International Studies Compendium Project

Extract

Comment on this article   A technical standard is a norm or requirement usually established in a formal document that sets uniform engineering or technical criteria (“Standard”). Three types of technical standards are reference, minimum quality, and compatibility standards. A reference standard is “a material, device, or instrument whose assigned value is known relative to national standards or nationally accepted measurement systems” (United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission). For example, all countries have an agency that sets measurement standards for time, distance, weight, etc. In the United States, the agency currently responsible for this service is the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST). NIST is the successor to the Bureau of Weights and Standards in the Department of Commerce that was itself established under the Constitution in 1789. Reference standards have been around for centuries to assure, for example, that a coin has the right amount of gold or silver and a scale that says that a cut of beef weighs a pound is properly calibrated. Markets need reference standards to reduce uncertainty about the metallic content of money and about measurable quantities of goods ( Kindleberger 1983 ; Spruyt 1994 ). A minimum quality standard sets criteria for quality permitting sellers to certify a good or a service as meeting (or not) those criteria. An example ... log in or subscribe to read full text