Event: XXIII International FIG Congress : Shaping the change

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