Standardization research TILEC

Standardization

The research projects within this theme focus on the legal and economic aspects of standardization and certification in a broad array of sectors and areas, including ICT, technical standardization, global trade, data protection, cyber security, financial services, energy, product safety, innovation, sustainability, environment and corporate social responsibility.

These projects adopt an interdisciplinary perspective that includes empirical approaches, building on theories and methods from the social sciences, amongst other disciplines. The geographical focus of the projects is on the EU and beyond, and include an international/transnational dimension. 

Research dimensions entail institutional and substantive aspects of standardization and certification, including intellectual property rights aspects (including Standard Essential Patents and the interaction of patent policy and competition), technical barriers to trade aspects, regulatory aspects (including standards established by private bodies), governance structures, certification as compliance tool in data protection and cyber security as well as liability and contracts-related issues of standardization and certification. 

REVEAL

A key research program in the field of standardization and certification is the ‘Resilience and Evolution of Economic Activism and the Role of Law’ (REVEAL) research project, funded by the European Research Council (ERC) and led by Prof. Panos Delimatsis. This project investigates the origins and causes of the dominance of private standard-setting bodies, focusing on their mutability and resilience. The project accounts for dynamic change and evolution in standardization and certification and, also in relation to crisis, in a changing world. It does so by addressing the following research question: what enabling conditions, innate traits and mechanics allow for the transformation, adaptability and resilience of private rule-making bodies amid exogenous regulatory shocks and how does the law perpetuates this dominance? This project develops a multidisciplinary conceptual framework to analyse structures, institutional design and adaptive/resilience strategies in 10 non-public regulatory bodies and their public law counterparts. The project focuses on standardization in key areas of economic activity - financial services, technical standardization and manufacturing. The outcomes are related to a global context, and relevant to EU policy makers as well as national regulators and supervisors. See more about the REVEAL project here.

Selected publications within the standardization research theme:

2023 

  1. From Disclosures to Classification Regime and Sustainability Due Diligence. Tackling the Flaws of the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation, TILEC Discussion Paper No. 2023-05 by Enrico Partiti. https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4387626 

  1. Green Asset Ratio and Taxonomy Disclosures for Credit Institutions, TILEC Discussion Paper No. 2023-04 by Enrico Partiti. https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4383133 

  1. The Law and Practice of Global ICT Standardization, Cambridge University Press, 2023 by Olia Kanevskaia. https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/law-and-practice-of-global-ict-standardization/069342911A73905590EE661655CA0DA0 

  2. The Evolution of Transnational Rule-Makers Through Crises, Cambridge University Press, 2023, edited by Panos Delimatsis, Stephanie Bijlmakers and Konrad Borowicz. https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/evolution-of-transnational-rulemakers-through-crises/64FD7201F60B95B784DE1FCF684C778A 

2022

  1. Standard-Setting, IPR Policies and the Incentives to Innovate: Evidence from the IEEE Patent Policy Update, TILEC Discussion Paper No. DP2022-009 by Michela Bonani. https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4116384  

  2. Patent Screening, Innovation and Welfare, Review of Economic Studies, Volume 89(4) by Florian Schuett and Mark Schankerman.

  3. Uniform vs Competing Standards: A Structural Analysis of the U.S. Wireless Telecommunications Industry, TILEC Working Paper by Michela Bonani. https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4218726   

  4. The Mechanisms of Loan Market Efficiency, Review of Banking and Financial Law, Volume 41(1) by Konrad Borowicz. https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3823474  

  5. The Place of Voluntary Standards in Managing Social and Environmental Risks in Global Value Chains, European Journal of Risk Regulation, Volume 13(1) by Enrico Partiti. https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/european-journal-of-risk-regulation/article/place-of-voluntary-standards-in-managing-social-and-environmental-risks-in-global-value-chains/FC09D0707E6FE6BC044A77E28B1A5BE7

  6. Regulating Transnational Sustainability Regimes, Cambridge University Press, 2022, by Enrico Partiti. https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/regulating-transnational-sustainability-regimes/F7841DC22A424EF3F75D375A8F643E48    

2021

1. Evolutionary Dynamics of Transnational Private Regulation, TILEC Discussion Paper No. DP2021-013 by Enrico Partiti. https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3930532 

2. Strategic Behavior in Standards Development Organizations in Times of Crisis. Texas Intellectual Property Law Journal 29, by Panos Delimatsis, Olia Kanevskaia,  & Zuno Verghese.

3. A Taxonomy of Drivers for Change: The Case of Global G.A.P. and the Forest Stewardship Council, Environs, Environmental Law and Policy Journal, Volume 44(2) by Stephanie Bijlmakers. https://environs.law.ucdavis.edu/volumes/44/2/Bijlmakers.pdf

4. The Resilience of Private Authority in Times of Crisis, TILEC Discussion Paper No. 2021-017 by Panos Delimatsis. https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4000437 

2020

  1. Innovation in the digital age: Competition, cooperation, and standardization. [Doctoral Thesis, Tilburg University]. CentER, Center for Economic Research. By Clemens Fiedler. https://research.tilburguniversity.edu/en/publications/innovation-in-the-digital-age-competition-cooperation-and-standar
  2. Fundamental labour standards and corporate sustainability: An analysis of the regulatory framework of core workers’ rights and its integration in contemporary international business practice. Intercultural Human Rights Review, 15,1, 1-71 Anne Lafarre (with Bas Rombouts). https://www.stu.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2021/05/Fundamental-Labour-Standards-and-Corporate-Sustainability-Rombouts-and-Lafarre-15-IHRLR-1.pdf  
  3. Polycentricity and polyphony in international law: Interpreting the corporate responsibility to respect human rights. International & Comparative Law Quarterly 70.1 (2021): 133-164 by Enrico Partiti. https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/international-and-comparative-law-quarterly/article/polycentricity-and-polyphony-in-international-law-interpreting-the-corporate-responsibility-to-respect-human-rights/B57E5023601F1D38CDA3D68827775413  
  4. Standard-essential patents and incentives for innovation, TILEC Discussion Paper No. 2020-025/ CentER Discussion Paper No. 2020-034 by Chayanin Wipusanawan. https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3749905   
  5. The Technical Standardization Ecosystem and Institutional Decision Making: The Case of Intellectual Property Rights Policies, TILEC Discussion Paper No. DP2020-014/ University of Utah College of Law Research Paper No. 375 by Martin Husovec (with Justus Baron, Jorge L. Contreras, Pierre Larouche & Nikolaus Thumm). https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3600819 
  6. Analysis of Firms’ Incentives to Control the Standard Development Process, TILEC Discussion Paper No. 2020-005 by Shivaram V. Devarakonda. https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3557807
  7. Committee Governance in Technology Development Alliances, TILEC Discussion Paper No. 2020-006 by Shivaram V. Devarakonda (with Marvin Hanisch, Jeffrey J. Reuer, and Carolin Häussler). Discussion Paper: 2020-006
  8. Towards Mandatory Human Rights Due Diligence: Assessing its Impact on Fundamental Labour Standards in Global Value Chains, Tilburg Law School Research Paper by Anne Lafarre (with Bas Rombouts). https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4155836 
  9. Contracts as Regulation: The ISDA Master Agreement, Capital Markets Law Journal, Volume 16, Issue 1, January 2021, Pages 72–94/ TILEC Discussion Paper No. 2020-32 by M. Konrad Borowicz. https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3766296 
  10. ESG performance and disclosure: A cross-country analysis. Singapore Journal of Legal Studies, 2020, 1, 217-241 Joseph A. McCahery (with Paul Pudschedl & Florian Lopez-de-Silanes) 

2019

1. Exit, Voice and Loyalty: Strategic Behavior in Standards Development Organizations, TILEC Discussion Paper No. DP 2019-022, Texas Intellectual Property Law Journal, Vol. 29, No. 1, 2021 by Panos Delimatsis, Olia Kanevskaia and Zuno Verghese. https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3487466  

2. Global convergence through European Union value chain regulation and voluntary standards, TILEC Discussion Paper No. DP 2019-025 by Enrico Partiti. https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3499603 This was published in: E. Fahey (Ed.) Framing convergence with the global legal order: The EU and the world, Hart Publishing, 235-257, 2020. 

3. Governance of ICT Standardization: Due Process in Technocratic Decision-Making, TILEC Discussion Paper No. 2019-011 by Olia Kanevskaia Whitaker. https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3400838 

4. International trade law and technical standardization. Contreras, J. (ed.), The Cambridge Handbook of technical standardization law: Further intersections of public and private law, 7-27. Cambridge University Press, 2019 by Panos Delimatsis. https://research.tilburguniversity.edu/en/publications/international-trade-law-and-technical-standardization 

5. Making the rules: The governance of standard development organizations and their policies  on intellectual property rights. Joint Research Center, Science for Policy Report, EUR 29655 EN (March 2019); ISBN 978-92-76-00023-5, by Martin Husovec (with Justus Baron, Jorge L. Contreras, Pierre Larouche and Nikolaus Thumm). https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3364722 

6. Orchestration as a form of public action: The EU engagement with voluntary sustainability  standards. European Law Journal, 25(1), 94-117, 2018 by Enrico Partiti. https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3815532  

7. Price Commitments in Standard Setting Under Asymmetric Information, TILEC Discussion Paper No. 2019-004 by Florian Schuett (with Jan Boone and Emanuele Tarantino). https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3356605 

8. Repeated interaction in standard setting. Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, 28(3), 488-509 by Florian Schuett and Pierre Larouche. https://research.tilburguniversity.edu/en/publications/repeated-interaction-in-standard-setting-3 

9. Standardization, open source, and innovation: Sketching the effect of IPR policies. Contreras,  J. (ed.), Cambridge Handbook of technical standardization law: Further intersections of public and private law, 177-197, 2019. Cambridge University Press by Martin Husovec. https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/cambridge-handbook-of-technical-standardization-law/standardization-open-source-and-innovation-sketching-the-effect-of-ipr-policies/08597FAAAAA8C768CD205A54100F373A 

10. The need for multi-disciplinary education about standardization. Idowu, S.O., de Vries, H.,  Mijatovic, I., Choi, D. (eds.) Sustainable development: Knowledge and education about  standardization, 161-178, Springer, 2019 by Olia Kanevskaia. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/336120600_The_Need_for_Multi-disciplinary_Education_About_Standardization  

11. When disruptive meets streamline: International standardization in blockchain, Hari, O.,  Kraus, D. and Obrist, T. (eds.), Blockchains smart contracts, decentralized autonomous organisations and the law, 83-100. Edward Elgar, 2019 by Panos Delimatsis. https://www.elgaronline.com/display/edcoll/9781788115124/9781788115124.00010.xml