| Summary: | This essay identifies an underappreciated side-effect of the increasing influence of industry associations in the development of transnational law. As the law governing commercial contracts harmonizes across territorial boundaries, it will increasingly split along boundaries between industry sectors, a phenomenon I call “sectoral differentiation.” Sectoral differentiation is largely a by-product of the growth of transnational legal orders in an environment where state laws and networks may be unable to keep pace with commercial globalization. Industry associations are not the sole drivers of sectoral differentiation, but their activities often promote it, either directly through rulemaking activities related to their particular industries, or indirectly through influence on treaty drafting and other national and international rulemaking processes.
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