Empirical Findings on International Arbitration: An Overview

Christopher R. Drahozal, John M. Rounds Professor of Law at the University of Kansas School of Law, has published a chapter in the Oxford Handbook on International Arbitration (Forthcoming).  In his book chapter entitled “Empirical Findings on International Arbitration: An Overview,” Professor Drahozal provides a survey of qualitative empirical research and literature related to international arbitration.

Here is the abstract:

This chapter surveys the existing empirical literature on international arbitration. It seeks to be thorough but does not claim to be comprehensive. The chapter focuses on quantitative rather than qualitative empirical studies, and covers studies both of international commercial arbitration and international investment arbitration. Part I describes empirical research on the use of arbitration to resolve transnational disputes — in particular, the extent to which parties use arbitration clauses in international contracts, why they do so, and the frequency of international commercial and investment arbitration proceedings. Part II examines arbitral procedures, and Part III considers the applicable law in international commercial arbitration. Part IV looks at the demographics of international arbitrators, with emphasis on their diversity (or lack thereof), and arbitrator decisionmaking, in particular potential biases of party-appointed arbitrators, whether arbitrators make compromise awards, and the psychological aspects of arbitrator decisionmaking. Part V looks at the controversy over studies of outcomes in investment arbitrations. Finally, Part VI examines empirical studies of compliance with and enforcement of international arbitration awards, while Part VII considers their precedential effect, if any.

This and other scholarly papers authored by Professor Drahozal may be downloaded free of charge from the Social Science Research Network.

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