Patterns of international cooperation and the explanatory power of relative gains: An analysis of cooperation on global climate change, ozone depletion, and international trade

Abstract

This article brings together the relative gains argument and the analysis of global environmental problems such as ozone depletion and global climate change. We develop an n-actor relative gains model for the provision of nonexcludable goods. In order to derive testable hypotheses we also develop a comparable n-actor specification for excludable goods such as international trade and derive hypotheses concerning the expected level of cooperation by using comparative statics. The models suggest that there should be a higher level of cooperation on trade and ozone depletion than on global climate change. After reviewing alternative explanations we confirm the explanatory power of the model by demonstrating that we observe a much lower level of cooperation for the climate case than either of the other two cases. We thus conclude that the case of global warming falls within the empirical domain of neorealism and that power-based explanations cannot be ignored. © 2006 International Studies Association.