Driving Factors for Dutch Service Providers to Participate in Formal Standardization

37 Pages Posted: 26 Apr 2012 Last revised: 9 Aug 2012

See all articles by Knut Blind

Knut Blind

Technische Universität Berlin (TU Berlin)

Henk J. de Vries

Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR) - Rotterdam School of Management (RSM); Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM)

Paul Wakke

Technische Universität Berlin (TU Berlin) - Faculty of Economics and Management

Date Written: April 24, 2012

Abstract

The paper is motivated by the rising significance of the service industries and aims at testing whether this significance is adequately reflected within formal standardization at national standard bodies. The paper develops firm- and industry-specific hypotheses on the driving factors to participate in formal standardization and tests them based on a sample of 5,812 Dutch service providers, of which 174 actively participate in the Netherlands Standardization Institute NEN. Our results reveal that internal R&D, innovation, export activities, and the company size are positively related to the service provider’s likelihood to participate in formal standardization. In this respect, the participation of the more advanced service providers ensures that standardization represents “prior art”. From a policy perspective, encouraging R&D, innovation, or foreign trade might further stimulate standardization activities within the service industries. Additionally, the service industry and the service type are related to the propensity to standardize, confirming the heterogeneity of services within standardization.

Keywords: standardization, service, innovation, trade, R&D

Suggested Citation

Blind, Knut and de Vries, Henk J. and Wakke, Paul, Driving Factors for Dutch Service Providers to Participate in Formal Standardization (April 24, 2012). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2045527 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2045527

Knut Blind

Technische Universität Berlin (TU Berlin) ( email )

Straße des 17
Berlin
Germany

Henk J. De Vries

Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR) - Rotterdam School of Management (RSM) ( email )

P.O. Box 1738
Room T08-21
3000 DR Rotterdam, 3000 DR
Netherlands

Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM)

P.O. Box 1738
3000 DR Rotterdam
Netherlands

Paul Wakke (Contact Author)

Technische Universität Berlin (TU Berlin) - Faculty of Economics and Management ( email )

Berlin, 10585
Germany

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