Public private partnership in WTO dispute settlement: enabling developing countries

The doctoral research investigates the nature and elements of domestic mechanisms, including public private partnership (PPP) procedures, devised for the management of WTO disputes in selected developed and developing countries. With China, Brazil and India as its case-studies, the research explores various strategies to devise an effective PPP mechanism for handling international trade disputes in developing countries. The research objective is to explore the benefits of engaging the private sector in the intergovernmental process of WTO dispute settlement, and to identify the reforms that will be needed for devising a workable domestic framework for handling foreign trade disputes through PPP arrangements. The research highlights important issues and concerns that need consideration before any legal, institutional, regulatory and procedural reforms are carried out. Moreover, the research seeks to enable developing countries to critically evaluate a diverse range of PPP strategies employed so far, and to determine their individual approaches towards PPP and dispute management. The thesis constitutes a practical guidebook for policymakers in those developing countries which have the motivation to strengthen their WTO dispute settlement capacities. The topical area of research and pragmatic approach towards research questions, together with an empirical research methodology makes this study an original contribution to existing literature and knowledge