We could not have a global economy without a system to resolve commercial disputes across borders, but the international regime that performs this key role bears little resemblance to other institutions underpinning the global economy. A hybrid of private arbitral institutions, international treaties, and domestic laws and courts, the regime for commercial dispute resolution shows that effective transborder institutions can take a variety of forms. This book offers the first comprehensive social scientific account of this surprisingly effective regime. It maps and explains its evolution since the Industrial Revolution, both at the global level and in the United States, Argentina, and China. The book shows how both political economy approaches and socio-legal theories have shaped institutional outcomes. While economic interests have been the chief determinants, legal processes have played a key role in shaping the form institutions take. The regime for commercial dispute resolution therefore remains between interests and law.

'Between Interests and Law is a tour de force of original research, compelling case studies, and sophisticated theory. It is an indispensable addition to the literature on international commercial arbitration and transnational governance more generally.'

Bryant G. Garth - Chancellor's Professor of Law, University of California, Irvine

'Its combination of theoretical imagination, empirical rigor, historical richness, and relevance to public policy issues makes Between Interests and Law a major work of scholarship.'

Robert O. Keohane - Princeton University, New Jersey

'Between Interests and Law announces the arrival of an important young scholar in law and politics. Thomas Hale combines qualitative and quantitative methods, ideational and rational explanations, and international and transnational perspectives in a fascinating study of transnational commercial arbitration. The complexity of the public-private arrangements that underpin the field makes it hard to study; Hale surveys the world from Asia to the Americas to Europe and offers an explanation rich in both color and clarity.'

Anne-Marie Slaughter - Bert G. Kerstetter 1966 University Professor Emerita, Princeton University and former J. Sinclair Armstrong Professor of International, Foreign, and Comparative Law, Harvard Law School

'Hale’s book is a remarkable achievement and should be compulsory reading for dispute resolutions scholars and stakeholders. His achievement is that he provides clarity and insights in an unchartered territory. He explores the challenges for public authorities in an environment of market power and legal networks largely shaped by private institutions and provides perhaps the most forceful and compelling argument in support of the legitimacy of private arbitration.'

Loukas Mistelis - Clive M Schmitthoff Professor of Transnational Commercial Law and Arbitration, Queen Mary University of London