This paper is a contribution to the literature on rational design of trade agreements. The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an incomplete contract among sovereign states. Incomplete contracts contain gaps. Ex post, contractual gaps may leave gains from trade unrealized; they may create...

This paper constitutes an attempt to reframe and eventually deflate the ongoing “compliance-vs.-rebalancing” debate which has permeated WTO scholarship for the last 10 years. Our main criticism concerns the substance of the entire debate. We find that scholars on both sides of the...

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...

Regional trade agreements (RTAs) have become an indelible feature of the international trading landscape. Most, if not all, RTAs contain provisions that establish procedures for resolving disputes among their signatory members. Yet, the design and functioning of these dispute settlement...

The early stages of the GATT focused on MEs and did not include rules related to NMEs. With the creation of the WTO in 1995 and the participation of NMEs in a multilateral trading system, the WTO became interested in different treatments between MEs and NMEs. However, the ambiguity of the WTO...

International investment law is undergoing a time of reflection, review and revision. Increasing dissatisfaction with the functioning of the current system that governs the protection of international investment and the wish to ensure that investment is channelled towards sustainable development...

I propose a framework within which to interpret and evaluate the major reforms introduced to the GATT system in its transition to the WTO. In particular, I examine the WTO Agreement on Safeguards that has replaced the GATT escape clause (Article XIX), and the Dispute Settlement Process (DSP)...

Binding dispute settlement, meaning the ability to obtain a final judgment of whether a Member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) has acted inconsistently with its obligations, was the defining attribute of the WTO as created in 1995. Global commerce thrived on having the certainty provided...