Recent investment litigation against Argentina focuses attention on the necessity defense in customary international law and related provisions in investment treaties. This paper considers, from an economic standpoint, the question of when exigent economic circumstances might create conditions...

In this paper we use novel historical data on economics and social rights from the constitutions of 201 countries and an instrument variable strategy to answer two important questions. First, do economic and social rights provisions in constitutions reduce poverty? Second, does the strength of...