Why firms seek ISO 9000 certification: Rgulatory compliance or competitiveadvantage?

Proponents of Iso 9000 certification claim that it is a low-cost Signal of a firm's commitment to quality and a meaningful component of total quality management (TQM). Critics claim that it has little relation to TQM and is a tariff on international trade. We test the hypothesis that firms obtain IS O 9000 certification to comply with government and customer demands by esti mating a probit model of the certification decision. The results support th e view of proponents of no 9000. After controlling for regulatory and custo mer pressures to obtain ISO. 9000, other factors related to quality managem ent and quality-based competition explain the adoption decision.