The participation and success of developing countries in WTO disputes

Developing country participation in the World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute settlement mechanism has been studied extensively in the literature, with many scholars concluding that developing countries are underrepresented in WTO disputes due to a lack of domestic legal capacity. I take up this study of developing country participation in the dispute settlement mechanism and then expand it by looking at the role of legal capacity in the participation and in the panel stage of disputes. I consider the impact of newly available legal aid and create a novel measure for legal expertise that draws from domestic Supreme Court literature. I find that legal capacity variables are not the predictors of participation or success; it is economic size and trade volume that best predict participation in WTO disputes, and panel decisions are driven by strategic considerations.