the economics of standards a literature review

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The Economics of Standards

Theory, Evidence, Policy

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In Defense of Degrowth

• Christopher Marquis

Deconstructing the myth that infinite economic growth could ever be truly sustainable.

There is a critical need to reassess the focus on continuous growth in the global economic system. The concept of “degrowth” challenges the necessity of perpetual economic expansion for human prosperity, suggesting it contradicts ecological sustainability on a planet with finite resources. Despite some resistance, especially from the business sector, the arguments supporting degrowth underscore the inextricable link between economic growth and environmental degradation, proposing a shift toward more sustainable business practices and a reevaluation of the myths surrounding “sustainable growth,” such as the effectiveness of energy transitions and efficiency improvements, which often overlook significant environmental impacts and dependencies on existing energy infrastructures. The article advocates for a societal movement toward reducing consumption and over-production, while embracing values of care and redistribution, challenging traditional market-first ideologies.

In May 2023, the Beyond Growth conference was held at the EU Parliament in Brussels. Headlined by government leaders and academics, its agenda was the urgent need to change the current economic system. The culmination was a manifesto that stated: “Our world is facing an eco-social crisis…driven by the global capitalist system, centered around perpetual economic expansion (growth) and accumulation. Our obsession with economic expansion clashes with finite planetary boundaries.”

• Christopher Marquis is Sinyi Professor of Chinese Management at Cambridge Judge Business School.

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Reference Examples

More than 100 reference examples and their corresponding in-text citations are presented in the seventh edition Publication Manual . Examples of the most common works that writers cite are provided on this page; additional examples are available in the Publication Manual .

To find the reference example you need, first select a category (e.g., periodicals) and then choose the appropriate type of work (e.g., journal article ) and follow the relevant example.

When selecting a category, use the webpages and websites category only when a work does not fit better within another category. For example, a report from a government website would use the reports category, whereas a page on a government website that is not a report or other work would use the webpages and websites category.

Also note that print and electronic references are largely the same. For example, to cite both print books and ebooks, use the books and reference works category and then choose the appropriate type of work (i.e., book ) and follow the relevant example (e.g., whole authored book ).

Examples on these pages illustrate the details of reference formats. We make every attempt to show examples that are in keeping with APA Style’s guiding principles of inclusivity and bias-free language. These examples are presented out of context only to demonstrate formatting issues (e.g., which elements to italicize, where punctuation is needed, placement of parentheses). References, including these examples, are not inherently endorsements for the ideas or content of the works themselves. An author may cite a work to support a statement or an idea, to critique that work, or for many other reasons. For more examples, see our sample papers .

Reference examples are covered in the seventh edition APA Style manuals in the Publication Manual Chapter 10 and the Concise Guide Chapter 10

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• Common Reference Examples Guide (PDF, 147KB)
• Reference Quick Guide (PDF, 225KB)

Textual Works

Textual works are covered in Sections 10.1–10.8 of the Publication Manual . The most common categories and examples are presented here. For the reviews of other works category, see Section 10.7.

• Journal Article References
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Data and Assessments

Data sets are covered in Section 10.9 of the Publication Manual . For the software and tests categories, see Sections 10.10 and 10.11.

• Data Set References
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Audiovisual Media

Audiovisual media are covered in Sections 10.12–10.14 of the Publication Manual . The most common examples are presented together here. In the manual, these examples and more are separated into categories for audiovisual, audio, and visual media.

• Artwork References
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Online Media

Online media are covered in Sections 10.15 and 10.16 of the Publication Manual . Please note that blog posts are part of the periodicals category.

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• Corpus ID: 152548906

The Economics of Standards: Theory, Evidence, Policy û a Review Article

• Marlies Ahlert , B. Vogt
• Published 2005

23 Citations

Conclusions: managing innovation and standards within the company and beyond.

• Highly Influenced

Joining Standards Organizations: The Role of R&D Expenditures, Patents, and Product-Market Position

Taking the measure of things: the role of measurement in eu trade, the strategic use of patents in standardization in relation to us, european and chinese competition law, why do r&d-intensive firms participate in standards organizations the role of patents and product-market position, model to determine the economic and other effects of standardisation – a case study in serbia, one rule to rule them all organisational sensemaking of corporate responsibility, managing innovation and standards, introduction: rooting the study in the theoretical context, emerging coordination mechanisms for multi-party ipr holders : linking research with standardization, related papers.

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(Faculty of Economics, Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg)

(Faculty of Economics, Otto-von-Guericke-University Magdeburg)

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The Sustainable Development Agenda

17 Goals for People, for Planet

World leaders came together in 2015 and made a historic promise to secure the rights and well-being of everyone on a healthy, thriving planet when they adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) .

The Agenda remains the world’s roadmap for ending poverty, protecting the planet and tackling inequalities. The 17 SDGs, the cornerstone of the Agenda, offer the most practical and effective pathway to tackle the causes of violent conflict, human rights abuses, climate change and environmental degradation and aim to ensure that no one will be left behind. The SDGs reflect an understanding that sustainable development everywhere must integrate economic growth, social well-being and environmental protection.

Keeping the Promise

While a fragile global economy, rising conflicts and the climate emergency have placed the promise of the Goals in peril, we can still turn things around in the remaining seven years. Notably, there has been some SDG success since 2015 with improvements in key areas, including poverty reduction, child mortality, electricity access and the battle against certain diseases.

Countries continue to supercharge efforts to achieve the SDGs. We see this at the annual High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development — the central platform for reviewing progress on the SDGs — where for the last eight years, countries, civil society and businesses have gathered to showcase the bold actions they are taking to achieve the SDGs.

Every four years, the High-Level Political Forum meets under the auspices of the UN General Assembly, known as the SDG Summit   . In 2023, the second SDG Summit took place on September 18-19, bringing together Heads of State and Government to catalyze renewed efforts towards accelerating progress on the SDGs. The Summit culminated in the adoption of  a  political declaration   to accelerate action to achieve the 17 goals.

SDG Report 2023

The annual SDG reports provide an overview of the world’s implementation efforts to date, highlighting areas of progress and where more action needs to be taken. They are prepared by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, with input from international and regional organizations and the United Nations system of agencies, funds and programmes. Several national statisticians, experts from civil society and academia also contribute to the reports.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is sustainable development?

• Sustainable development has been defined as development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
• Sustainable development calls for concerted efforts towards building an inclusive, sustainable and resilient future for people and planet.
• For sustainable development to be achieved, it is crucial to harmonize three core elements: economic growth, social inclusion and environmental protection. These elements are interconnected and all are crucial for the well-being of individuals and societies.
• Eradicating poverty in all its forms and dimensions is an indispensable requirement for sustainable development. To this end, there must be promotion of sustainable, inclusive and equitable economic growth, creating greater opportunities for all, reducing inequalities, raising basic standards of living, fostering equitable social development and inclusion, and promoting integrated and sustainable management of natural resources and ecosystems.

How will the Sustainable Development Goals be implemented?

• The Addis Ababa Action Agenda  that came out of the Third International Conference on Financing for Development provided concrete policies and actions to support the implementation of the new agenda.
• Implementation and success will rely on countries’ own sustainable development policies, plans and programmes, and will be led by countries. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) will be a compass for aligning countries’ plans with their global commitments.
• Nationally owned and country-led sustainable development strategies will require resource mobilization and financing strategies.
• All stakeholders: governments, civil society, the private sector, and others, are expected to contribute to the realisation of the new agenda.
• A revitalized global partnership at the global level is needed to support national efforts. This is recognized in the 2030 Agenda.
• Multi-stakeholder partnerships have been recognized as an important component of strategies that seek to mobilize all stakeholders around the new agenda.

How will the Sustainable Development Goals be monitored?

• At the global level, the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and 169 targets of the new agenda will be monitored and reviewed using a set of global indicators. The global indicator framework for Sustainable Development Goals was developed by the Inter-Agency and Expert Group on SDG Indicators (IAEG-SDGs) and agreed upon at the 48 th  session of the United Nations Statistical Commission held in March 2017.
• Governments will also develop their own national indicators to assist in monitoring progress made on the goals and targets.
• Chief statisticians from Member States are working on the identification of the targets with the aim to have 2 indicators for each target. There will be approximately 300 indicators for all the targets. Where the targets cover cross-cutting issues, however, the number of indicators may be reduced.
• The follow-up and review process will be informed by an annual SDG Progress Report to be prepared by the Secretary-General.
• The annual meetings of the High-level Political Forum on sustainable development will play a central role in reviewing progress towards the SDGs at the global level. The means of implementation of the SDGs will be monitored and reviewed as outlined in the Addis Ababa Action Agenda, the outcome document of the Third International Conference on Financing for Development, to ensure that financial resources are effectively mobilized to support the new sustainable development agenda.

How much will the implementation of this sustainable development agenda cost?

• To achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, annual investment requirements across all sectors have been estimated at around $5-7 trillion. Current investment levels are far from the scale needed. With global financial assets estimated at over $200 trillion, financing is available, but most of these resources are not being channeled towards sustainable development at the scale and speed necessary to achieve the SDGs and objectives of the Paris Agreement on climate change.
• Interest and investment in the Sustainable Development Goals are growing and investment in the Goals makes economic sense. Achieving the SDGs could open up US$12 trillion of market opportunities and create 380 million new jobs by 2030.
• The  Global Investors for Sustainable Development Alliance , a UN-supported coalition of 30 business leaders  announced  in October 2019, works to provide decisive leadership in mobilizing resources for sustainable development and identifying incentives for long-term sustainable investments.Net Official Development Assistance totaled $149 billion in 2018, down by 2.7% in real terms from 2017.

How does climate change relate to sustainable development?

• Climate change is already impacting public health, food and water security, migration, peace and security. Climate change, left unchecked, will roll back the development gains we have made over the last decades and will make further gains impossible.
• Investments in sustainable development will help address climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions and building climate resilience.
• Conversely, action on climate change will drive sustainable development.
• Tackling climate change and fostering sustainable development are two mutually reinforcing sides of the same coin; sustainable development cannot be achieved without climate action. Conversely, many of the SDGs are addressing the core drivers of climate change.

Are the Sustainable Development Goals legally binding?

• No. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are not legally binding.
• Nevertheless, countries are expected to take ownership and establish a national framework for achieving the 17 Goals.
• Implementation and success will rely on countries’ own sustainable development policies, plans and programmes.
• Countries have the primary responsibility for follow-up and review, at the national, regional and global levels, with regard to the progress made in implementing the Goals and targets by 2030.
• Actions at the national level to monitor progress will require quality, accessible and timely data collection and regional follow-up and review.

How are the Sustainable Development Goals different from the MDGs?

• The 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with 169 targets are broader in scope and go further than the MDGs by addressing the root causes of poverty and the universal need for development that works for all people. The goals cover the three dimensions of sustainable development: economic growth, social inclusion and environmental protection.
• Building on the success and momentum of the MDGs, the new goals cover more ground, with ambitions to address inequalities, economic growth, decent jobs, cities and human settlements, industrialization, oceans, ecosystems, energy, climate change, sustainable consumption and production, peace and justice.
• The new Goals are universal and apply to all countries, whereas the MDGs were intended for action in developing countries only.
• A core feature of the SDGs is their strong focus on means of implementation—the mobilization of financial resources—capacity-building and technology, as well as data and institutions.
• The new Goals recognize that tackling climate change is essential for sustainable development and poverty eradication. SDG 13 aims to promote urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts.

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The Economics of Standards Wars

• Victor Stango

Policymakers face an increasing number of questions regarding whether markets efficiently choose technological standards. In this essay I survey the economic literature regarding standards, focusing on arguments that markets move between standards either too slowly or too swiftly.

©2011 Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co. KG, Berlin/Boston

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• Release calendar
• Methodology

Labour market overview, UK: June 2024

Estimates of employment, unemployment, economic inactivity and other employment-related statistics for the UK.

This is the latest release. View previous releases

Contact: Email Labour Market team

Release date: 11 June 2024

Next release: 18 July 2024

Table of contents

• Other pages in this release
• Main points
• Latest indicators at a glance
• Labour market data
• Measuring the data
• Strengths and limitations
• Related links
• Cite this statistical bulletin

Print this Statistical bulletin

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1. Other pages in this release

Average weekly earnings in Great Britain

Earnings and employment from Pay As You Earn Real Time Information, UK

Employment in the UK

Labour market in the regions of the UK

Public sector employment, UK

Vacancies and jobs in the UK

2. Main points

Trends and considerations around comparisons..

This month's figures continue to show signs that the labour market may be cooling, with the number of vacancies still falling and unemployment rising, though earnings growth remains relatively strong.

Short-term movements varied across our different measures of employment. There were decreases in estimates of employment from the Labour Force Survey and in estimates of payrolled employees from HMRC's Real Time Information data in recent months. Today, we have also published our quarterly workforce jobs provisional estimate for March 2024, which suggests employment has increased since December 2023. These different series measure slightly different concepts and cover different time periods, with divergent trends possible for individual data points. In these instances we advise making longer term comparisons that offer more stability.

Dataset X12 sets out the annual growth rates for these measures in recent periods and suggests that the medium-term trend for employment growth is steadily weakening.

Latest data

Payrolled employees in the UK decreased by 36,000 (0.1%) between March and April 2024, but rose by 201,000 (0.7%) between April 2023 and April 2024.

The early estimate of payrolled employees for May 2024 decreased by 3,000 (0.0%) on the month but increased by 167,000 (0.6%) on the year, to 30.3 million. The May 2024 estimate should be treated as a provisional estimate and is likely to be revised when more data are received next month.

Increased volatility of Labour Force Survey (LFS) estimates, resulting from smaller achieved sample sizes, means that estimates of quarterly change should be treated with additional caution, and we recommend using them as part of our suite of labour market indicators, alongside Workforce Jobs, Claimant Count data, and Pay As You Earn (PAYE) Real Time Information (RTI) estimates.

The UK employment rate (for people aged 16 to 64 years) was estimated at 74.3% in February to April 2024, below estimates of a year ago, and decreased in the latest quarter.

In March 2024, the total Workforce Jobs (WFJ) in the UK estimate rose by 431,000 on the year to 37.2 million, with increases in both employee jobs and self-employment jobs.

The UK unemployment rate (for people aged 16 years and over) was estimated at 4.4% in February to April 2024, above estimates of a year ago, and increased in the latest quarter.

We also publish the  Claimant Count , a measure of the number of people who are receiving a benefit principally for the reason of being unemployed. The UK Claimant Count for May 2024 increased on the month and on the year, to 1.629 million.

The UK economic inactivity rate for people aged 16 to 64 years was estimated at 22.3% in February to April 2024, above estimates of a year ago, and increased in the latest quarter.

In March to May 2024, the estimated number of vacancies in the UK decreased by 12,000 on the quarter to 904,000. Vacancies decreased on the quarter for the 23rd consecutive period but are still above pre-coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic levels.

Annual growth in employees' average regular earnings (excluding bonuses) in Great Britain was 6.0% in February to April 2024, and annual growth in total earnings (including bonuses) was 5.9%.

Annual growth in real terms (adjusted for inflation using the Consumer Prices Index including owner occupiers' housing costs (CPIH)) for regular pay was 2.3% in February to April 2024, and for total pay was 2.2%.

There were an estimated 17,000 working days lost because of labour disputes across the UK in April 2024.

This bulletin includes data from business and social surveys, as well as data from administrative sources. It includes a combination of accredited official statistics and official statistics in development and, therefore, we advise the consideration of this when using.

Read more in Section 6: Measuring the data

3. Latest indicators at a glance

4. labour market data.

Summary of labour market statistics Dataset A01 | Released 11 June 2024 Labour market statistics summary data table, including earnings, employment, unemployment, redundancies and vacancies, Great Britain and UK, published monthly.

Earnings and employment from Pay As You Earn Real Time Information, seasonally adjusted Dataset | Released 11 June 2024 Earnings and employment statistics from Pay As You Earn (PAYE) Real Time Information (RTI), seasonally adjusted. These are official statistics in development.

A guide to labour market data Methodology | Updated 21 April 2023 Summary of labour market datasets, providing estimates of employment, unemployment, average weekly earnings, and the number of vacancies. Tables are listed alphabetically and by topic.

View all related data on our related data page .

Alternatively, Nomis provides free access to the most detailed and up-to-date UK labour market statistics.

5. Glossary

Average weekly earnings.

Average weekly earnings measure money paid by employers to employees in Great Britain before tax and other deductions from pay. The estimates are not just a measure of pay rises, because they also reflect, for example, changes in the overall structure of the workforce.

More high-paid jobs in the economy would have an upward effect on the earnings growth rate.

Economic inactivity

People not in the labour force are not in employment but do not meet the internationally accepted definition of unemployment. This is because they have not been seeking work within the last four weeks or they are unable to start work in the next two weeks. The economic inactivity rate is the proportion of people aged between 16 and 64 years who are not in the labour force.

Employment measures the number of people in paid work or who had a job that they were temporarily away from (for example, because they were on holiday or off sick). This differs from the number of jobs because some people have more than one job. The employment rate is the proportion of people aged between 16 and 64 years who are in employment.

Unemployment

Unemployment measures people without a job who have been actively seeking work within the last four weeks and are available to start work within the next two weeks. The unemployment rate is not the proportion of the total population who are unemployed. It is the proportion of the economically active population (people in work and those seeking and available to work) who are unemployed.

Claimant Count

The Claimant Count is an official statistic in development that measures the number of people who are receiving a benefit principally for the reason of being unemployed. Currently, the Claimant Count consists of those receiving Jobseekers' Allowance and Universal Credit claimants in the "searching for work" conditionality group.

Vacancies are defined as positions for which employers are actively seeking recruits from outside their business or organisation. The estimates are based on the Vacancy Survey. This is a survey of businesses designed to provide estimates of the stock of vacancies across the economy, excluding agriculture, forestry, and fishing (a small sector for which the collection of estimates would not be practical).

Pay As You Earn Real Time Information

These data come from HM Revenue and Customs' (HMRC's) Pay As You Earn (PAYE) Real Time Information (RTI) system. They cover the whole population, rather than a sample of people or companies, and they will allow for more detailed estimates of the population. The PAYE RTI statistics are official statistics in development (previously called experimental statistics) because the methodologies used to produce the statistics are still in their development phase.

In June 2023, the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR) published an assessment report of HM Revenue and

Customs (HMRC) and Office for National Statistics (ONS) statistics on earnings and employment from Pay as You Earn Real Time Information (PAYE RTI). HMRC and the ONS welcome OSR's assessment report and have developed an action plan focusing on the six requirements .

A more detailed glossary is available in our Guide to labour market statistics methodology .

6. Measuring the data

Official statistics.

On 7 June 2024, the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR) introduced the new accredited official statistics badge, to denote official statistics that have been independently review by OSR and judged to meet the standards in the Code of Practice for Statistics .

This UK labour market bulletin includes a combination of accredited official statistics and official statistics in development .

The following labour market outputs are accredited official statistics:

average weekly earnings

labour disputes

Office for National Statistics (ONS) vacancy statistics

Workforce Jobs

The following labour market outputs are official statistics in development:

Pay As You Earn (PAYE) Real Time Information (RTI) estimates

Labour Force Survey estimates

ONS Claimant Count

Labour Force Survey

We have been facing the challenge of falling response rates for household surveys, as have other comparable countries. This issue became more acute in the Labour Force Survey (LFS) data collected for August 2023. The LFS estimates due to be published in October 2023 were suspended because of quality concerns. We developed a comprehensive plan to address these concerns and reintroduce LFS, as described in our Labour Force Survey: planned improvements and its reintroduction estimates methodology .

As stated on 5 February 2024 in our Impact of reweighting on Labour Force Survey key indicators: 2024 article , from 13 February we have reinstated reweighted LFS estimates into our monthly publication. These LFS estimates are official statistics in development .

Reweighting does not address the volatility we have seen in recent periods and which we expect to see to some extent in the future, so we would advise caution when interpreting short-term changes in headline rates and recommend using them as part of our suite of labour market indicators, alongside Workforce Jobs, Claimant Count data and Pay As You Earn (PAYE) Real Time Information (RTI) estimates.

Further information on response rates and other quality-related issues for the LFS can be found in our quarterly Labour Force Survey performance and quality monitoring reports .

Our Comparison of labour market data sources methodology compares data sources and discusses some of the main differences.

Coronavirus

For more information on how labour market data sources were affected by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, see our Coronavirus and the effects on UK labour market statistics article .

Making our published spreadsheets accessible

Following the Government Statistical Service (GSS) guidance on releasing statistics in spreadsheets , we will be amending our published tables over the coming months to improve usability, accessibility and machine readability of our published statistics. To help users change to the new formats, we will be publishing sample versions of a selection of our tables and, where practical, initially publish the tables in both the new and current formats. If you have any questions or comments, please email us at [email protected].

Labour market transformation

We have published a Labour market transformation article and a blog providing an update on the transformation of labour market statistics.

We welcome your feedback on this latest update and our plans. Please email us at labour.market. [email protected] to tell us what you think

7. Strengths and limitations

The estimates presented in this bulletin contain uncertainty. For more information, see our Uncertainty and how we measure it methodology .

Information on revisions is available in our Labour market statistics revisions policy .

Information on the strengths and limitations of this bulletin is available in our Labour market overview, UK: April 2021 bulletin .

Further information is available in our Guide to labour market statistics methodology .

8. Related links

Economic activity and social change in the UK, real-time indicators: 6 June 2024 Bulletin | Released 6 June 2024 Early data on the UK economy and society. These faster indicators are created using rapid response surveys, novel data sources and innovative methods. These are official statistics in development.

Business insights and impact on the UK economy: 6 June 2024 Bulletin | Released 6 June 2024 The impact of challenges facing the economy and other events on UK businesses. Based on responses from the voluntary fortnightly business survey (BICS) to deliver real-time information to help assess issues affecting UK businesses and economy, including financial performance, workforce, trade and business resilience.

Labour market transformation - update on progress and plans: April 2024 Article | Released 29 April 2024 Labour market transformation overview, building on previous engagement on the transformed Labour Force Survey.

Quarterly economic commentary: October to December 2023 Article | Released 28 March 2024 Economic commentary for the latest quarterly national accounts, prices and labour market indicators.

Impact of reweighting on Labour Force Survey key indicators: 2024 Article | Released 5 February 2024 Indicative estimates of the Labour Force Survey (LFS) reweighting methodology on key indicators for the UK and countries of the UK, between July to September 2022 and September to November 2023.

Impact of imputation changes in employment statistics from Pay As You Earn Real Time Information methodology Methodology | Revised 4 March 2024 An assessment of changes to the way missing data is modelled in monthly estimates of employees from Pay As You Earn (PAYE) Real Time Information (RTI) data.

Rising ill-health and economic inactivity because of long-term sickness, UK: 2019 to 2023 Article | Released 26 July 2023 Experimental statistics estimating the different health conditions of the working-age population and those economically inactive because of long-term sickness.

9. Cite this statistical bulletin

Office for National Statistics (ONS), released 11 June 2024, ONS website, statistical bulletin, Labour market overview, UK: June 2024

Contact details for this Statistical bulletin