Economic and Legal Implications of Setting Standards: The Case of ISO Containers

Network industries rely on the definition of standards. Standards in fact have several implications in reducing the lock-in effect for consumers and in shaping the market and the network of users as well as in defining the formation of scope economies (and positive feedbacks). The present chapter focuses on the ISO freight container as the most striking example of standard in the shipping sector. After a historical description of the standardization process of containers and the benefits gained by the transport industry, the paper discusses the juridical nature of ISO standards and the connected legal issues as well as the economic relevance of standards for the liner shipping industry and for the paramount of backward and forward industries forming the supply chain.