[Purpose] The mechanical strength of wheelchair and seating products is specified by standards to ensure user safety. However, some individual users are affected by severe spasticity resulting from cerebral palsy that occasionally breaks such devices. Until recently, reports of quantitative measurement of these mechanical overloads have been scarce, and the exact loads applied have been unknown...

This paper explores how bilateral and multilateral clustering are embedded in a multilevel system of interdependent networks. We argue that, in a complex system such as global fisheries governance, in which bilateral and multilateral relations are themselves interrelated, embeddedness cannot be reduced to unipartite or bipartite clustering but implicates potential multilevel closure. We elabora...

This paper models a multilateral agreement on investment (MAI) as a coordination device. Multinational enterprises can invest in any number of countries. Without a multilateral investment agreement, expropriation triggers an investment stop by the single MNE. Under a multilateral agreement, expropriation leads to a joint reaction by all MNEs. Switching to such a regime increases worldwide FDI a...

Multilateral funding for global environmental protection, such as biodiversity conservation, requires donor participation. When are donors willing to participate? We examine a game-theoretic model of multilateral funding for environmental projects in developing countries. Donors must first decide whether to participate in a multilateral institution. They do so in anticipation of a bargaining ou...

I use the nuclear proliferation regime to show that dyadic diplomacy is not necessarily incompatible with the building of a multilateral regime; bilateralism is not the opposite of multilateralism, but an efficient component thereof+ Although this point will not be new to most students of institutions, no general rationale has so far been offered on the complementarity of bilateral and multilat...

The paper reports an empirical study of the factors affecting burden sharing among OECD’s 22 DAC members in ‘bankrolling’ the multilateral aid agencies. These are the UN agencies, World Bank’s IDA and non-IDA programmes, regional development banks, European Community, and other multilateral agencies that include the Global Environmental Facility and the Montreal Protocol on environment. Annual ...

Much attention has been paid to bilateral negotiation in which the dispute is between only two parties. However, automated multilateral negotiation in which more than two negotiating parties need to reach a joint agreement, has received relatively less attention, even though such negotiations are required in many circumstances (e.g. a group of managers making a joint decision for their company ...

Recent pandemics and rapidly spreading outbreaks of infectious diseases have illustrated the interconnectedness of the world and the importance of improving the international community's ability to effectively respond. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), building on a strong foundation of lessons learned through previous emergencies, international recognition, and human and te...