When Trade Law and Trade Economics Meet

The Use of Economics in International Arbitration and the General Interests of Host States in International Investment Law will be the topics of the DISSETTLE Research Workshop at Università Bocconi, 6-7 June 2013, with the participation of some 80 scholars.

In the last couple of years five European academic institutions (The Graduate Institute, Geneva, ECARES Université Libre de Bruxelles, Università Bocconi, SIAW-HSG University of St. Gallen and University of Warsaw) have been building a bridge between trade law and trade economics through DISSETTLE - Dispute Settlement in Trade: Training in Law and Economics, a research project and training programme funded by the European Commission's Seventh Framework Programme as a Marie Curie Initial Training Network (ITN).

"The first day of the workshop is addressed to the PhD candidates of the five member institutions, while the second day is open to the public", explains Giorgio Sacerdoti, who's the organizer of the workshop on behalf of the Bocconi's PhD in International Law and Economics.

"Expertise in trade policy has been fragmented in a number of highly specialized disciplines, especially trade law and trade economics", the DISSETTLE website states. "Yet to resolve today's pressing problems related to trade and economic integration, no single discipline can offer the answers. A network bridging trade law and trade economics will not only advance the frontiers of knowledge in this field, but will also make an important contribution to addressing some of the major questions related to globalization and increased interdependence that the world faces in the 21st century".

The general interests of host states is also the topic of a forthcoming publication by Cambridge University Press on the results of a research programme led by Università Bocconi and financed by the Italian University Ministry's PRIN (Programmi di ricerca di rilevante interesse nazionale) programme.