Do Hard Economic Times Lead to International Legal Disputes? The Case of Investment Arbitration

Abstract

We now have a total of more than 650 investment arbitration claims. The number of countries targeted by arbitration is on the rise, both in the developing and developed worlds, and has reached a total of more than 100 states. Given the hard economic times that most countries have been going through since 2008, one may assume that the record activity in the last years is indicative of states being pushed to 'abuse' their authority, to take legally reprehensible measures, because they are strangled politically and economically. In theory, the link between investment arbitration and severe economic crisis seems fairly straightforward. The recent upsurge of arbitration claims in 2011 and 2012 would thus hardly be puzzling. But does this casual observation sustain a more systematic, large N analysis? What do investment disputes tell us?

Keywords: investment arbitration, financial crisis, international law, political science, political economy

JEL Classification: P16, P26, K33