Jasminka Pecotić Kaufman, PhD, LLM

Career overview:

 

Jasminka Pecotić Kaufman is a professor of law at the University of Zagreb - Faculty of Economics and Business (Department of Business Law), where she teaches competition law and business law courses. Currently, she is a Fernand Braudel Senior Fellow at the European University Institute (EUI).  

She holds an LLM from the University College London, and a PhD from the University of Zagreb. Her overall research interests relate to the process of transition from a collusive to a competitive paradigm in societies. So far, she has focused on challenges to enforcing competition rules in European post-socialist countries, particularly in the context of Europeanization. Methodologically, her approach is empirical, using qualitative and quantitative research methods, i.e. interviews and collecting enforcement/institutional data. In this vein, she explored the lifecycle of Croatia’s competition system identifying distinct development phases and key challenges, as well as compared the development of Western Balkans competition systems, with the emphasis on the absorption ability. Studying challenges to establishing a stable enforcement tradition, she explored the legacy of authoritarian legal culture, excessive judicial formalism, and the influence of national culture. She also studied trade associations-related collusion, examining if trade associations in the post-socialist context could be seen as providing an institutional focal point for collusion.  Most recently, she focused on comparing institutional capacities of national competition authorities and studying the intensity of cartel enforcement in post-socialist EU Member States. 

Prof. Pecotić Kaufman’s work appeared in the Journal of Antitrust Enforcement, the World Competition Law and Economics Review, the Review of Central and East European Law, and the Yearbook of Antitrust and Regulatory Studies. She co-edited a book on competition law in Western Balkans (Springer 2024) and co-authored a book on competition law in Croatia (Kluwer, 2nd ed, 2022). 

She serves on the Board of the Academic Society for Competition Law (ASCOLA) and co-chairs its Southeast Europe chapter. Prof. Pecotić Kaufman is President of the Croatian Competition Law and Policy Association and the founder of the Šoljan Competition Law and Policy Conference series. She is a Member of the Editorial Board of the Yearbook of Antitrust and Regulatory Studies, a Member of the International Advisory Board of the Institute for Consumer Antitrust Studies, and a Non-Governmental Advisor (NGA) to the International Competition Network. 

She was a Non-Resident Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Consumer Antitrust Studies, Loyola University Chicago and a Jean Monnet Fellow at the European University Institute. 

 

 

Competition law and policy; Europeanization; institutional effectiveness; cartel enforcement; empirical research

 

 

In 2018, Professor Pecotic Kaufman initiated founding of the Croatian Association for Competition Law and Policy (HDPPTN), serving as President from 2020 to 2022 and resuming the role in 2024. This non-governmental organization aims to promote competition culture at the national level and provides a forum for policy discussions between key stakeholders, i.e. competition authority officials, corporate lawyers, practitioners, judges and scholars.

She has been actively involved in organizing and leading the Soljan Competition Law and Policy Conferences as the Founder and President of the Scientific and Organization Board since 2009. The Soljan Conferences offer a platform for discussion about recent developments in EU and national competition law. Its particular focus remains on the countries of Central and Eastern, and South-Eastern Europe.  

Professor Pecotic Kaufman provided her expertise in various legal drafting working groups at national level, including amendments to the Croatian Competition Act in 2020, the Croatian Competition Damages Act in 2017, and the Croatian Competition Act from 2002 to 2003. She also played a significant role in the Croatian Government Working Groups during the negotiations for EU Membership, specifically in Chapter 3 - Competition and Chapter 8 - Establishment and Services, from 2005 to 2011.

As a renowned expert in the field of competition law and policy, Professor Pecotic Kaufman provides legal counseling in the field of competition law, and conducts competition law compliance trainings.

 

 

 

1. J. Pecotić Kaufman, 'Croatia Report' in: Judicial Review of Competition Law Enforcement in the EU Member States and the UK (eds. B. Rodger et al.), Kluwer, 2024, pp. 145-187. 

2. J. Pecotić Kaufman, Judicial Interpretation and Competition Law Enforcement: Authoritarian Legal Culture, Semantic Dissonance and Skewed Agencification in Post-Socialist Croatia, Review of Central and East European Law 48, 3-4 (2023): 275-318.

3. J. Pecotić Kaufman, ‘On the development of (not so) new competition systems—findings from an empirical study on Croatia’ (2022) 10(2) Journal of Antitrust Enforcement 326-364. 

4. J. Pecotić Kaufman, ‘The Damages Directive in Croatia’ in: After the Damages Directive: Policy and Practice in the EU Member States and the United Kingdom (eds. A. Biondi et al.), Kluwer Law International, 2022, pp. 51-73.

5. J. Pecotić Kaufman, V. Butorac Malnar, D. Akšamović, Competition Law in Croatia, 2nd ed, Wolters Kluwer, 2022.

6. J. Pecotić Kaufman, R. Šimić Banović, ‘The Role of (In)formal Governance and Culture in a National Competition System: A Case of a Post-Socialist Economy’ (2021) 44(1) World Competition 81-108. 

7. V. Butorac Malnar, J. Pecotić Kaufman, S. Petrović, D. Akšamović, M. Liszt, Pravo tržišnog natjecanja i državnih potpora (Competition and State Aid Law), 2nd ed, Pravni fakultet Sveučilišta u Zagrebu - University of Zagreb Faculty of Law, 2021.