Fall 2001

Western Regional Science Association Newsletter

Ready, Set, Mark Your Calendars!
Here Comes the Traditional October 15th Paper Submission Deadline…

The hustle and bustle of meeting preparation has already begun at WRSA’s main offices in Tucson, as the October 15th deadline approaches for submitting papers. The Western Regional Science Association’s 41st Annual Meeting will be held February 17 – 20, 2002 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Monterey, California (some of you may remember this site from the 37th Annual Meeting). The conference will begin with registration and an Opening Session and Reception on Sunday, February 17, and will be followed by three full days of sessions on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.

Now is the time to put the finishing touches on a paper in time for submittal by our traditional October 15 deadline. Remember, abstracts are not accepted. Papers on any regional science topic are welcome. Possible papers subjects include resource utilization, impact analysis, regional and urban planning, local public finance, migration and demographic analysis, and transportation. As per longstanding WRSA custom, all offers will be screened by the Program Committee prior to invitations being issued for presentation. Although abstracts are not accepted, papers may be in draft form at the time of the October 15 submittal deadline. Those wishing to organize a special session are encouraged to contact Lay Gibson, Program Chair for the 2002 Meeting, as soon as possible.

This year we will continue our policy of encouraging the electronic submission of papers. We hope to facilitate distribution of papers to discussants and chairs by having most papers centrally available at the Association office in electronic form. Manuscripts in Word, Word Perfect, or PDF format may be e-mailed as attachments to WRSA Assistant, Rachel Franklin. Although electronic submission is the preferred option, we will continue to accept paper copies this year. These may be mailed or expressed, and should include three copies of the paper. For multiple-authored papers, please be sure to indicate which author(s) plan to attend the meeting. Visit the Association’s website for more details.

For information on hotel reservations and travel arrangements, see related articles in this Newsletter or check the WRSA website, http://geog.arizona.edu/wrsa, for complete details. Pictures of the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Monterey, links to their website, and the hotel reservation and conference preregistration forms are now on the site. Continue to watch the WRSA website for full conference information as it is posted in the months ahead.

As always, the upcoming WRSA Annual Meeting is already shaping up to be stimulating, rewarding, and fun. Monterey is a wonderful place to visit in a beautiful part of the world.

Transportation to Monterey

Participants are encouraged to explore the option of flying in to the Monterey airport. It is serviced by a number of airlines and is virtually minutes from the Hyatt. Other options are San Jose (which avoids potential auto traffic delays from other Bay Area airports) and Oakland. San Francisco International (SFO) will likely be the destination of choice for foreign participants, though flying into Los Angeles and taking a scenic flight up the coast to Monterey is also a reasonable itinerary. Monterey is served by most major car rental companies. Having a car will enhance possibilities for taking full advantage of the region’s delights. It is possible to walk from the hotel to the Monterey waterfront and downtown area or to make arrangements with the hotel’s van.

Hotel Reservation Information

The Hyatt Regency Hotel in Monterey is now accepting reservations for WRSA’s 41th Annual Meeting, scheduled for February 17 – 20, 2002. Room reservations can be made by calling 800-233-1234 or 831-372-1234. If phoning in your reservation, be sure to mention that you are coming for the Western Regional Science Association meeting in order to get the conference room rate.

A hotel reservation form is also available on the WRSA website at http://geog.arizona.edu/wrsa. This form can be printed out and faxed to 831-372-4277. Reservations must be made by January 28, 2002. However, we highly recommend making necessary reservations early, as our room block tends to fill quickly.

Wanted: Chairs & Discussants for Monterey

Not going to have a paper completed by October 15, but still interested in attending WRSA’s 41st meeting in Monterey? How about signing on as a Session Chair or paper Discussant? Able and willing individuals are always in high demand for these duties. To offer your services as a Chair or Discussant, simply send an e-mail message to WRSA Assistant, Rachel Franklin (martirac@u.arizona.edu), or Acting Executive Secretary, Lay Gibson (ljgibson@ag.arizona.edu).

News from NARSC

As executive director of the North American Regional Science Council (NARSC), I’d like to share with readers a few initiatives that have been introduced, or that are under consideration, by the Council. First, we seek to improve visibility of the five NARSC member organizations (Canadian, Midcontinent, North East, Southern, Western) at the North American Meetings and within the RSAI structure. One way we are accomplishing this is by asking representatives of each of the five member organizations to share with the NARSC Council (at the annual business meeting) activities taking place at the regional level. Each representative to NARSC has been asked to provide a report on their regional conference, awards that have been given, efforts to promote regional science locally, and other issues they wish to bring to the Council’s attention. I urge you to use this opportunity: express concerns and share successes with your regional representative so that (s)he will bring them to the attention of the broader regional science community. Another way that Council is promoting visibility and interaction is by establishing the NARSC website. John Kort (NARSC Chair and SRSA representative) took the lead on this initiative and with the assistance of others in the Southern section, has developed a well designed and functional website. We seek to make the NARSC website the clearinghouse for information about regional science in North America, and the site is already functioning well in this capacity. It provides access to the NARSC constitution, lists members of the NARSC Council, makes available information concerning the national conference (including hotel and conference registration forms), and provides easy-to-use links to RSAI, European, Pacific, and North American member organization websites. Many of you are probably aware of the NARSC website, but if you’re not, take a few minutes and have a look (http://narsc.org/). And help keep the website current and accurate by forwarding corrections and updates to your regional representative or webmaster.

A second initiative that Council is considering deals with easing participation in the annual North American conference. We are currently investigating converting the submission of abstracts, communication with participants, and conference registration to a digital format. Along with this, Council is considering reorganization of the national conference around a set of “tracks” that reflect specialty areas within regional science. For participants, this will mean that abstracts are submitted to a track (e.g., urban economics or transportation) and a track chair will oversee review of abstracts. Special sessions may still be organized within each track, and roundtables and other symposia will be welcome.

Third, the NARSC Council is stepping up efforts to increase the participation of women in regional science. The Council recognizes the countless contributions that women have made to regional science over the years, and wish to build on this success in the years ahead. One way of reaching this goal is by providing financial support to graduate students and junior faculty who wish to participate in the national North American conference. Maureen Kilkenny (Iowa State) and Adrian Esparza are currently seeking funding to make this possible. Regional organizations can play a pivotal role in these efforts by developing initiatives and programs at the local level.

In conclusion, the NARSC Council looks to the new millennium with enthusiasm and a vision of placing regional science among the top disciplines in North America. We recognize that our past success has been made possible by the participation and efforts of the five NARSC member organizations, and we urge even greater support in the years ahead. Contact me if I can help (axe@email.arizona.edu).

Adrian X. Esparza
NARSC Executive Director

WRSA’s David Plane Receives
International Award

Professor Etsuo Yamamura of Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan and Chair of the Executive Committee of the International Prize of Environmental Creation recently announced that University of Arizona regional scientist and geographer David A. Plane has been awarded the 2002 Prize. The Prize was awarded to recognize Plane’s research on population and migration. The Prize will be awarded later this year (2001) at a ceremony in Washington, DC.

E-Annals Are Coming

Beginning with the 2002 membership year, WRSA memberships will include subscriptions to the electronic version of the ANNALS OF REGIONAL SCIENCE for all persons living outside North America. Members in the U.S. and Canada will continue to be sent hard copies of the journal from the Association’s Tucson office. Rising postal expenses and the desire to keep memberships affordable were among the factors in the Board’s decision on this matter reached during the Palm Springs Annual Meeting. Members receiving e-subscriptions to the journal will be sent a detailed message from Springer-Verlag, the publisher of the ANNALS, describing how to access their subscriptions. North American members whose libraries are institutional subscribers to the ANNALS may also be able to access current and past issues of the journal on the internet from their on-campus computers. If your library does not already subscribe, please contact your serials department and encourage them to add this important journal to their collections.

Announcing the 2002 WRSA Golf Tournament

The WRSA Golf Tournament will be held on Thursday February 21, 2002. We are changing to a scramble format this year so players of all levels can come join us for fun and camaraderie. The tournament will be held at the Del Monte Golf Club located at the conference hotel. This course traces its roots back to 1897 and has been home to the Monterey Bay Golf Club since 1932. WRSA members who have played this course tell us it’s one of the best affordable public access courses in the area.
This year your registration fee for the tournament will include a post conference seminar Wednesday evening after the annual meeting closes. The tournament fee will be $120 per player. If you are interested in playing, drop an email to Terry Clower at tclower@scs.cmm.unt.edu as soon as you can so we can confirm the number of tee times. Tournament fees will need to be sent to Terry by January 15, 2002.

If you have any questions, contact Terry Clower at the Center for Economic Development and Research, University of North Texas, P.O. Box 310469, Denton, Texas 76203, by phone at 940-565-4049, or via e-mail at tclower@scs.cmm.unt.edu.

French Speaking Regional Science Meeting

The 37th Meeting of L’Association de Science Régionale de Langue Française was held in Bordeaux September 3 – 5, 2001. The flawless local arrangements were organized by Claude Lacour and Sylvette Puissant, Université Montesquieu Bordeaux IV with contributions by Denis Maillat, Président de l’A.S.R.D.L.F.

The program was large and strong in intellectual quality. Eighty-nine papers were offered in 29 paper sessions and there were three excellent panel sessions. The first plenary panel was chaired by Nancy Cooper, Consul Géneral des Etats-Unis d’Amérique. This panel explored the similarities and differences in the practice of regional science in Europe and the United States. The seven panelists and two co-amateurs raised a number of critical issues including some which were discussed at the July 2001 meeting of the Pacific Regional Science Conference in Portland, Oregon, where discussions explored the tensions created when those promoting global approaches to regional science institution building run head-first into those with less international agendas.

A second plenary panel was typically French – it was convened in Saint Emilion just prior to the spectacular conference dinner. The theme was “Vineyards and Wine: Globalization vs Local Control.” The final plenary panel featured presentations on the politics of development in peripheral regions.

As usual, the meetings drew scholars from a variety of European countries, including France, Switzerland, Germany, Portugal, The Netherlands, Belgium, Italy and the United Kingdom, and from North America, too. Former WRSA board member Mario Polese brought a delegation from Canada. WRSA was represented by Lay Gibson, Buddy Weinstein, Kingsley Haynes, Roger Stough, and Terry Clower and by European members including Claude Lacour, Denis Maillat, Antoine Bailly, Sylvette Puissant, Jean Paelinck, and Jean Marie Huriot.

The 2002 l’A.S.R.D.L.F. will be held at Trois-Rivières, Québec during the period 21-23 August. For information contact Andre Joyal at: andre-joyal@uqtr.uquebec.ca or at 819-376-5079.

The Annual Meeting of the ACSP will be held November 8 – 11, 2001 at the Sheraton Hotel in Cleveland Ohio. The theme of the conference is “Building Bridges to Sustainable Neighborhoods, Cities and Regions.”

Further information on the meeting can be found at the ACSP’s website, http://www.uwm.edu/Org/acsp/events/call for papers 2001.htm.

48th Annual North American Meetings of the Regional Science Association International, November 15 – 17, 2001, Charleston, South Carolina

The 48th Annual North American Meetings of the RSAI will be held at the Westin Francis Marion Hotel in Charleston, South Carolina, November 15 – 17, 2001. The Meeting will be hosted by the Southern Regional Science Association.

Details on the upcoming meeting, are now available by following the links on the NARSC website, http://www.narsc.org.

41st Annual Meeting of the Western Regional Science Association, February 17 – 20, 2002, Monterey, California

For further details, see lead article, this Newsletter.

41st Annual Meeting of the Southern Regional Science Association, April 11 – 13, 2002, Arlington, Virginia

The 41st Annual Meeting of the Southern Regional Science Association will be held at The Key Bridge Marriott in Arlington, Virginia, April 11 – 13, 2002.

Paper abstracts should be submitted, preferably by e-mail, to Robert Gibbs, 2002 Program Chair, Economic Research Service, USDA, 1800 M Street NW, Room 2061, Washington, DC 20036-5831. He can be reached by telephone at 202-694-5423 or by e-mail at rgibbs@ers.usda.gov. The deadline for abstracts is December 15, 2001.

7th Pacific Regional Science Conference Organization Summer Institute, June 20 – 21, 2002, Bali, Indonesia

The 7th Pacific Regional Science Conference Organization Summer Institute will be held in Bali, Indonesia June 20 – 21, 2002. This will also be the 4th International Conference of the Indonesian Regional Science Association. The theme of the Institute is “Decentralization, Natural Resources, and Regional Development in the Pacific Rim.”

The Institute/Conference will include presentations of selected papers on a number themes, including decentralization and regional finance, regional economy and planning, and population and urbanization.

To submit an abstract, please contact Budy P. Resosudarmo or Bambang Brodjonegoro at the Graduate Program in Economics, Gedung B 2nd Floor, Faculty of Economics, University of Indonesia, Depok 16424 Indonesia. They can also be reach via phone/fax at 62-21-787-5865 or via e-mail at paueui@indosat.net.id and pradnja@indo.net.id.

All abstracts should be in English and should not be longer than 1 page. Please note in your abstract the institution you represent. The deadline for abstracts is January 30, 2002.

Limited financial support is available for individuals from developing countries whose papers are accepted for presentation at the meeting.

Further information about the Institute/Conference is available at http://www.irsa.naraindra.or.id.

42nd Congress of the European Regional Science Association, August 27 – 31, 2002, Dortmund, Germany

The 42nd Congress of the European Regional Science Association will be held at the University of Dortmund, Germany, August 27 – 31, 2002. The Local Organizing Committee welcomes papers on a wide range of regional science topics. Abstracts can be submitted online at www.ersa2002.org. The deadline for abstracts is January 15, 2002.

For further information, contact Franz-Josef Bade or Tanja Mikeleit at the University of Dortmund, Faculty of Spatial Planning, Department of Economics, D-44227 Dortmund, Germany. They can also be reached by telephone at 49-231-755-6440, by fax at 49-231-755-6439, and by e-mail at info@ersa2002.org. The official website for the 2002 Congress is http://www.ersa2002.org.

14th International Conference on Input-Output Techniques, October 10 – 15, 2002, Montreal, Canada

The 14th International Conference on Input-Output Techniques will be held in Montreal, Canada, October 10 – 15, 2002. The goal of the conference is to promote and stimulate the exchange of ideas in the field of input-output analysis as defined in its broadest sense. Authors are invited to submit papers on any aspect of input-output analysis, including theoretical background, policy issues, analytical frameworks, technical focus, units and levels of analysis, and objects of analysis. Papers related to the general theme, “Ecological and Economic Sustainability in the New Economy,” are of particular interest to the organizing committee.

The deadline for paper submissions or parallel sessions is November 1, 2001. Acceptance of papers will be confirmed by February, 2002. The Organizing Committee has limited funds for five travel grants to be given to young scholars coming from non-OECD countries. For more information on the travel grants or on submitting an abstract, contact Erik Dietzenbacher at e.dietzenbacher@eco.rug.nl or Christian de Bresson at christian.debresson@uqam.ca. More information on the conference is also available at the International Input-Output Association’s website, http://www.iioa.at.