Beyond compliance: public voluntary standards and their effect on state institutional capacity in Vietnam

Public certification standards have received limited scholarly attention, especially the institutional capacity of public authorities that develop and implement these standards to address complex challenges, such as the promotion of industrial ecology and industrial symbiosis for enhancing resource use efficiency. This research uses an institutional capacity assessment framework to examine the ways in which a voluntary public standard for certifying eco-industrial parks affected the Vietnamese state’s capacity to coordinate and implement industrial ecology. The article draws upon the interviews and a review of official documentation to show that the benefits of public standards extend beyond compliance to the enhancement of state capacities to coordinate complex policy domains such as industrial ecology. The findings contribute to providing a basis to redesign standard-setting processes to move beyond end-user compliance and provide insights into how public actors can more effectively address ‘systemic’ sustainability challenges – from circular economy ambitions to the Sustainable Development Goals.