The economic functions of standards in the innovation process

This chapter reviews the role of standards in creating new knowledge and applying it to products and services. Participation in standards development can add significantly to the knowledge base of innovating firms, but standards can also generate negative effects. How they are developed has a significant effect on their outcomes in terms of stimulating or retarding innovation. Questions of the legitimacy of standards and the role of institutions and rules in reflecting a legitimate consensus of affected stakeholders are also critical is this regard. The chapter explores such fundamentals in terms of their economic implications for several of the key activities and practices associated with innovation, for example research and development, public procurement, intellectual property rights, technology transfer and the creation of market demand.