Lenox, Michael J.King, AndrewTerlaak, Ann2025-10-212005-12King, Andrew A., Michael J. Lenox, and Ann Terlaak. “The Strategic Use of Decentralized Institutions: Exploring Certification with the ISO 14001 Management Standard.” Corporate Social Responsibility Initiative Working Paper No. 15. Cambridge, MA: John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, December 2005.https://dash.harvard.edu/handle/1/42720436In this article, we respond to calls by previous researchers to clarify the function of decentralized institutions by analyzing the strategic motives of individual actors. We investigated an important type of decentralized institution, certified management standards, and theorized that firms use these institutions to reduce problems that might arise with exchange partners that lack information or fear opportunism. We tested this theory using the pattern of certification with the ISO 14001 management standard.Working Paper