This paper uses as its theoretical starting point the concept of the firm as a nexus of contracts. It examines the full range of contracts which go into forming this nexus: those formally negotiated, those adopted by custom or practice, and those imposed as legal defaults. The concept of...

The Supreme Court’s recent decisions interpreting the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) in the employment context generally prioritize arbitration over workers’ labor law rights. The majority in Epic Systems upheld mandatory individual employment arbitration agreements despite their conflict...

Technology Mediated Dispute Resolution (TMDR) presents opportunities and dangers that we cannot yet fully envision. Technologies are available or imminent, such as tele-immersion, that will dramatically change the ways we think about dispute resolution in a virtual environment. Whether or not...

The problem of "creeping legalism," or incremental formalism, in grievance arbitration cases has been a continuing refrain in legal literature; however, until now empirical research concerning this problem has been scant. This study provides the most comprehensive and thorough analysis to date...

Differential enforcement of employment protection by explicit design of the legislation, for example, through exemptions for small firms, has been exploited in a growing body of research. However, little is known about the effects of differential enforcement that is not defined by the letter of...

As technology has advanced, many have wondered whether (or simply when) artificial intelligent devices will replace the humans who perform complex, interactive, interpersonal tasks such as dispute resolution. Has science now progressed to the point that artificial intelligence devices can...

The authors are engaged in a multi-dimensional project that analyzes Canadian private sector experience under provincial and federal labour statutes. The broad objective of the research is to draw nuanced lessons from the Canadian experience that will inform the debate over labour law reform in...

American labour law is broken. As many as 60 percent of American workers would like to have a union, yet only 12 percent actually do. This is largely due to systematic employer interference, often in violation of existing laws. The Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), currently before Congress,...

Using manufacturing data for India, this paper studies the economic effects of legal amendments on two types of labor laws: employment protection and labor dispute resolution legislation. We find that laws that increase employment protection or the cost of labor disputes substantially reduce...