Influence of Extrinsic Factors on Construction Arbitrators’ Decision Making

Abstract

The occurrence of disputes and adjudication by an arbitrator is a common feature for construction contracts in India. The decision process on a particular case ideally depends on the actual facts and evidence related to the case. Being intrinsic to the cases, these facts and evidence have been explored by researchers to develop dispute resolution mechanisms. In spite of the intrinsic factors and backgrounds being the same in several cases, the decisions vary across cases, leading to further appeals in higher courts. Divergence in decisions in such cases can be attributed to extrinsic factors, such as an arbitrator’s attributes, personality traits, and counsels’ powerful arguments, which have not been explored by past researchers. Keeping this research gap in mind, the present study was undertaken for Indian construction disputes. A total of 12 extrinsic factors were identified. The influence of these attributes on an adjudicator’s decision was measured through 54 personality trait questions and four model test cases. The study revealed that an arbitrator’s past experience in handling a number of cases, neuroticism, dominance, and fairness are the four significant factors that influence the outcome of the decision.