Comparative International Business Law (LLB)*/**

The Joseph von Sonnenfels Center for the Economic Analysis of Public Law sees itself as the primary point of contact for those interested in the economic analysis of law from both academia and practice in Austria. Founded in 2003 by Wolfgang Weigel, a former Associate Professor at the University of Vienna, the center is sustained by the Association for the Promotion of Law and Economics ("Verein zur Pflege der Rechtsökonomik"). Since October 2025, it has been hosted by the Department of Law at Webster Vienna Private University.

At the university level, the center supports and promotes the mentoring of students from various disciplines in law and economics on both an individual and collective level. It also advocates for expanded coursework and research projects in the field. For the broader public, the center hosts regular events on current socio-political issues, using a law and economics perspective to foster critical thinking.

The Joseph von Sonnenfels Center addresses problems where legal and economic issues intersect at the national, supranational and international levels. Following the "Law and Economics" tradition, it analyzes economic realities through a legal lens, with a particular focus on how legal norms and regulations shape economic outcomes.

While most comparable institutions abroad focus on civil, criminal or comparative law, the center's substantive focus is on public law, specifically constitutional law, administrative law and regulatory law in general. Despite this primary focus, it also explores various aspects of contract law and contract design, as well as jurisprudence and legal enforcement. Recently, the center has launched a new research focus on regulatory theory.

The Association for the Promotion of Law and Economics ("Verein zur Pflege der Rechtsökonomik") aims to support and disseminate theoretical and practical research in the field. Furthermore, the association serves as a platform for relevant professional discussion on law and economics, with the Joseph von Sonnenfels Center responsible for implementing these objectives.

Advisory Board

• Professor Steven Shavell, Harvard University Law School
• Professor Warren Schwartz (exp), Georgetown University School of Law
• Professor Francesco Parisi, University of Minnesota
• Professor Daniel Rubinfeld, University of California, Berkeley
• Professor Boudewijn Bouckaert, Ghent University
• Professor Hans-Bernd Schäfer, Bucerius Law School Hamburg
• Professor Alfred Endres, Open University of Hagen
• Professor Franz Wirl, University of Vienna
• Professor Clemens Jabloner, University of Vienna
• Attorney Dr. Klaus Kindel, KINDEL & KINDEL Law Firm, Vienna
• Professor Anne van Aaken, University of Hamburg
• Professor Avishalom Tor, University of Notre Dame, Indiana
• Professor Martin Gelter, Fordham University, New York

Board of Directors

• Chair: Associate Professor Dr. Wolfgang Weigel
• Vice Chair: Professor (FH) Dr. Armin Kammel, LLM, MBA
• Secretary: Christina Markowski, LLM, EMLE
• Treasurer: Ines Weigel, MBA

Auditors

• Dr. Sabine Mantler-Pewal
• Dr. Jürgen NoII

The Association for the Promotion of Law and Economics ("Verein zur Pflege der Rechtsökonomik") has three categories of members:

• Ordinary members
• Supporting members
• Sponsors

The membership fee for ordinary members is currently 15 euros per year, and for supporting members 200 euros per year. Individual agreements exist with sponsors.

The Industrial Association (IV) is an honorary member. Should you be interested in becoming a member of the association, please contact us at sonnenfelscenter@webster.ac.at.

The Joseph von Sonnenfels Center is headed by:

Dr. Wolfgang Weigel, Chairman

Wolfgang Weigel is the founder and president of the Joseph von Sonnenfels Center and a retired Associate Professor at the University of Vienna’s Department of Economics. He is a co-founder of the European Association for Law and Economics and currently a member of its advisory board. He also has lectured at Sigmund Freud Private University and the University of Klagenfurt and was a visiting researcher at the Center for Public Choice at George Mason University, Yale Law School and the University of Hamburg. Until 2018, Weigel was a member of the board and local coordinator for the ERASMUS+ European Master of Law and Economics program. His research and publications focus on the economics of public administration, the economic theory of politics and the economic analysis of law.

Prof. (FH) Dr. Armin Kammel, LLM, MBA, Executive Director

Armin Kammel is the executive director of the Joseph von Sonnenfels Center and Professor (FH) of Banking Law and Financial Market Regulation at the Lauder Business School (LBS) Vienna. He is an honorary professor and faculty member at the Department of Law and International Relations at Danube University Krems and a visiting professor at Bar-Ilan University in Ramat Gan, Israel. Kammel also holds adjunct faculty positions at California Lutheran University, the University of Graz and Webster Vienna Private University, and is a court-certified expert in credit, banking and stock exchanges. His research and publications focus on international banking and capital markets law, financial market regulation, international economic law with a focus on contract law, regulatory theory and the economic analysis of law.

The Joseph von Sonnenfels Center is the initiator of the “Vienna Series on Law and Economics” and maintains an electronic “Working Paper Series on Law and Economics.”

Publications on law and economics featuring contributions from the center include:

• Weigel / Kammel (2021), "Law and Economics of Contracts," Facultas Verlag
• Weigel (2008), "Economics of the Law — A Primer," Routledge

Joseph von Sonnenfels Center for the Economic Analysis of Public Law
c/o Webster Vienna Private University
Department of Law
Praterstrasse 23
1020 Vienna AUSTRIA

Email: sonnenfelscenter@webster.ac.at