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Mapping the Scope of Dispute Settlement in Regional Trade Agreements: Implications for the Multilateral Governance of Trade

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 March 2016

MARC D. FROESE
MARC D. FROESE*
Affiliation:
International Studies Program Burman University
*
*Email: mfroese@burmanu.ca.
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Abstract

This article argues that the inclusion of provisions for the settlement of disputes in regional trade agreements enhances, rather than disrupts, the centrality of the World Trade Organization's dispute settlement system. Using a dataset that organizes exclusion clauses and special provisions for dispute settlement in regional trade agreements, the study develops a thematic typology that is used to examine the ways that disputes may be channelled between regional and multilateral dispute settlement institutions. This comparative empirical dimension offers a more accurate picture of the global contours of regionalization as they relate to the juridical aspects of trade governance, suggesting that the decentralization of dispute settlement inferred by the rapid development of regional bodies has been overstated.

Type
Review Article
Information
World Trade Review , Volume 15 , Issue 4 , October 2016 , pp. 563 - 585
Copyright
Copyright © Marc D. Froese 2016 

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