Invisible hands and visible advisors: An economic interpretation of standardization

This article provides an outline of the economic factors influencing the development of standards. Standards may develop through market mechanisms, organizations that combine market participants and government guidance. Each of these mechanisms may produce desirable outcomes or distort them, depending on market structure, chance historical events, and the costs of technical alternatives. Many economically desirable and distorted outcomes are possible in theory, while in practice, it is often difficult to know what is a good or bad economic choice.