The purpose of this bibliography, curated by Noam Ebner and archived by the National Center for Technology and Dispute Resolution, is to provide a comprehensive listing of publications on Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) that focus on Artificial Intelligence and its use in anticipating, preventing, engaging, and resolving disputes. Each type of publication appears according to year of publication (in reverse order), and alphabetically (by the last name of the first author). Links have been provided when possible, with preference given to links to full-text versions of the articles. The bibliography is updated at least once a year. The most recent update was in February, 2026. The full ODR bibliography, encompassing a wider spectrum of papers unrelated to AI, can be found at https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=5021688
We study how generative AI, and in particular agentic AI, shapes human learning incentives and the long-run evolution of society’s information ecosystem. We build a dynamic model of learning and decision-making in which successful decisions require combining shared, community-level general knowledge with individual-level, context-specific knowledge; these two inputs are complements. Learning exhibits economies of scope: costly human effort jointly produces a private signal about their own context and a “thin” public signal that accumulates into the community’s stock of general knowledge, generating a learning externality. Agentic AI delivers context-specific recommendations that substitute for human effort. By contrast, a richer stock of general knowledge complements human effort by raising its marginal return. The model highlights a sharp dynamic tension: while agentic AI can improve contemporaneous decision quality, it can also erode learning incentives that sustain long-run collective knowledge. When human effort is sufficiently elastic and agentic recommendations exceed an accuracy threshold, the economy can tip into a knowledge-collapse steady state in which general knowledge vanishes ultimately, despite high-quality personalized advice. Welfare is generally non-monotone in agentic accuracy, implying an interior, welfare-maximizing level of agentic precision and motivating information-design regulations. In contrast, greater aggregation capacity for general knowledge—meaning more effective sharing and pooling of human-generated general knowledge—unambiguously raises welfare and increases resilience to knowledge collapse. Institutional subscribers to the NBER working paper series, and residents of developing countries may download this paper without additional charge at www.nber.org.
In this Article I provide an account of the conceptual and doctrinal structure of insurance law, defining "structure" as the consistent arrangement and organization of the interrelated elements of this body of law. I contend that insurance law consists of three types of rules, defined by their scope of application. General rules apply to all forms of insurance. Category rules apply only to particular classes of insurance, such as liability or property insurance. Special rules apply to only one form of insurance, such as crop or flood insurance. In addition, insurance law consists of both mandatory rules, which may not be displaced by policy language, and default rules, that can be displaced. The Article also examines the ways in which the major treatises and casebooks present insurance law, showing that, interestingly, the casebook presentations do not follow and are not congruent with the structure of insurance law that the Article describes. I explain why the casebooks do not and could not effectively present insurance law in a manner that is purposely congruent with the structure of insurance law. Finally, the Article makes a series of observations about the significance of the very idea that a body of common law, such as insurance law, can have a coherent structure as I have defined that notion.
AI-enabled identity verification has become essential to fraud protection and customer onboarding in U.S. financial institutions, but its rapid adoption has generated concerns about exclusion and algorithmic bias. Traditional verification regimes based on documentation identities, credit histories and steady residency continue to exclude people with thin files, insecure housing or non-standard legal status, while developing AI systems risk perpetuating these injustices in digital form. This study investigates whether AI-based identity verification frameworks improve security while also increasing financial inclusion, or if they mainly automate previous patterns of exclusion. The study develops a sociotechnical analytical framework by conducting an interdisciplinary literature synthesis that includes peer-reviewed scholarship from 2015 to 2026, as well as regulatory reports, industry white papers and documented implementation cases. A comparative investigation of traditional banks, fintech firms and community-based financial institutions finds substantial demographic performance discrepancies in biometric and alternative data systems, which are influenced by institutional incentives and regulatory uncertainty. The results indicated that no single verification modality delivers uniform equity and that institutional emphasis on fraud minimization frequently outweighs inclusion goals. The study concludes by proposing a contextual, multidimensional verification framework based on procedural fairness, demographic performance monitoring, and regulatory safe harbors, which argues that equitable AI verification requires deliberate governance and long-term collaboration among regulators, technologists and financial institutions.
Efficient integration of Distributed Energy Resources (DER), such as rooftop solar systems, battery energy storage, electric vehicles, and flexible demand (load), is crucial to the decarbonisation of electrical systems. Although these resources offer significant system-level advantages, the conventional electricity market and regulatory frameworks are challenged by their disorganised deployment. DER can now provide services (energy, ancillary, and network support) that are typically provided by centralised generation with innovative emergence of Virtual Power Plants (VPP), a system-level mechanism for aggregating and coordinating DER. Australia’s high DER penetration and many pilot programmes have made it a global outlook for VPP deployment. Nevertheless, VPP have not yet attained scalable, commercially viable integration, despite their proven technological viability. This paper highlights institutional and market design constraints restricting VPP scale-up and suggests specific reform options based on empirical data from system operators, regulators, and international energy agencies. The analysis shows that concerted policy reform is necessary to fully realise the benefits of DER aggregation in Australia and around the world, and that the main obstacles to VPP adoption are institutional rather than technological.
A presente coluna vai ser dividida em duas partes e vai se dedicar a apresentar algumas noções basilares sobre o direito à ciência bem como explicitar necessárias pistas de investigação para um mais completo reconhecimento e desenvolvimento deste direito, em especial das obrigações positivas que dele derivam. Para ilustrar a crescente interrelação entre direitos constitucionais domésticos e direito internacional, particularmente relevante para os direitos fundamentais ou humanos, essa breve reflexão acerca do direito à ciência vai se servir de alguns exemplos colhidos na jurisprudência do Supremo Tribunal Federal (STF) brasileiro (This column will be divided into two parts and will aim to present some basic notions regarding the right to science, as well as to outline necessary avenues for further research toward a more comprehensive recognition and development of this right, particularly with regard to the positive obligations it entails. To illustrate the growing interrelationship between domestic constitutional rights and international law, which is especially relevant in the context of fundamental or human rights, this brief reflection on the right to science will draw on selected examples from the case law of the Brazilian Supreme Federal Court (STF).)
When a layperson uses ChatGPT to obtain feedback on a legal matter, attorney-client privilege may not apply, as ChatGPT is not a lawyer, much less a human. Further, while lawyers are entitled to protection for their opinion work-product, it is not clear whether self-represented litigants are entitled to the same protection. Additionally, the broader duty of confidentiality binds only attorneys, not AI systems like ChatGPT. The public increasingly uses AI tools such as ChatGPT. If a layperson employs ChatGPT for legal advice, particularly in a civil matter, such communications may be discoverable and potentially admissible. This presents an access to justice issue because a self-represented litigant who seeks to understand the scope of their legal rights may not realize that their AI communications can be used against them. Alternatively, they may not be able to afford an attorney, and thus decide to take the risk of communicating with AI anyway. This Article argues that self-represented litigants should enjoy protection for opinion work-product, and further, AI responses to self-represented litigants should also be permitted to count as opinion work-product. In addition, this Article proposes a discovery management protocol so courts may handle AI communications in a practicable manner. The work-product solution may be implemented more easily than other options, such as extending attorney-client privilege, though that also may be advisable in the interests of justice. Finally, as a backstop, judges could also consider excluding such AI communications from admission under Rule 403.
The Constitution creates a democracy that was intended to last through the generations—"to secure the blessings of liberty" for both the Framers and their posterity. Put simply, the Constitution is committed to an enduring democracy, a principle we refer to as "democratic resilience." Recently, however, in the 2019 case Rucho v. Common Cause, the Supreme Court disclaimed any role in choosing among democratic conceptions, treating that choice as "political" and therefore beyond judicial competence. Neutrality is, of course, one of the core values of America's judiciary, and is especially essential for resolving disputes in controversial cases with political significance. But the Court's recent insistence on neutrality about what democracy requires is wrong both descriptively and normatively. It is impossible for courts to be neutral about the meaning of democracy; indeed, courts constantly choose among competing conceptions of democracy when they define rights, evaluate state interests, and structure political power. More importantly, courts should not be neutral about democracy. Doing so risks the courts contributing to, rather than guarding against, democratic backsliding. Courts can play a key role in ensuring the resilience of democracy by recognizing democratic resilience both as a constitutional value and as an interpretive guide, especially when their decisions will determine the viability of free, fair, and durable self-government. While courts alone may be limited in their ability to stop a concerted effort to erode democracy, their limitations should not give them a free pass. Courts are imperfect instruments of democracy, but they nonetheless play a necessary role in protecting democratic resilience.
This exploratory convergent mixed-methods study examines the relationship between governance structures and executive compensation practices in 26 U.S. 501(c)(4) nonprofit organizations. Using the proposed Tax Excessive CEO Pay Act of 2024 as an external policy benchmark, the study evaluates CEO-to-worker pay disparities alongside governance characteristics associated with executive compensation decision-making. Quantitative analyses of IRS Form 990 executive compensation and governance data were integrated with qualitative analyses of governance disclosures, board oversight practices, compensation narratives, and transparency mechanisms. Findings suggest that organizations exhibiting stronger governance coherence demonstrate more systematic compensation justification, more comprehensive documentation, and greater transparency in executive compensation decisions. Rather than establishing causal relationships, the study proposes a governance coherence framework for interpreting how board oversight, benchmarking, documentation, and transparency collectively shape executive compensation practices. The findings contribute to nonprofit governance scholarship by advancing understanding of governance accountability, compensation equity, and organizational legitimacy. Keywords: nonprofit governance; executive compensation; IRS Form 990; organizational legitimacy; mixed methods.
This paper examines Nigeria's natural gas transportation infrastructure through the lens of the energy trilemma of energy security, energy equity, and environmental sustainability. Using a mixed-methods design, the study draws on two stakeholder surveys, literature review, and institutional analysis to assess how infrastructure development, governance, and management shape access to affordable natural gas and broader economic performance. The findings indicate that improved natural gas availability is associated with employment growth, stronger tax revenue, higher labour income, and a measurable contribution to GDP growth. At the same time, the sector is constrained by outdated pipelines, underinvestment, insecurity, policy inconsistency, and environmental risk. The study concludes that Nigeria requires stronger governance, greater regulatory clarity, continued infrastructure investment, and improved monitoring technologies if natural gas is to contribute meaningfully to inclusive and sustainable development.
Global efforts to tackle climate change and urban pollution depend heavily on the adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) (Ravi & Aziz, 2022). Hong Kong is a densely populated city, and the air quality is worrying. By reducing carbon emissions and promoting sustainable urban mobility, electric vehicles can play an important role in Hong Kong's environmental sustainability and smart city plans. Hong Kong has made great strides in sustainable transport, with the adoption of electric vehicles in private cars, buses, taxis, and special-purpose vehicles gradually increasing. The government has aggressively promoted electric vehicles through incentives aimed at reducing energy consumption and emissions. However, challenges remain in scaling up charging infrastructure, electric vehicle incentives, talent development, and advanced technology adoption. This report studies the current situation of electric vehicle use in Hong Kong using data review, qualitative analysis, and group discussion, points out the main obstacles in the industry, assesses the effectiveness of current policies and infrastructure, proposes strategic approaches to accelerate the application of electric vehicles, and hopes to accelerate the process of electrification in Hong Kong society through reasonable public management means and policy application.
Wealth management firms and advisors are taught that the work of financial planning is to create the most efficient portfolio possible. This is referred to as the "Portfolio Centric Practice Model." We find that a household is a dynamic system composed of a multitude of factors, which are interdependent. In other words, a household's revenue, debt, expenses, insurance, taxes, and investments are all highly interconnected and cannot be optimized individually. In this paper, we apply principles of Household Finance as defined by John Campbell, the Liability Driven Approach to Retirement Planning as defined by Robert Merton, the principles of Advisor's Alpha as defined by Vanguard, and Morningstar's principles of Gamma. Our research analyzes and draws conclusions based on a dataset derived from the Survey of Consumer Finances published by the Federal Reserve, DALBAR's Quantitative Analysis of Investor Behavior, and the CFP Board's Financial Planning Longitudinal Study. Our research shows that the practice of the household acting in accordance with the comprehensive financial plan provided by the advisor upon completion of all aspects of the financial planning process-including cash flow management, debt and tax planning, insurance, behavioral finance, and investment management-significantly impacts the financial well-being of the household. And, in turn, these household financial practices result in a significantly higher level of household financial performance including more wealth, higher savings and investments, a higher standard of living in retirement, more financial flexibility, and a higher level of household well-being. In light of this research, we describe a new practice paradigm we call the "Holistic Family Economy" (HFE) practice. Within this new practice paradigm, the family's balance sheet, income statement, and risks are all viewed as components of a single economic system-the Holistic Family Economy. We find that high-income clients have numerous exposures and risks associated with lifestyle inflation, highly concentrated compensation, inefficient taxes, and poor insurance coverage-all of which are not addressed under a portfolio-centric practice model. The financial planning profession needs to adopt a more holistic practice model for advising clients, moving from a portfolio-centric practice model to a more household-centric practice model. The new practice model is more defensible, more sustainable, and more client-centric.
In May 2025, the United States Department of Agriculture approved Nebraska's request to restrict soda and energy drinks from SNAP purchases — marking the first time in the program's sixty-year history that the agency permitted a state to narrow the statutory definition of eligible foods. Within months, twenty-one additional states received similar approvals. This Article argues that these waivers exceed statutory authority, violate the Administrative Procedure Act, and exemplify a broader pattern of executive overreach this Article identifies as corporate conscription: the mechanism by which the executive coerces private entities to act antithetical to their stakeholder obligations in service of the administration's policy objectives. Section 17 of the Food and Nutrition Act authorizes demonstration projects to test improvements in administrative efficiency — not substantive redesigns of program content. Food restrictions redefine the benefit itself and require congressional authorization, not demonstration waivers. The approvals are independently arbitrary and capricious under State Farm: USDA failed to consider state fiscal exposure, less restrictive alternatives, necessary medical exceptions, and its own two decades of consistent denials. The waivers also conscript SNAP-authorized retailers into a federal agenda that conflicts with the microsocial contracts they have independently assumed with low-income communities under Donaldson and Dunfee's Integrative Social Contracts Theory. The stakes extend well beyond SNAP — the same structural boundary federal courts enforced in striking down Medicaid work-requirement waivers applies here, and the question is whether courts will hold that line before it is erased across the entire safety net.
This study examines eternal hell (jahannam) from a Qur'anic perspective, addressing the critique that infinite punishment for finite life contradicts divine justice. Through analysis of key verses (Q 4:145, 39:71, 61:5, 63:10, 23:19), it demonstrates that hell is not arbitrary punishment but the ontological consequence of dispositional orientations that individuals have volitionally cultivated and fixated during their earthly existence. The concept of "ontological fixation" provides a coherent interpretive framework for understanding Qur'anic expressions such as the "sealing of hearts" (khatm al-qalb) and the irreversibility of persistent misguidance. These concepts signify not divine determinism but the culmination of a process initiated and sustained by human choice, in which repeated rejection of truth transforms moral orientation into an immutable existential state. The stratified structure of hell reflects precise correspondence between degrees of moral-spiritual corruption and eschatological consequence, presented in symmetrical relation to paradise. This study integrates classical exegesis (al-Ṭabarī, al-Rāzī, al-Zamakhsharī) with contemporary scholarship (Rahman, Izutsu, Abou El Fadl) to demonstrate that eternal hell derives not from temporal duration but from the permanence of character. Divine mercy and intercession are evaluated within this ontological framework, presenting a coherent response to both classical theological debates and modern critiques of divine justice.
This paper analyzes the telecommunications industry in Oman through the lens of oligopoly theory, examining market structure, firm behavior, consumer demand, and policy implications. Using secondary data from Omantel, Ooredoo Oman, and Vodafone Oman, alongside reports from the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority and international organizations, the study applies concentration ratios, Bertrand and Cournot oligopoly models, and elasticity analysis. The calculated CR3 ratio of 100% confirms a highly concentrated oligopoly characterized by significant barriers to entry and strong strategic interdependence among dominant firms. Demand is found to be relatively price inelastic for essential telecommunications services, while premium service segments exhibit greater income elasticity among higher-income consumers. Competition is driven primarily by service differentiation, network quality, and technological innovation rather than price alone. The study recommends policies including infrastructure sharing, promotion of Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs), and targeted price regulation for essential services to improve market efficiency, consumer welfare, and digital inclusion in Oman.
This master thesis evaluates the feasibility and strategic implementation of establishing a solar photovoltaic (PV) module manufacturing facility in Saudi Arabia under the Photocell for Energy project. The research is based on a supplied project file dated 2022, which proposes a factory located in King Salman Energy Park (SPARK) in the Eastern Province with an annual production capacity of 300 MW, a total investment requirement of approximately SAR 70,730,600, a 25 percent equity and 75 percent external-finance capital structure, and a phased roadmap for industrial operations, digital transformation, R&D, and innovation. The thesis expands the original project into an academic and professional feasibility study by integrating current renewable-energy policy, global PV supply-chain evidence, Industry 4.0 literature, desert-climate PV performance research, technical manufacturing requirements, and project-finance evaluation. The study adopts a case-study methodology supported by document analysis, secondary-source analysis, strategic management frameworks, technical feasibility modelling, and financial appraisal. PESTEL, Porter Five Forces, SWOT, Business Model Canvas, risk mapping, and sensitivity testing are applied to assess the commercial attractiveness and strategic robustness of the proposed project. The technical study analyses crystalline-silicon PV module production, quality control, facility layout, supply-chain risk, standards compliance, environmental and occupational-health requirements, and operational-readiness conditions. The digital-transformation plan examines cloud computing, industrial internet of things, robotics, simulation, augmented reality, cybersecurity, systems integration, big data analytics, and intelligent automation as staged capabilities rather than isolated technologies. The financial analysis uses the core project data supplied in the original file. Under the five-year operating cash-flow schedule provided, and excluding terminal value, the project generates a calculated internal rate of return of approximately 18.9 percent, a net present value of about SAR 19,378,093 at a 10 percent discount rate, and a simple payback period of approximately 3.36 years. These indicators suggest promising feasibility, although the thesis emphasizes that an investment decision should be subject to updated supplier quotations, independent technical due diligence, verified offtake assumptions, local-content incentives, debt-term confirmation, tax treatment, working-capital validation, and risk-adjusted scenario testing. The thesis concludes that the project is strategically aligned with Saudi Arabia's renewable-energy transition, industrial localization goals, and the need for more resilient PV supply chains. Its success depends on credible certification, bankable demand development, disciplined cash conversion, phased technology investment, strong R&D partnerships, and governance mechanisms that convert the country's desert conditions from a risk into a differentiated product-development advantage. The proposed factory should position itself not only as a module assembler, but as a desert-ready PV manufacturing and innovation platform for Saudi Arabia, the GCC, and wider export markets.
In our submission to the Committee on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights, we address five broad issues related to States obligations when the Covenant intersects with both Business and Human Rights and the Laws of Armed Conflict: (1) The interaction and complementarity between the Covenant, international humanitarian law (“IHL”), and business & human rights; (2) The need for guidance on heightened human rights due diligence; (3) Taxation as a financial contribution to States in armed conflict, which also implicates when businesses should stay or leave a conflict-affected area; (4) Regulating arms companies to secure Covenant rights; and (5) The responsibility of businesses to provide remedies
From the Meiji Restoration forward, legal education in Japan had historically prioritized the training of government administrators through a theoretical, lecture-based undergraduate model. Based on the author’s experience teaching in a Japanese law faculty in the mid-1990s, a comparison with U.S. practices at the time prompted consideration of whether this framework sufficiently prepared graduates for contemporary societal challenges. The analysis here examined the structural and pedagogical disparities between the Japanese and American legal education systems to identify specific methodologies that would be available for the Japanese context. The study argued that while Japanese legal education demonstrated excellence in theoretical scholarship, there was a compelling lack of integrated skills training—such as critical analytical thinking, communication, and negotiation—prevalent in U.S. graduate law school programs. Key findings highlighted the potential benefits of adopting the Socratic method, expanding clinical education, and implementing ethical training to foster professional responsibility and a human-rights-based consciousness. The analysis concluded that Japan's economic and social development would benefit from pedagogical reforms that could bridge the gap between academic theory and practical application. While Japan’s millennial justice system reforms subsequently reshaped much of legal education in the nation, this piece offers a snapshot of the circumstances leading up to those reforms and evidences many continuities that are still apparent today.
Contemporary governance systems bifurcate into two inadequate poles: liberal democracy, which secures legitimacy through universal participation at the cost of systematic competence failure, and technocratic or authoritarian meritocracy, which achieves administrative efficiency at the cost of legitimate accountability. This paper proposes Agonistic Meritocracy, a constitutional governance framework designed to reduce specific failure modes in existing systems under specified institutional and demographic conditions. Entry to leadership is filtered by demonstrated competence; incumbents are retained until a qualified challenger demonstrably surpasses their audited record; evaluation is conducted by a merit-weighted citizenry. The framework is grounded in a constitutional foundation, an independent judiciary, formally defined operational mechanisms, and a minimal formal model. Drawing on Locke, Madison, Montesquieu, Mill, Popper, and Brennan, the paper argues that the failure modes of existing systems are structurally complementary and that the proposed framework is designed to address each through the mechanisms of the others. The paper explicitly bounds its applicability to societies with sufficient demographic and institutional consensus, and does not claim applicability to highly pluralistic multi-diaspora contexts.
