reconciling party autonomy and the international rule of law

This paper focuses on one particular issue which has arisen in the course of the ongoing debate on the reform of investor-State dispute settlement (ISDS), namely that of the appointment of arbitrators. Taking as its starting point that there now exists tentative consensus that the present system for the appointment of arbitrators either causes or exacerbates certain problematic aspects of the current ISDS system, the paper explores one option for reform, namely the introduction of an independent panel for the selection of investment arbitrators. In doing so, it is argued that a shift in the normative basis of the rules governing appointments is required in order to accommodate the principles of party autonomy and the international rule of law. Such reform, while not completely removing the initiative that parties presently enjoy, is the most efficient way to introduce rule of law considerations such as a measure of judicial independence into the current appointments system. This, it is argued, would in turn help to address some of the problematic features of the appointment of arbitrators in ISDS

Managing Intellectual Property to Foster Agricultural Development

Over the past decades, consideration of IPRs has become increasingly important in many areas of agricultural development, including foreign direct investment, technology transfer, trade, investment in innovation, access to genetic resources, and the protection of traditional knowledge. The widening role of IPRs in governing the ownership of—and access to—innovation, information, and knowledge makes them particularly critical in ensuring that developing countries benefit from the introduction of new technologies that could radically alter the welfare of the poor. Failing to improve IPR policies and practices to support the needs of developing countries will eliminate significant development opportunities. The discussion in this note moves away from policy prescriptions to focus on investments to improve how IPRs are used in practice in agricultural development. These investments must be seen as complementary to other investments in agricultural development. IPRs are woven into the context of innovation and R&D. They can enable entrepreneurship and allow the leveraging of private resources for resolving the problems of poverty. Conversely, IPRs issues can delay important scientific advancements, deter investment in products for the poor, and impose crippling transaction costs on organizations if the wrong tools are used or tools are badly applied. The central benefit of pursuing the investments outlined in this note is to build into the system a more robust capacity for strategic and flexible use of IPRs tailored to development goals

Toward Interagency Collaboration: The Role of Children's Cabinets

Today in our Commonwealth, children and families in need are served by multiple agencies -- Department of Children and Families, Department of Youth Services, Department of Mental Health - as well as by their local public schools. Yet, there is often little or no coordination among the agencies and public school systems.Social workers rarely talk with, or even know, the teacher of the child with whom they are working -- a teacher who may spend as many as six hours each day with the child. Too often the burden of navigating the labyrinth of social services falls on these already struggling families -- or, worse, on the children themselves.In an effort to better align state and local services for children, youth and their families, many states have begun establishing children or youth cabinets. Here in Massachusetts, in October 2008, Governor Patrick signed an executive order establishing the Child and Youth Readiness Cabinet -- a state leadership team focused on streamlining state efforts to improve services for children, youth and families. The Readiness Cabinet is jointly chaired by Paul Reville, Secretary of Education, and Dr. JudyAnn Bigby, Secretary of Health and Human Services, and includes the state secretaries of Administration and Finance, Housing and Economic Development, Labor and Workforce Development, Public Safety and the Child Advocate. The Rennie Center's new policy brief, Toward Interagency Collaboration: The Role of Children's Cabinets, is designed to inform the general public about the purpose of children's cabinets and to highlight the potential role that non-government stakeholders (such as parents, youth leaders, advocacy groups, and service providers) might play as the Governor's Child and Youth Readiness Cabinet begins their work in Massachusetts. It was also written to contribute to the policy dialogue about how to increase the level of collaboration among state departments and agencies that serve Massachusetts children, youth and families by putting forth examples of structures and strategies being used by other states' children's cabinets to carry out their work. The policy brief was the subject of discussion at a public event on June 10, 2009, co-hosted by the Full-service Schools Roundtable

Management of investment processes on Finnish farms

Structural change in agriculture means a continuous need for investing in farm production. It is essential for the sustainable operations and the economy of the farm that such investments are successful. In this research, different stages of the investment process of farms were studied as well as the use of information and the success perceived during the investment process. The study was carried out with mail surveys and telephone interviews on the Finnish Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN) farms. The most challenging investments were in animal husbandry buildings and, as to these investments, the comparison of alternatives was the most challenging stage. For most investments, the planning phase was considered more challenging than the implementation. Before making the decision, farmers acquired information from many sources, of which the opinion of the main customer and the experiences of fellow farmers were the most valued. Some of the products considered were so new on the market that it was not easy to get adequate information and, furthermore, the information given by suppliers was not always accurate. Decision-making was supported by calculations, but qualitative factors had a dominating role. Large basic decisions were made relatively quickly, while details needed a longer time to process. In general, farm managers were satisfied with their investments. Improvements in work quality and quantity were especially mentioned and generally qualitative factors were the ones first in mind when evaluating the successfulness of the investment

Mutual Fund Expense Disclosures: A Behavioral Perspective

Mutual funds have enjoyed phenomenal growth with their numbers exceeding the number of public companies and their assets aggregating in excess of $9 trillion. Increasingly they are the investment instrument of choice by the proverbial widows, widowers and orphans, and a few school teachers are included as well. But how are best can that choice be one that is not only informed but informed in a way more likely to elicit a wise decision? This paper examines from a behavioral perspective how regulation can best disclose information related to two key factors for investors to compare competing mutual funds: fund returns and fund expenses. Our analysis reflects that the current disclosure process is deficient because it fails to reflect the insights of research on judgment and decision making, and particularly the need to distinguish between the availability of information and its processability by its user. The message of our article is straightforward: if regulators adhered to the insights provided by our paper, not only investors, but also the fund\u27s directors, would be greatly empowered so that better returns and lower costs could be expected

The Digitalisation of African Agriculture Report 2018-2019

An inclusive, digitally-enabled agricultural transformation could help achieve meaningful livelihood improvements for Africa’s smallholder farmers and pastoralists. It could drive greater engagement in agriculture from women and youth and create employment opportunities along the value chain. At CTA we staked a claim on this power of digitalisation to more systematically transform agriculture early on. Digitalisation, focusing on not individual ICTs but the application of these technologies to entire value chains, is a theme that cuts across all of our work. In youth entrepreneurship, we are fostering a new breed of young ICT ‘agripreneurs’. In climate-smart agriculture multiple projects provide information that can help towards building resilience for smallholder farmers. And in women empowerment we are supporting digital platforms to drive greater inclusion for women entrepreneurs in agricultural value chains