Advancing Dispute Resolution by Unpacking the Sources of Conflict: Toward an Integrated Framework

Organizational leaders, public policy makers, dispute resolution professionals, and scholars have developed diverse methods for resolving workplace conflict. But there is inadequate recognition that the effectiveness of a dispute resolution method depends on its fit with the source of a particular conflict. Consequently, it is essential to better understand where conflict comes from and how this affects dispute resolution. To these ends, this paper uniquely integrates scholarship from multiple disciplines to develop a multi-dimensional framework on the sources of conflict. This provides an important foundation for theorizing and identifying effective dispute resolution methods, which are more important than ever as the changing world of work raises new issues, conflicts, and institutions

Making and Breaking Impasses in International Regimes. The WTO, Seattle and Doha

WTO; international agreements; international trade; governance

Does Resorting to Online Dispute Resolution Promote Agreements? Experimental Evidence

This paper presents an experiment performed to test the properties of an innovativebargaining mechanism (called automated negotiation) used to resolve disputes arising fromInternet-based transactions. The main result shows that the settlement rule tends to chillbargaining as it creates incentives for individuals to misrepresent their true valuations, whichimplies that automated negotiation is not able to promote agreements. However, this perverseeffect depends strongly on the conflict situation. When the threat that a disagreement occurs ismore credible, the strategic effect is reduced since defendants are more interested inmaximizing the efficiency of a settlement than their own expected profit. The implications ofthese results are then used to discuss the potential role of public regulation and reputationmechanisms in Cyberspace: Online Dispute Resolution, Electronic Commerce, Bargaining, Arbitration,Experimental Economics

VERTICAL COORDINATION IN THE AGRO-FOOD INDUSTRY AND CONTRACT FARMING: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF TURKEY AND THE USA

Agribusiness, Industrial Organization,

Judges' cognition and market order

We argue that during the crystallization of common and civil law in the 19th century, the optimal degree of discretion in judicial rulemaking, albeit influenced by the comparative advantages of both legislative and judicial rulemaking, was mainly determined by the anti-market biases of the judiciary. The different degrees of judicial discretion adopted in both legal traditions were thus optimally adapted to different circumstances, mainly rooted in the unique, market-friendly, evolutionary transition enjoyed by English common law as opposed to the revolutionary environment of the civil law. On the Continent, constraining judicial discretion was essential for enforcing freedom of contract and establishing a market economy. The ongoing debasement of pro-market fundamentals in both branches of the Western legal system is explained from this perspective as a consequence of increased perceptions of exogenous risks and changes in the political system, which favored the adoption of sharing solutions and removed the cognitive advantage of parliaments and political leaders.Legal systems, institutional development, law enforcement

Bargaining in the shadow of a trial : adding notions of fairness to interest-based negotiation in legal domains

Most negotiation support systems have focused upon the notion of meeting the disputants’ interests. However in the legal domain, Alternative Dispute Resolution often occurs in the shadow of the law. Integrative bargaining neglects the vital issues of justice and power. In this article we address the issue of how to add notions of fairness to interests, through the development of the Family_Mediator system. Family_Mediator is an extension of the Family_Winner system, which advises mediators about potential trade-offs and compensation strategies for divorcing couples

Health Law and Administrative Law: A Marriage Most Convenient

This symposium explores the complex relationship between health law and administrative law. It is based on the observation that these two fields of law are peculiarly intertwined. It attempts to understand why this is so, as well as whether it is necessary and whether it is desirable. Would we as a society, that is, be better off if health law were less permeated by administrative law? Even if we would be better off, is it indeed possible to extricate health law from administrative law? This essay begins by defining health law and administrative law. It then proceeds to describe the function of law, the institutions through which law is made and applied, and how law is made and applied in the health - care industry, demonstrating the prominent role of administrative entities in health care. It next examines why the close relationship between health law and administrative law exists. In particular, it considers and rejects the thesis that this close relationship is an artifact of history. The article goes on to develop an alternative hypothesis that administrative entities play a major role in overseeing the delivery and finance of health care because of the need for such oversight and the lack of superior institutional alternatives. This essay concludes by considering why this permeation of health law by administrative law is likely to continue, and why this may not be such a bad result

A Realistic Critique of Freedom of Contract in Labor Law Negotiations: Creating More Optimal and Just Outcomes

This Note initially discusses fundamental problems created by the “freedom of contract” principle that arise in an era where the imbalance of both wealth and political power are at their highest rates seen in years. This Note also discusses the principles at work in current labor law: (1) how it is influenced by neoclassical economics and, (2) how, in the alternative, both the related legal doctrine and practice of collective bargaining can improve by incorporating behavioral economics, neuroeconomics, and game theory. Labor law practitioners and shapers should recognize neoclassical economics’ shortcomings and adopt a more efficient contractual process that leads to more just and efficient outcomes

Efficient Contracting between Foreign Investors and Host States: Evidence from Stabilization Clauses

Bilateral investment treaties are agreements between sovereign states that give broad protections to investors and investments made within the jurisdiction of the other state. The prevailing view in the academy and practice is that developing countries sign bilateral investment treaties in order to reassure investors from developed states that their investments will be safe from changes in domestic law. Without these “credible commitments,” investors would be deterred from making investments, depriving developing countries of foreign capital. This Article disputes that view by demonstrating that foreign investors and host states effectively contract around the risk of changes in the law. This Article applies transaction cost economic theory to the most comprehensive empirical study of stabilization clauses (provisions intended to manage post-investment changes in domestic law) recently conducted under the auspices of the World Bank\u27s International Finance Corporation. The analysis shows that investors and states demonstrate principles of efficient contracting even without the protections of bilateral investment treaties (BITs). This finding adds to current research focusing on the “credible commitment” story. The Article concludes that (1) BITs can be explained as instruments developed and developing states use in their competition for markets and capital and (2) differences in the reasons states execute BITs raise significant doubts about conclusions drawn based on aggregate phenomena

On Teaching Mediation

In this article, I will delineate the issues and explore the implications of resolving them in different ways. Part I develops a taxonomy of variations in models of mediation. In Part II, I analyze choices and constraints in course design. In Part III, I specify the choices I have made in structuring my own course in mediation. I will relate those choices to the context of my school, to my students\u27 backgrounds and interests, and to my competencies and goals. The initial version of this paper was written for my students to read as they entered my course. Pedagogically, the text oriented them to the course and gave them an overview of its content. Just as importantly, the paper (together with the court syllabus) disclosed to the students the treatment I proposed to administer to them at a time they could still enroll in other courses if they should chose to do so. In Part IV, I will address mediation teachers\u27 professional responsibilities; there is an ideology of professional service that informs my approach to these matters that I hope to make explicit