Doctoral Dissertation Research in Political Science: International Organizations and the Resolution of Trade Disputes

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This Doctoral Dissertation Support investigation examines the way states resolve trade disputes and the role international institutions, such as the World Trade Organization, play in resolving these disputes. The investigator briefly lays out the stages common to most trade disputes and provide evidence to highlight the rarity of WTO trade disputes. The bulk of the dissertation involves two primary tasks: a) to explain the reasons why states refer only a handful of their disputes to international dispute resolution bodies, and b) to assess how an international dispute resolution body facilitates the settlement of disputes, both during those disputes member states take before the international body and those disputes they settle "out of court."To test these research questions the investigator assembles a new dataset on trade disputes, which includes information on disputes taken before the WTO and NAFTA, as well as information on disputes settled without the involvement of an international organization. A series of statistical analyses and case study evidence examines which disputes go before international organizations and how the existence of an international judicial body affects international cooperation.