Can Prior Offers and Arbitration Outcomes be Used to Predict the Winners of Subsequent Final-Offer Arbitration Cases?(Resolution of Disputes‪)‬

1. Introduction Interest arbitration is a dispute resolution procedure in which an independent arbitrator determines the terms of a new contract. The intent of interest arbitration is not to have arbitrators impose settlements on the bargainers but rather to encourage negotiation by the parties. Two main variations of interest arbitration exist. In conventional arbitration (CA), each party submits an offer to the arbitrator, who may select either offer as the settlement or choose one of his or her own. Final-offer arbitration (FOA) requires the arbitrator to select one of the two submitted offers as the award. By forcing the arbitrator to choose one offer over the other, the parties are thought to have an incentive to submit reasonable offers.