This paper scrutinizes the effects of investor-state dispute settlements (ISDS) and national treatment provisions in a two-period model where foreign investment is subject to domestic regulation and a holdup problem. It shows that ISDS can mitigate the holdup problem and increases aggregate...

Controversies about the inclusion of the investment-state dispute settlement (ISDS) mechanism have been dominating the debate surrounding the ongoing negotiations of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) agreement in many EU countries. The level of social anxiety and the...

Countermeasures are well recognized under Customary International Law and have been incorporated into the WTO Dispute Settlement Understanding as a mechanism to facilitate compliance, subject to an authorization by the WTO Dispute Settlement Body. However, such a countermeasure — increased...