Maintaining Neutrality
Nothing guarantees that third parties are neutral.41 In fact, third parties evince many of the biases that plague principals, such as framing effects Even a neutral mediator may be mistakenly viewed as partial to one's adversary. Also, third parties may have a bias to broker an agreement at any cost, which may be disadvantageous to the principals if no positive bargaining zone exists Finally, the threat of third-party intervention may inhibit settlement if principals believe an arbi trator is inclined to impose a compromise settlement. For this reason, final-offer arbitration may be more effective than traditional arbitration
In an empirical analysis of 124 peace agreements between 1989 and 2004, neutral media tors who were engaged primarily because of their interest to end war, had incentives to reach agreement at the expense of quality. In contrast, "biased mediators" seeking to protect their.