Certified gold: too many schemes and not enough demand

Abstract

Various gold certification schemes aim to mitigate problems in the gold market, including child labour, dangerous working conditions and pollution. However, the average consumer does not often buy gold and does not understand all the complexities of the gold sector and the role of gold certification schemes. Retailers and banks still mainly drive the demand for certified gold, but they face different constraints when sourcing gold from certification schemes. Investors focus mainly on cost, while jewellers are a diverse group from small goldsmiths to large international companies, all with different motivations and incentives.