The Economics of Compatibility Standards

David, P. A., & Greenstein, S. (1990). The Economics of Compatibility Standards: An Introduction to Recent Research. Economics of Innovation and New Technology, 1(1).

Type

Journal article

Intellectual base

Primary research

Year

1990

DOI

10.1080/10438599000000002

Link

https://doi.org/10.1080/10438599000000002

Cited from

computer_science, organizational_management

Cited by

2 citations across 2 artifacts.

Each citation links to the sentence it supports in the citing article.

Primes

• Sponsor Vacuum
  • In standards-setting it is the committee with formal authority that stops convening, leaving vendors to proliferate de-facto standards.

    This sourceShows that when a formal standards body fails to converge, vendors proliferate de-facto standards.

• Standardization
  • In technology it is the engine of the digital and physical infrastructure: TCP/IP standardized how independently-built machines exchange packets, USB standardized the connector so any device plugs into any port, HTTP and HTML standardized the web, and shipping containers standardized cargo dimensions so any container fits any ship, crane, and truck — in each, the value is overwhelmingly in the sharing, and the standards bodies (IETF, ISO, USB-IF) exist to manufacture the agreement.

    This sourceSurveys de jure versus de facto standard-setting, standards bodies, and the economics of compatibility across technology — the four standardization processes (unsponsored market, sponsored proprietary, voluntary standards bodies, government promulgation).

Verification

This reference passed the adversarial substantiation pipeline: it was checked to exist and to support the claim it is attached to. See how references were verified.

Registry ID ref:f134b8ca0eb3 · see in the full table