This article provides a review of scholarly approaches to assessing the impact of certification standards for sustainability. While we observe that some theoretical advances have afforded a better understanding of the potential impacts of adopting such standards, we also find that progress has been constrained due to a strong emphasis on assessing impact via linear causal pathways. This linear focus on the net effects for single stakeholders, such as farmers and producers, local communities and ecosystems, falls short of adequately capturing the broader impact of certifications across social and ecological dimensions. Inspired by theories on complex systems thinking, we present a framework based on a systems-based impact logic that better captures and assesses the impacts of certification standards within broader social-ecological systems. Our framework can be used as a heuristic to design impact-related studies and assess the impact of certification standards across disciplinary vantage points and empirical contexts.

本文回顾了评估认证标准对可持续性影响的学术方法。虽然我们观察到一些理论进展使人们更好地理解采用此类标准的潜在影响，但我们还发现，由于高度强调通过线性因果路径评估影响，进展受到了限制。这种线性关注单一利益相关者（如农民和生产者、当地社区和生态系统）的净效应，未能充分捕捉认证在社会和生态层面的更广泛影响。受复杂系统思维理论的启发，我们提出了一个基于基于系统的影响逻辑的框架，该框架可以更好地捕捉和评估认证标准在更广泛的社会生态系统中的影响。