The enlargement of the European Union in 2004 to new members from beyond the former Iron Curtain could increase the attractiveness of the whole European continent for firms concerned about competitiveness. The competitive advantage of new members is derived mostly from labor productivity, and...

The rapid rise in global fragmentation - foreign investment, global supply chains, and 'production sharing' - is fundamentally reshaping the multilateral trading system. This paper uses a simple economic modeling framework to understand how the global fragmentation phenomenon may reshape the...

Depoliticisation of investment dispute settlement is considered to be one of the principal reasons and advantages of investor-State arbitrations. This paper considers the added value that the depoliticisation vocabulary brings to the resolution of modern challenges. First of all, equating...

The dynamic process of integration of national economies has a long history, with two distinct waves: one, from the middle of the 19th century until its interruption with outbreak of the First World War in 1913 till the end of the Second World War in 1945. The second wave is ongoing dating from...

This work deals with the question whether an 'EU model' contributing to the development of international investment law may be envisaged. The new competence on FDI conferred to the EU under the Treaty of Lisbon, especially if it is considered in the context of the quot;new regionalismquot;...

Fair and equitable treatment is one of the most important rules of international investment law, yet the vagueness of its textual expression causes considerable problems in interpretation and application. In the absence of clear textual guidance, tribunals and legal writers have sometimes turned...

One of the risks that international economic law is facing is the inability to give consistent answers to actual needs. Coherence, consistency and predictability of international law rules are particularly relevant in a global world and market, where private actors are increasingly gaining...

Die Kombination von Chinas Größe, dem steigenden Konkurrenzdruck durch China, seinem rapiden technologischen Aufholen und den Wettbewerbsverzerrungen des Staatskapitalismus kann zu einer Gefährdung des Wohlstands in Deutschland führen. Daher ist es wichtig, das Ausmaß des Konkurrenzdrucks...

The paper advances the paradoxical thesis that international investment law is developing towards a multilateral system of investment protection on the basis of bilateral treaties. Despite the infinite fragmentation of substantive investment law, coupled with arbitration as a decentralized...

A revised and updated version of this paper will appear in a forthcoming special issue of the Journal of World Investment and Trade. This paper argues that theoretical understandings of backlash against international investment law and arbitration can benefit from examining analogous dynamics in...