Economics of the Product Certification Industry: Some Research Needs

摘要

A number of private organizations certify products for safety and other qualities. With the increase in safety regulation, product liability suits, and interest in encouraging the use of new technologies through certification, certification is likely to become more and more important as a way to show conformance with voluntary or regulatory standards. There have been a number of Federal and State government activities related to product certification. However, the potential impact of past and proposed government actions is not clear. One reason may be that there has been insufficient study of the economics of the product certification industry. The paper asserts that such study is needed as a basis for setting government policy and raises issues that should be addressed concerning structure and performance of the product certification industry.