Economic research
Economic research and assessment of the economic value of standards and standards infrastructure.
On this page
In a dynamic global trade environment, standards support trade and market access, the resilience of supply chains and consumer confidence. Standards can help businesses lower their production costs by reducing redundancy, minimising errors, maintaining safety and quality, and shortening time to market.
These cost savings can help drive competition, offering flow-on benefits to consumers. Businesses can also gain a competitive edge by demonstrating their compliance with standards. This can provide assurance of a product’s standard of quality or safety, or both, over other goods and services which do not have the same demonstrable proof.
Standards bodies, governments, the businesses and consumers all benefit from understanding the economic value that standards deliver to an economy.
Research commissioned by Standards New Zealand
In 2025, Standards New Zealand commissioned the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research to quantify and describe for New Zealand the economic value and other benefits of standards and of the national standards body. Key findings of the report include:
- Standards are integral to productivity, innovation and trade, and internationally are associated with around 9% of the total growth in exports. Stakeholders interviewed were confident about standards being critical for ensuring consistency, quality and safety.
- The productivity improvements that would result from a 1% increase in the stock of standards could lift New Zealand’s GDP by approximately NZ$1.1 billion.
- 82% of New Zealand standards have some form of non-market (public good) benefits, including enhanced health and safety, consumer confidence and protection, improved accessibility and social inclusion, environmental sustainability and community wellbeing.
- International comparisons show that when governments co-invest in the standards system standards can become a greater tool for productive and policy goals.
- A stronger standards system is a low-risk, high-return lever for boosting productivity, lifting household incomes and advancing public-good objectives in New Zealand.
Economic contribution of standards in New Zealand [PDF, 1 MB]
This document has been prepared for informational and discussion purposes.
It does not necessarily reflect the views of the Ministry of Business Innovation & Employment and does not represent Government policy and should not be interpreted as such. This report presents the views and conclusions of its author, which are based on their expertise and analysis, and feedback they received from a range of sources.
MBIE POLICY VIEW ON NZIER REPORT
The NZIER report shows that standards deliver significant economic value by driving productivity, innovation, and trade. Through enhanced labour and capital productivity, greater diffusion of innovation, and improved operational efficiency, standards can support stronger economic growth. In addition to these market benefits, most standards also provide non-market advantages such as improved health and safety, environmental sustainability, and consumer confidence. These findings highlight the importance of standards and reinforce the case for more strategic investment in the standards system.
While the report findings are in line with what we would expect, the methodology has limitations and as such, the findings should be viewed as indicative, rather than precise. In particular, the method relies on the average impact of standards as reported in international literature, and accordingly does not differentiate impacts by type, origin, or sector, and excludes diminishing returns— these are likely to be economically significant. For instance, broadly applicable standards (e.g., payment systems) are likely to deliver larger gains than narrowly scoped ones (e.g., niche construction materials). The model also assumes uniform productivity gains across sectors and full absorption of benefits, which may not hold in practice. While the value of standards is clear, further research is needed to examine sector-specific and dynamic effects to identify where investment would yield the greatest marginal benefit.
Further work could consider greater Trans-Tasman and international alignment for standards and the resulting impacts on economic growth through improved competition and reduced trade barriers. Internationally aligned standards could enhance export opportunities and reduce compliance costs for businesses. In addition, future research should explore sectors where standards are currently underutilised and identify emerging areas (such as digital technologies and artificial intelligence) where proactive development and adoption of standards will be critical to maintaining competitiveness and enabling innovation.
Other examples of economic research
International Organization for Standardization
Economic benefits of standards ISO Report [PDF 1.3MB](external link)
International Electrotechnical Commission
The value of IEC International Standards [PDF 1MB](external link)
Other National Standards Bodies
The contribution of standards to the UK economy [PDF 6.9MB](external link)
The Economic Benefits of Standardisation — Standards Australia [PDF 343KB](external link)
Every Standard Counts – How Standardization Boosts the Canadian Economy(external link) — Standards Council of Canada
Economic benefits of standards — Enterprise Singapore [PDF 1.7MB](external link)
Macroeconomic benefits of Standardisation [PDF 1.8MB](external link)
Last updated: 26 March 2026