A Glimpse Through the Kaleidoscope: Choices of Law and the CISG (Kaleidoscopt Part 1)

Abstract:     
What are the reasons behind choices of law for international sales contracts? This article explores the rationale for choices of law made by lawyers. The author draws together empirical and anecdotal evidence on the issue from various jurisdictions and identifies four fundamental reasons behind the conscious decisions of lawyers to opt in or opt out of the CISG: unfamiliarity, learning costs, bargaining strength and substantive concerns. The article then explains how each reason might affect choices of law in various jurisdictions including the USA, China and European jurisdictions.

This paper (Kaleidoscope Part I) was presented at the first MAA Conference in honor of Peter Schlechtriem (1933-2007) in Vienna on 2 April 2009. In the second half of the paper, Kaleidoscope Part II (also available on SSRN), the author explores the interaction between the factors behind decisions on choice of law identified in Part I, and argues that each can be explained in terms of theories from behavioral economics, game theory and psychology.

This article is published at 13 Vindobona Journal of International Commercial Law & Arbitration 135 (2009) and is reproduced with the kind permission of the Moot Alumni Association.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 22

Keywords: CISG, Vienna Sales Convention, Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods, choice of law, legal education, information assymetry, soft law, international commercial law, opt out, opt-out, opt outs, exclusion

JEL Classification: D2, D21, D23, D7, D71, D72, D8, D83, D82, D81, D9, D92, K1, K12, K3, K33, L1, L14, L15, L8, L89

Accepted Paper Series