The Economic Structure of International Law

Joel P. Trachtman

Published by Harvard University Press 2008

The Economic Structure of International Law

Joel P. Trachtman

https://doi.org/10.4159/9780674044432

Overview
Contents

About this book

This book presents policymakers and scholars with an over-arching analytical model of international law, one that demonstrates the potential of international law, but also explains how policymakers should choose among different international legal structures.

Reviews

The Economic Structure of International Law is an elegantly and clearly argued contribution to the burgeoning literature connecting social science and international law. Trachtman has a true gift of demystifying jargon and explaining complicated concepts in ways that will be valuable for legal scholars and law students alike.
-- Anne-Marie Slaughter, Dean, Woodrow Wilson School of Public Affairs, Princeton University

Joel Trachtman is to be heartily congratulated for The Economic Structure of International Law. In this pioneering study, he deftly deploys social scientific analysis to illuminate core structural questions about the international legal order. Throughout, one sees the rich and wise understanding of international law as well as the deep scrupulousness about both tools and data that have always characterized Trachtman's scholarship.
-- William Alford, Harvard Law School

An important new contribution to both the theoretical and practical approach to international law.
-- William W. Burke-White, University of Pennsylvania Law School

Trachtman presents a scholarly and coherent economic analysis of international law as well as a useful methodology.
-- Andrew T. Guzman, University of California, Berkeley

Trachtman reframes the international legal field through economic analysis and public choice theory. Focusing on jurisdiction, norm generation, and institutional form, he returns to the most fundamental structural issues of the international legal order, viewing them anew by applying and extending analytic tools developed by law and economics scholars. Comprehensive, imaginative, and provocative.
-- David Kennedy, Vice President for International Affairs, Brown University

It is impressive that Trachtman, who is thoroughly learned in the law, is also highly competent in the relevant portions of economics and political science. The Economic Structure of International Law should help to set a standard for the systematic use of social science in the analysis of international law.
-- Robert O. Keohane Journal of Economic Literature

Joel Trachtman presents a painstaking review of economic approaches to understanding international relations theory and international law...The history of international law theory consists of a debate in which the pendulum has swung between the natural law theorists and the positivists. Trachtman's achievement is to show that even on the terms of positivists or rational choice theorists, the notion that states act according to their self-interest is not sufficient to establish that customary international law is not binding on states so acting: self-interest cannot justify everything. This is important...It may be hoped that Trachtman's work will help weigh the pendulum more heavily in favor of compliance with international law.
-- Niall Meagher World Trade Review

Neither political scientists nor economists have known enough about law to show how a rational–institutional analysis would relate to various technical rules and specific practices of international law, as Trachtman does. It is impressive that Trachtman, who is thoroughly learned in the law, is also highly competent in the relevant portions of economics and political science. The Economic Structure of International Law should help to set a standard for the systematic use of social science in the analysis of international law.
-- Robert O. Keohane Journal of Economic Literature

Perhaps the most commendable aspect of the book is its breadth. It provides a solid overview of international law, covers a large number of economic methodologies, and manages to combine the two in a way that creates an original argument without being repetitive or confusing...The book is rich with examples of where international law works and where it fails to induce compliance and align results with preferences.
-- Sharanya Sai Mohan Yale Journal of International Law

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Preface Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	ix
Chapter One. Introduction: A Social Scientific Approach to International Law Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
Chapter Two. Jurisdiction Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	26
Chapter Three. Customary International Law Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	72
Chapter Four. Treaty Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	119
Chapter Five. International Organization Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	150
Chapter Six. Interfunctional Linkage and Fragmentation Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	196
Chapter Seven. International Adjudication Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	208
Afterword Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	272
Notes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	277
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	351

Language: English
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Audience: Professional and scholarly;
Pages
- Main content: 368

eBook

Published: July 1, 2009
ISBN: 9780674044432