Consuming International Law: Towards An Experimental Research Agenda for Understanding the Effects of Corporate International Humanitarian Law Violations on Consumer Buying Behavior

German Law Journal, Vol 23, Special Issue on Bias in International Law (2022)

17 Pages Posted: 7 Jul 2022

See all articles by Jonathan Kolieb

Jonathan Kolieb

Royal Melbourne Institute of Technolog (RMIT University) - Graduate School of Business and Law

Date Written: March 11, 2022

Abstract

The focus of international humanitarian law scholarship, and that of international law more broadly, has traditionally taken a state-centric focus, for good reason. Moreover, the age-old question of “does international law work” is explored thorough the rubric of state and, more recently, corporate-level compliance. Such endeavors, however, overlook a set of participants in international law: The individual. Diffusion of international law norms through the general populace is a valuable goal in itself, but by leveraging their decision-making as consumers, it may also play an important role in inducing greater compliance by companies and states. This is acknowledged by the proliferation of consumer boycott campaigns, country-of-origin labelling requirements, and increased demands for corporate transparency. However, little is known about whether international law influences consumer choices. Using international humanitarian law as an illustrative example, this article contends that international legal scholarship should be expanded to include the consumer within its ambit, and that one promising pathway to do so is through greater uptake of the methodological approaches and insights offered by behavioral economics.

Keywords: international humanitarian law, international law, behavioural economics, behavioral economics, behavioral international law, consumer choice, decision-making, experiments

Suggested Citation

Kolieb, Jonathan, Consuming International Law: Towards An Experimental Research Agenda for Understanding the Effects of Corporate International Humanitarian Law Violations on Consumer Buying Behavior (March 11, 2022). German Law Journal, Vol 23, Special Issue on Bias in International Law (2022), Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4140873

Jonathan Kolieb (Contact Author)

Royal Melbourne Institute of Technolog (RMIT University) - Graduate School of Business and Law ( email )

Melbourne
Australia
61399251553 (Phone)

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