Binding arbitration as a dispute resolution mechanism has come under increasing attacks both in the popular media and in policy debates. There are two areas where binding arbitration has become particularly controversial: The use of interest arbitration to resolve contract bargaining disputes in the public sector, and the use of mandatory binding arbitration procedures for non-union employees to resolve statutory employment rights disputes.
Professors Alex Colvin and David Lipsky, two of the leading empirical researchers in the arbitration field, look at these new attacks on binding arbitration, where they are directed, what has inspired them, and consider what the research evidence says about their validity. Harry Katz, the Jack Sheinkman Professor of Collective Bargaining, moderates the discussion.