Advanced Search

Chairing a WTO Negotiation

Contents:

Author Info

  • John S. Odell
Registered author(s):

    Abstract

    Since 1997 efforts by member states of the World Trade Organization to negotiate multilateral decisions, at the ministerial level and below, have been less efficient and less legitimate than many would prefer. Yet proposals for formal changes to decision-making institutions have not achieved consensus. Meanwhile, member states have given a limited role to the chairs of their negotiating bodies to build consensus and mediate deadlocks. Very little has been published describing how chairs perform this function or assessing the effectiveness of different techniques. Research indicates that WTO chairs use three types of mediation tactics. The most passive are observation, diagnosis and communication tactics. Type 2 are called formulation tactics, and occasionally they use the most directive or manipulative tactics. Each type of move raises its own dilemmas for the chair, whose decisions are sometimes controversial. The way these mediators operate may have a significant effect on the likelihood of agreement, the distribution of gains and losses, and the WTO's legitimacy, even in a famously 'member-driven' organization. A review of recent experience points to lessons for future practice and suggests an informal innovation to enhance chairs' preparation for this task. Copyright 2005, Oxford University Press.

    Download Info

    To our knowledge, this item is not available for download. To find whether it is available, there are three options:
    1. Check below under "Related research" whether another version of this item is available online.
    2. Check on the provider's web page whether it is in fact available.
    3. Perform a search for a similarly titled item that would be available.

    Bibliographic Info

    Article provided by Oxford University Press in its journal Journal of International Economic Law.

    Volume (Year): 8 (2005)
    Issue (Month): 2 (June)
    Pages: 425-448
    Download reference. The following formats are available: HTML (with abstract), plain text (with abstract), BibTeX, RIS (EndNote, RefMan, ProCite), ReDIF
    Handle: RePEc:oup:jieclw:v:8:y:2005:i:2:p:425-448

    Contact details of provider:
    Postal: Oxford University Press, Great Clarendon Street, Oxford OX2 6DP, UK
    Fax: 01865 267 985
    Email:
    Web page: http://www.jiel.oupjournals.org/

    Order Information:
    Web: http://www.oup.co.uk/journals

    For corrections or technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its listing, contact: (Oxford University Press) or (Christopher F. Baum).

    Related research

    Keywords:

    References

    No references listed on IDEAS
    You can help add them by filling out this form.

    Citations

    Lists

    This item is not listed on Wikipedia, on a reading list or among the top items on IDEAS.

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:oup:jieclw:v:8:y:2005:i:2:p:425-448

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: (Oxford University Press) or (Christopher F. Baum).

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If references are entirely missing, you can add them using this form.

    If the full references list an item that is present in RePEc, but the system did not link to it, you can help with this form.

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.