Chair for Economic Theory Presents Research at ASCOLA Conference in Würzburg

The 19th international annual conference of the Academic Society for Competition Law (ASCOLA) took place from 4th till 6th July 2024 at Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg. ASCOLA is composed of scholars committed to the development of competition law, policy and the economics of competition worldwide. As an interdisciplinary, internationally represented and independent organization, it is dedicated to the exchange and further development of competition policy and law as well as the associated research.

In total, the conference hosted around 160 participants from five different continents. The main part of the conference consisted of 25 parallel panel sessions with 91 speakers. From nearly 150 paper submissions, 76 papers were selected for presentation in a double-blind process.

Researchers from the Chair for Economic Theory (Institute of Economics, Ilmenau University of Technology) shared their newest research outcomes:

  • In the panel “Collusion”, Dr. W. Benedikt Schmal discussed his paper “Polycentric Governance in Collusive Agreements”.
  • Dr. Annika Stöhr spoke in the panel "Bigness" about “Economic Analysis of Section 19a as a Measure of Counter-Power against Firms with Paramount Significance for Competition across Markets”.
  • Dr. Victoriia Noskova presented research on the topic “Use of Computational Antitrust in Merger Control: Descriptive Empirical Evidence and Alternative Avenues” (a joint project with Prof. Dr. Oliver Budzinski) in the “Tech” panel.
  • In addition, Jun.-Prof. Dr. Juliane K. Mendelsohn (Chair for Law and Economics of Digitization) joined the conference with her presentation on the topic “A Methodological Co­reliance: How the DMA's Obligations (Ought to) Evolve out of Competition Law Theories of Harm”.

Additionally, the conference offered an enforcers panel with five leaders of competition authorities, a presentation stream for PhD scholars to present their work, a barbecue, a concert, and many things more. 

For further insights into the content of the conference, we recommend reading the conference debriefing by Prof. Dr. Rupprecht Podszun (ASCOLA President, HHU Dusseldorf): https://www.d-kart.de/blog/2024/07/12/conference-debriefing-42-19th-annual-conference-of-ascola/