The role of alternative dispute resolution in resolving waste management conflicts, a study of cases in Ontario and Massachusetts

grantor: University of TorontoThis thesis studies 54 recent cases in which negotiation, facilitation or mediation was applied to a waste management conflict in Ontario or Massachusetts, to empirically investigate several important questions concerning these methods of alternative dispute resolution (ADR). The methodology relies on analysis of case documentation and, for 23 of the cases, detailed telephone interviews with 123 ADR participants. Study findings are organized into three articles, each submitted to a peer-reviewed journal. The first employs seven criteria to empirically test several frequently stated claims regarding the success of environmental ADR. It finds that, although by some measures ADR has been quite successful, it can hardly be considered a panacea. The second article identifies the characteristics of environmental disputes and ADR processes that are most frequently cited as affecting the degree of success of these processes, and tests the influence they actually had on the outcome of ADR in the study cases. Statistical tests of relationships between 17 of these factors and four criteria of success leads to the conclusion that far fewer characteristics are actually important to ADR success than widely claimed in the literature, and that their influence was less than expected. These findings are used to make recommendations for screening waste management conflicts prior to the application of ADR and for designing ADR processes to increase their effectiveness. Among the findings of the second article is that the incentive of disputants to participate in ADR is one of the most important causal mechanisms by which the factors found to be significant influence the outcome of these processes. Recognizing this, the third article identifies and ranks the importance of incentives and disincentives that stakeholders consider when deciding whether to enter into ADR, and compares those factors to those addressed in the literature. Further investigation of the most important of these factors reveals the sub-factors by which they are in turn influenced. Finally, the article examines whether these key factors have different effects on different types of parties, and concludes with recommendations for improving ADR processes by increasing the motivation of disputants to participate.Ph.D