The Political Economy of WTO Dispute Settlement: Toward a Synthesis of International Regime Theories

Authors

Christopher L. Griffin, Georgetown University

Abstract

This paper analyzes the explanatory power of mainstream international regime theories from the international political economy (IPE) literature—neoliberalism, realism, and cognitivism—through formal econometric techniques. I use a data set based on 162 dispute settlement cases since the inception of the World Trade Organization and find that the probability of a Dispute Settlement Panel (DSP) forming depends on the share of exports for a target country as a share of its total exports as well as relative gaps in military expenditures (as a share of GDP). These results are highly robust to different model specifications and control variable choice. Though the cognitivist variable does not yield significant results, this paper represents a positive first step toward more widespread application and confirmation of regime theories through empirical testing.

Recommended Citation

Griffin, Christopher L. (2002) "The Political Economy of WTO Dispute Settlement: Toward a Synthesis of International Regime Theories," University Avenue Undergraduate Journal of Economics: Vol. 7: Iss. 1, Article 2.
Available at: https://digitalcommons.iwu.edu/uauje/vol7/iss1/2