Markets, standards, and the information infrastructure

The author presents a synthesis of thinking within the economics field about network development and standardization. The analysis focuses on understanding economic factors shaping important contemporary events and the development of standards in tomorrow´s information infrastructure. The motivation for such a synthesis is that many observations about market mechanisms are not consistent with one another, nor do they all transparently synthesize into a single policy vision. The key to understanding this confusion is that standards take on a dual role, as a coordinator and as a constraint. These insights should be useful for the development of appropriate public policy and management strategy.<>