Fear of Crowds in WTO Disputes: Why Don't More Countries Participate?
Journal of Politics 78 (1): 88-104, 2016
37 Pages Posted: 12 Jul 2013 Last revised: 21 May 2016
Date Written: 2016
Abstract
The participation deficit in global governance is usually blamed on power politics; we argue it may actually reflect strategic behavior by excluded countries themselves. In the WTO, member-states affected by a trade dispute can join litigation as `third parties' to gain access to otherwise private negotiations. In spite of its considerable benefit and negligible cost, third party participation remains rare. Countries often stay out even when they have a material interest at stake. Why is this? We argue that because the presence of third parties decreases the odds of a settlement and increases the odds of litigation, strategic states may choose to stay out to avoid acting as involuntary spoilers. All states benefit from a swift resolution to trade disputes, so the benefit of participation decreases as more states join a case. We test our model by examining each country's decision to participate or not in every WTO dispute since 1995. The findings support our theory: states shy away from joining when it's too crowded.
Keywords: WTO, international organizations, participation, international political economy
JEL Classification: D72, D74, F10, K33
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation
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