More than markets: Assessing Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification as a policy tool

Abstract

In this study, we compared US Forest Stewardship Council forest management certified enterprises as to heir perceptions of certification's effectiveness across three policy mechanisms: (1) market based, (2) signaling, and (3) learning. Signaling to stakeholders provided the highest satisfaction; however, there were differences across enterprise type. Small private enterprises reported lower satisfaction than public and large private enterprises for all mechanisms. Our findings also indicate that certification, for those already certified, likely will be an expectation into the future.