IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/revint/v18y2023i3d10.1007_s11558-022-09475-z.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Bureaucratic capacity and preference attainment in international economic negotiations

Author

Listed:
  • Tarald Gulseth Berge

    (University of South-Eastern Norway
    University of Oslo)

  • Øyvind Stiansen

    (University of Oslo)

Abstract

What determines states’ ability to influence the contents of international institutions? Extant scholarship on international economic negotiations highlights the importance of political and economic capacity in negotiations. In this article, we argue that another structural source of negotiating power has been overlooked: bureaucratic capacity. Building on in-depth interviews with a large sample of international economic negotiators, we develop a theory of how differences in bureaucratic capacity can give states advantages in bilateral negotiations. We test our theory on a dataset of bilateral investment treaties. To measure preference attainment, we combine a unique repository of states’ public negotiating mandates called model treaties and the texts of finalized investment treaties to compute the verbatim distances between states’ stated preferences and the treaties they negotiate. We then show that states with greater bureaucratic capacity than their counterparts tend to achieve higher preference attainment in investment treaty negotiations. Our results have important implications for scholarship on international negotiations and for policy-makers engaged in investment policy reform.

Suggested Citation

  • Tarald Gulseth Berge & Øyvind Stiansen, 2023. "Bureaucratic capacity and preference attainment in international economic negotiations," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 18(3), pages 467-498, July.
  • Handle: RePEc:spr:revint:v:18:y:2023:i:3:d:10.1007_s11558-022-09475-z
    DOI: 10.1007/s11558-022-09475-z
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11558-022-09475-z
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11558-022-09475-z?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Odell, John S., 1980. "Latin American trade negotiations with the United States," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 34(2), pages 207-228, April.
    2. Lisa Lechner & Simon Wüthrich, 2018. "Seal the Deal: Bargaining Positions, Institutional Design, and the Duration of Preferential Trade Negotiations," International Interactions, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 44(5), pages 833-861, September.
    3. Andrei Shleifer & Florencio Lopez-de-Silanes & Rafael La Porta, 2008. "The Economic Consequences of Legal Origins," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 46(2), pages 285-332, June.
    4. Gertz, Geoffrey & Jandhyala, Srividya & Poulsen, Lauge N. Skovgaard, 2018. "Legalization, diplomacy, and development: Do investment treaties de-politicize investment disputes?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 239-252.
    5. Áslaug Ásgeirsdóttir & Martin Steinwand, 2015. "Dispute settlement mechanisms and maritime boundary settlements," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 10(2), pages 119-143, June.
    6. Andrew T. Guzman & Beth A. Simmons, 2005. "Power Plays and Capacity Constraints: The Selection of Defendants in World Trade Organization Disputes," The Journal of Legal Studies, University of Chicago Press, vol. 34(2), pages 557-598, June.
    7. Bonnitcha, Jonathan & Skovgaard Poulsen, Lauge N. & Waibel, Michael, 2017. "The Political Economy of the Investment Treaty Regime," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198719557.
    8. Stefanie Bailer & Florian Weiler, 2015. "A political economy of positions in climate change negotiations: Economic, structural, domestic, and strategic explanations," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 10(1), pages 43-66, March.
    9. Elkins, Zachary & Guzman, Andrew T. & Simmons, Beth A., 2006. "Competing for Capital: The Diffusion of Bilateral Investment Treaties, 1960–2000," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 60(4), pages 811-846, October.
    10. Daniela Campello & Leany Lemos, 2015. "The non-ratification of bilateral investment treaties in Brazil: a story of conflict in a land of cooperation," Review of International Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 22(5), pages 1055-1086, October.
    11. Cole, Wade M., 2015. "Mind the Gap: State Capacity and the Implementation of Human Rights Treaties," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 69(2), pages 405-441, April.
    12. Jonas Tallberg, 2008. "Bargaining Power in the European Council," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(3), pages 685-708, June.
    13. Andersen, David & Doucette, Jonathan, 2022. "State First? A Disaggregation and Empirical Interrogation," British Journal of Political Science, Cambridge University Press, vol. 52(1), pages 408-415, January.
    14. repec:bla:jcmkts:v:46:y:2008:i::p:685-708 is not listed on IDEAS
    15. Tana Johnson, 2013. "Looking beyond States: Openings for international bureaucrats to enter the institutional design process," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 8(4), pages 499-519, December.
    16. Alschner, Wolfgang & Elsig, Manfred & Polanco, Rodrigo, 2021. "Introducing the Electronic Database of Investment Treaties (EDIT): The Genesis of a New Database and Its Use," World Trade Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 20(1), pages 73-94, February.
    17. Wolfgang Alschner & Dmitriy Skougarevskiy, 2016. "Mapping the Universe of International Investment Agreements," Journal of International Economic Law, Oxford University Press, vol. 19(3), pages 561-588.
    18. George A. Krause & David E. Lewis & James W. Douglas, 2006. "Political Appointments, Civil Service Systems, and Bureaucratic Competence: Organizational Balancing and Executive Branch Revenue Forecasts in the American States," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 50(3), pages 770-787, July.
    19. Andreas Dür & Leonardo Baccini & Manfred Elsig, 2014. "The design of international trade agreements: Introducing a new dataset," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 9(3), pages 353-375, September.
    20. Witold J. Henisz, 2002. "The institutional environment for infrastructure investment," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 11(2), pages 355-389.
    21. Clint Peinhardt & Rachel L. Wellhausen, 2016. "Withdrawing from Investment Treaties but Protecting Investment," Global Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 7(4), pages 571-576, November.
    22. Checkel, Jeffrey T., 2001. "Why Comply? Social Learning and European Identity Change," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 55(3), pages 553-588, July.
    23. Brett Leeds & Jeffrey Ritter & Sara Mitchell & Andrew Long, 2002. "Alliance Treaty Obligations and Provisions, 1815-1944," International Interactions, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 28(3), pages 237-260, July.
    24. Fangjin Ye, 2020. "The impact of bilateral investment treaties (BITs) on collective labor rights in developing countries," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 15(4), pages 899-921, October.
    25. Lauge N. Skovgaard Poulsen & Emma Aisbett, 2011. "When the Claim Hits: Bilateral Investment Treaties and Bounded Rational Learning," Crawford School Research Papers 1105, Crawford School of Public Policy, The Australian National University.
    26. Leslie Johns & Calvin Thrall & Rachel L. Wellhausen, 2020. "Judicial economy and moving bars in international investment arbitration," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 15(4), pages 923-945, October.
    27. Putnam, Robert D., 1988. "Diplomacy and domestic politics: the logic of two-level games," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 42(3), pages 427-460, July.
    28. Busch, Marc L. & Reinhardt, Eric & Shaffer, Gregory, 2009. "Does legal capacity matter? A survey of WTO Members," World Trade Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 8(4), pages 559-577, October.
    29. Todd Allee & Manfred Elsig, 2016. "Why do some international institutions contain strong dispute settlement provisions? New evidence from preferential trade agreements," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 11(1), pages 89-120, March.
    30. Dür, Andreas & Baccini, Leonardo & Elsig, Manfred, 2014. "The design of international trade agreements: introducing a new dataset," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 59179, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    31. Todd Allee & Manfred Elsig, 2017. "Veto players and the design of preferential trade agreements," Review of International Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(3), pages 538-567, May.
    32. Dolzer, Rudolf & Schreuer, Christoph, 2012. "Principles of International Investment Law," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, edition 2, number 9780199651801.
    33. Koremenos, Barbara & Lipson, Charles & Snidal, Duncan, 2001. "The Rational Design of International Institutions," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 55(4), pages 761-799, October.
    34. March, James G. & Olsen, Johan P., 1998. "The Institutional Dynamics of International Political Orders," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 52(4), pages 943-969, October.
    35. Adam S. Chilton, 2016. "The political motivations of the United States’ bilateral investment treaty program," Review of International Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(4), pages 614-642, July.
    36. Young, Oran R., 1991. "Political leadership and regime formation: on the development of institutions in international society," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 45(3), pages 281-308, July.
    37. Rosendorff, B. Peter & Milner, Helen V., 2001. "The Optimal Design of International Trade Institutions: Uncertainty and Escape," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 55(4), pages 829-857, October.
    38. Thompson, Alexander & Broude, Tomer & Haftel, Yoram Z., 2019. "Once Bitten, Twice Shy? Investment Disputes, State Sovereignty, and Change in Treaty Design," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 73(4), pages 859-880, October.
    39. Diana Panke, 2017. "Speech is silver, silence is golden? Examining state activity in international negotiations," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 12(1), pages 121-146, March.
    40. Yoram Z. Haftel & Alexander Thompson, 2018. "When do states renegotiate investment agreements? The impact of arbitration," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 13(1), pages 25-48, March.
    41. Gowa, Joanne & Mansfield, Edward D., 1993. "Power Politics and International Trade," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 87(2), pages 408-420, June.
    42. Arthur Spirling, 2012. "U.S. Treaty Making with American Indians: Institutional Change and Relative Power, 1784–1911," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 56(1), pages 84-97, January.
    43. Thomas Malang & Katharina Holzinger, 2020. "The political economy of differentiated integration: The case of common agricultural policy," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 15(3), pages 741-766, July.
    44. Sala-i-Martin, Xavier, 1997. "I Just Ran Two Million Regressions," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 87(2), pages 178-183, May.
    45. Johns, Leslie, 2007. "A Servant of Two Masters: Communication and the Selection of International Bureaucrats," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 61(2), pages 245-275, April.
    46. Benjamin A. T. Graham & Jacob R. Tucker, 2019. "The international political economy data resource," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 14(1), pages 149-161, March.
    47. Johnson, Tana & Urpelainen, Johannes, 2014. "International Bureaucrats and the Formation of Intergovernmental Organizations: Institutional Design Discretion Sweetens the Pot," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 68(1), pages 177-209, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Tuuli-Anna Huikuri, 2023. "Constraints and incentives in the investment regime: How bargaining power shapes BIT reform," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 18(2), pages 361-391, April.
    2. Seungjun Kim, 2023. "Protecting home: how firms’ investment plans affect the formation of bilateral investment treaties," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 18(4), pages 667-692, October.
    3. Anne Marie Thow & Wolfgang Alschner & Faisal Aljunied, 2023. "Public health clauses in international investment agreements: Sword or shield?," Global Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 14(2), pages 260-269, May.
    4. Yoram Z. Haftel & Alexander Thompson, 2018. "When do states renegotiate investment agreements? The impact of arbitration," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 13(1), pages 25-48, March.
    5. Bernhard Reinsberg & Oliver Westerwinter, 2021. "The global governance of international development: Documenting the rise of multi-stakeholder partnerships and identifying underlying theoretical explanations," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 16(1), pages 59-94, January.
    6. Mwita Chacha & Adil Nussipov, 2022. "The Breadth–Depth Trade‐Off and Varieties of Preferential Trade Agreements," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 60(3), pages 821-844, May.
    7. Soo Yeon Kim, 2021. "Investment commitments in PTAs and MNCS in partner countries," Economics and Politics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(3), pages 415-442, November.
    8. Axel Berger & Wan‐Hsin Liu, 2021. "Can the G20 serve as a launchpad for a multilateral investment agreement?," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(8), pages 2284-2302, August.
    9. Elsig, Manfred & Ganeson, Kirthana & Jusoh, Sufian & Lugg, Andrew, 2024. "Why is there no investor-state dispute settlement in RCEP? Bargaining and Contestation in the Investment Regime," Papers 1436, World Trade Institute.
    10. Christoph Mödlhamer, 2020. "Innovativeness and the design of intellectual property rights in preferential trade agreements: A refinement of the North–South explanation," Journal of International Business Policy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 3(4), pages 329-348, December.
    11. Stephen R. Buzdugan, . "The global governance of FDI and the non-market strategies of TNCs: explaining the “backlash” against bilateral investment treaties," UNCTAD Transnational Corporations Journal, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.
    12. Soumyajit Mazumder, 2016. "Can I stay a BIT longer? The effect of bilateral investment treaties on political survival," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 11(4), pages 477-521, December.
    13. Fattore, Christina, 2013. "Exploring Aviation Rivalries within the Legal Context of the WTO," Estey Centre Journal of International Law and Trade Policy, Estey Centre for Law and Economics in International Trade, vol. 14(2), pages 1-17.
    14. Renee Bowen & Manfred Elsig, 2018. "Trade and investment: Introduction to the special issue," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 13(2), pages 137-142, June.
    15. Diana Panke, 2020. "Regional cooperation through the lenses of states: Why do states nurture regional integration?," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 15(2), pages 475-504, April.
    16. Eric Neumayer & Peter Nunnenkamp & Martin Roy, 2016. "Are stricter investment rules contagious? Host country competition for foreign direct investment through international agreements," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 152(1), pages 177-213, February.
    17. Baccini, Leonardo & Dür, Andreas & Elsig, Manfred, 2015. "The politics of trade agreement design: revisiting the depth-flexibility nexus," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 62303, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    18. Inken Borzyskowski & Felicity Vabulas, 2019. "Hello, goodbye: When do states withdraw from international organizations?," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 14(2), pages 335-366, June.
    19. Jason S. Davis, 2022. "Screening for losers: Trade institutions and information," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 17(1), pages 1-37, January.
    20. Adela Toscano-Valle & Antonio Sianes & Francisco Santos-Carrillo & Luis A. Fernández-Portillo, 2022. "Can the Rational Design of International Institutions Solve Cooperation Problems? Insights from a Systematic Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(13), pages 1-22, June.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:revint:v:18:y:2023:i:3:d:10.1007_s11558-022-09475-z. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    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 CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc 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 RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

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

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.