This paper shows that electoral incentives affect the occurrence of trade disputes. Focusing on WTO disputes filed by the United States during the 1995-2012 period, we show that U.S. presidents are more likely to initiate a dispute in the year preceding their re-election date. Moreover, disputes...

The WTO has been dealing with the Airbus-Boeing dispute for more than ten years. Both parties continue to blame the other side for their unfair financing methods. This seemingly never-ending dispute not only ties up the resources of both aircraft manufactures but also negatively influences the...

Across a range of jurisdictions, in differing legal systems, mediation is achieving ever-greater institutional and statutory force, and what not long ago was a marginal technique for dispute resolution is becoming mainstream and orthodox. But how firm a sense do we have about the social...

China is the leading exporter of rare earths, elements which are crucial to the development of high-tech products and new green technologies. In recent years, however, China has begun imposing export restraints on these elements in order to benefi t its domestic economic development. This...

At the end of July 2013 the photovoltaic (PV) trade conflict between China and the European Union was resolved through a compromise whose key elements are price and quantity undertakings promised by China. A minimum price and a maximum export quantity should help to calm PV markets for the time...

The WTO's Dispute Settlement Mechanism (DSM) has been hailed as a fundamental aspect of the Multilateral Trading System for developing countries. At the same time developing countries face many challenges to ensure their effective participation in the mechanism. This paper presents statistical...