International “Standards” and International Governance

Kenneth W. Abbott, Northwestern University School of Law

8/01/2008
(Original Publish Date: 2/1/2000)

Standards and standard setting are pervasive mechanisms of international governance. States and private actors create standards across a wide range of circumstances to promote their collective welfare by coordinating and limiting individual behavior. However, international standards play very different roles in different circumstances. In this paper, we examine how the diversity of standard setting problems leads, through the interaction of private and state interests, to different governance arrangements. Our analysis is rooted in a positive examination of standard setting behavior, yet it leads to normative conclusions: how international standard setting “should” be organized in different settings.