Welcome to the Academic Society for Competition Law – an association composed of scholars committed, in their scholarship, to the development of competition law, policy and the economics of competition worldwide.
ASCOLA unites several hundred researchers and scholars from all continents who focus on antitrust law, economics and policy. Members of ASCOLA usually meet once a year for a big annual conference with in-depth discussions of scholarship. ASCOLA regional chapters organise the exchange throughout the year in several jurisdictions. Here you may find more information about ASCOLA events. Please also consult our News section for most recent information.
In the Resources section, you can find our collection of teaching materials, ASCOLA books and the Declaration of Ethics to which we subscribe.
On this website we also inform you on what characterises ASCOLA, how it is organised, its history and how you can join. Members from around the world – from junior academics starting their careers to renowned legends of antitrust scholarship – enjoy the spirit of ASCOLA as a market of ideas – and a place where projects are developed and friendships forged.
The regional ASCOLA chapters continue their efforts in enabling scholars to stay in touch: There is a fantastic series of talks and seminars hosted by our regional chapters, following the original initiative of ASCOLA UK with the “Competition Law in Isolation” talks. For current information on what is on, please join the mailing lists or …
The 2020 ASCOLA Junior Best Paper Award went to Andrew McLean of University College London for his paper “A Financial Capitalism Perspective on Start-up Acquisitions”. The paper is accessible here: https://law.haifa.ac.il/index.php/en/ascola-award The award which has a small tradition already in ASCOLA was presented by Fabiana Di Porto and Rupprecht Podszun in the name of the …
ASCOLA plans to hold its next conference in Porto (Portugal), hopefully with the presence of many of our members if the situation allows us to. Our local host is Professor Sofia Pais with her colleagues and team at the Universidade Católica Portuguesa. The conference is set for 1-3 July 2021. The Call for Papers 2021 …
Ascola is organized as a democratic association involving a General Assembly and a Board – including a Chair. The Assembly convenes each year. It elects the Board, including the Chair, of the Association. The organization is described in a Charter.
The Chair The chair is currently Michal Gal – a professor at the University of Haifa, Israel.
The Board The Board is composed of members elected by the members of the association. The composition partly reflects the geographic coverage of the association. Elections are organized on a regular basis. For these elections members can suggest applications.
Composition of the Board Michal Gal (Israel), Chair Rupprecht Podszun (Germany) Vice Chair Peter Picht (Switzerland), Treasurer
Peter Picht, Michal Gal, Rupprecht Podszun – the Executive Board of ASCOLA at Aix in 2019.
Thomas Cheng (Hong Kong) Fabiana Di Porto (Italy) Josef Drexl (Germany) Valeria Falce (Italy) Harry First (US) Wolfgang Kerber (Germany) Heike Schweitzer (Germany) Ioannis Lianos (Greece) Bjorn Lundqvist (Sweden) Francisco Marcos (Spain) Giorgio Monti (Netherlands) Paul Nihoul (Belgium) Danny Sokol (USA) Maurice Stucke (USA)
If you wish to join ASCOLA, please click here. If you wish to get in touch with the Executive Board, please write an e-mail to team [at] ascola.org or address the board members individually.
Regional Chairs: Thomas Cheng & Masako Wakui – Asia (except India) Vikas Kathuria – India Spencer Weber Waller – USA Vicente Bagnoli & Juliana Oliveira Domingues – Brazil Juan David Gutiérrez – Latin America (except Brazil) Mor Bakhoum – Africa Bjorn Lundqvist – Nordics Maciej Bernatt – Central Europe (focus Poland) Jasminka Pecotic Kaufman & Alexandr Svetlicinii – South East Europe (focus Balkans) Victoria Daskalova – Eastern Europe (focus Bulgaria) Emanuela Arezzo – Italy Magali Eben & Or Brook – United Kingdom Claudio Lombardi & Alexei Ivanov – Eurasia and Central Asia David Bosco – France Wendy Ng – Australia and NZ Pieter van Cleyenbreugel – Benelux Zeynep Ayata & Maris Iacovides – Turkey
If you wish to get in touch with the regional chapters of ASCOLA please address these scholars and try to follow the ongoing activities.
The General Assembly The General Assembly consists of all members of the association. All members have a similar vote. No difference is made depending on origin of members, or the fee paid by them. As a reminder, fees are discounted for younger academics and for academics coming from lower-income regions. The General Assembly takes place in the course of annual conferences.
Are you interested in joining too? Get more information here.
Events
16th ASCOLA Conference
We are planning to have the 16th annual event in Porto, on 1-3 July 2021. Please find the Call for Papers with all relevant information here.
Competition Law in Isolation Talks
After lockdowns and travel restrictions set in, the ASCOLA UK Chapter under the leadership of Magali Eben and Or Brook started a series of virtual talks called “Competition Law in Isolation”. This format developed to be an ace opportunity to showcase ongoing work and to discuss current issues of competition law. For more information, join the mailing list by addressing the organisers Magali Eben (Glasgow) or Or Brook (Leeds) or check out the Twitter account @AscolaUK!
Further competition talks have in the meantime been organised by other Regional Chapters of ASCOLA. We are happy and grateful for such a well-functioning network! Please check out the announcements on LinkedIn and Twitter or address the heads of the Regional Chapters for being included in the mailing lists.
15th ASCOLA Conference
Annual ASCOLA (Virtual) Conference The 15th ASCOLA Conference took place as a virtual event from June 25– 27 June 2020 with around 100 talks over three days, scheduled so as to accomodate different time zones. A keynote address was given by the EU Commission’s Executive Vice President Margrethe Vestager. Several special events, like book presentations, an economist panel and a panel for young scholars with tips for a successful career by distinguished professors made this Virtual Conference a memorable experience. It was organised on a virtual basis due to the 2020 pandemic when travelling was not an option. The organising team was constituted from the universities of Düsseldorf, Haifa and Zurich. For more information, videos and papers from the conference click here. A report on the ASCOLA conference was published here.
14th ASCOLA Conference
Aix-en-Provence Faculty of Law The 14th ASCOLA conference took place at Aix-en-Provence on June 27– 29 June 2019. Professor David Bosco and his team had invited the ASCOLA community to Southern France where we experienced one of the hottest conferences ever. Temperatures on the outside were somewhat matched by the intense discussions inside. The general topic was “Challenges to Assumptions at the Basis of Competition Law”. Apart from this general theme, breakout sessions were held on wider competition law issues. The conference also featured an economist session, a session on teaching and a visit to a vineyard.
Edited by Fabiana Di Porto, Professor of Law, Economics and Innovation, University of Salento, Italy and Rupprecht Podszun, Chair for Civil Law, German and European Competition Law, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Germany
Edited by Josef Drexl, Director, Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition, Munich, Germany and Fabiana di Porto, Professor of Law, Economics and Innovation, University of Salento, Italy
Edited by Josef Drexl, Director, Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition, Munich, Germany and Vicente Bagnoli, Professor of Law, Mackenzie Presbyterian University – Law School, São Paulo, Brazil
Edited by Josef Drexl, Director, Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition, Munich, Germany, Warren S. Grimes, Southwestern Law School, US, Clifford A. Jones, University of Florida, US, the late Rudolph J.R. Peritz, formerly Professor and Director, IProgress Project, New York Law School, US and Edward T. Swaine, George Washington University Law School, US
Edited by Roger Zäch, Andreas Heinemann, Rechtswissenschaftliches Institut, University of Zurich and Andreas Kellerhals, Rechtswissenschaftliches Institut, University of Zurich, Switzerland and Member, Swiss Competition Commission
Edited by Josef Drexl, Director, Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition, Munich, Germany, Laurence Idot, Professor of Law, University of Paris II Panthéon-Assas and Joël Monéger, Professor of Law, University of Paris Dauphine, France