McConnaughay is the author and editor of numerous scholarly articles and books addressing international commercial arbitration, regulation of
international commerce, and the interaction between legal traditions. His scholarship bridges theory and practice, drawing on his experience as both a law firm partner and academic leader. His published articles analyze topics such as party autonomy in
arbitration, the management of complex multinational disputes, comparative approaches to commercial regulation, and the institutional development of dispute-resolution mechanisms in emerging economies. In addition to his journal articles, McConnaughay has edited and contributed to scholarly volumes addressing human rights legislation in Africa, the values governing research at major U.S. research universities, and international arbitration and dispute settlement in Asia. These edited collections bring together leading scholars and practitioners to examine evolving norms in
international trade,
arbitration, and
economic governance. ;
“The Scope of Autonomy in International Contracts and its Relation to Economic Regulation and Development,” in the
Columbia Journal of Transnational Law (2001);
“Rethinking the Role of Law and Contracts in East-West Commercial Relations,” in the
Virginia Journal of International Law (2001); His later scholarship has focused increasingly on
arbitration’s role in economic development and institutional design. In
“The Role of Arbitration in Economic Development and the Creation of Transnational Legal Principles,” published in the
Peking University Transnational Law Review (2013), and
“The Potential of Private Commercial Arbitration for Facilitating Economic Growth in Less Developed Countries,” an invited chapter in the proceedings of the 2016 Congress of the International Council for Commercial Arbitration (Kluwer, 2017), McConnaughay argues that arbitration mechanisms can contribute to the national legal infrastructure essential for economic development and the emergence of transnational legal norms. He has also written extensively on legal education reform in
China and
Asia. His co-authored chapters with Colleen B. Toomey include
“Preparing for the Sinicization of the Western Legal Tradition: The Case of Peking University School of Transnational Law,” published in
Legal Education in Asia: From Imitation to Innovation (Brill, 2017), and
“China and the Globalization of Legal Education: A Look into the Future,” included in
The Globalization of Legal Education (Oxford University Press, 2022). The scholarly treatises McConnaughay has edited include
International Commercial Arbitration in Asia (with Tom Ginsburg; Juris Press, 2002; 2nd ed. 2005);
Human Rights, the Rule of Law, and Development in Africa (with Paul Tiyambe Zeleza;
University of Pennsylvania Press, 2004); and
Defining Values for Research and Technology: The University’s Changing Role (with William T. Greenough and Jay Kesan; Rowman & Littlefield, 2007). He also contributed to the volume
Economic Approaches to Law: Dispute Resolution (Edward Elgar, 2009), and wrote the foreword to Won Kidane’s
Dispute Settlement in China–Africa Economic Relations (Kluwer Law International, 2011). He served on the editorial board of the
Indonesian Journal of International & Comparative Law and advised the government of Indonesia on drafting national arbitration legislation. Collectively, McConnaughay’s scholarship explores the intersection of arbitration,
economic development, and
legal pluralism, emphasizing the importance of institutional mechanisms that accommodate differing legal traditions while fostering predictability and fairness in international commerce. == Views and opinions ==