Professor Manfred M. Fischer, from Vienna University of Economics and Business, received the RSAI Jean Paelinck Award 2015. The Jean Paelinck Award recognizes and honors the truly outstanding scholarly achievement of a senior and internationally recognized regional scientist in the field of Regional Science Methods and it is awarded with the nomination of five RSAI Fellows, with the selection of the Jury and with the approval by the RSAI Council.

Manfred M. Fischer fulfills all the required criteria in an excellent way:

• From the mid-1970s on, Manfred M. Fischer has been actively publishing in regional science and economic geography. From early on his work was internationally oriented (first publication in Regional Science and Urban Economics in 1979) and focusing on methods. His early work was on regional taxonomy, later he contributed to discrete choice modeling, GIS, network analysis, and neural network based methods. Recent work shows a strong interest in spatial econometrics
• Manfred M. Fischer has maintained an active research and publication schedule over 40 years. His CV lists over 100 journal publications, 13 journal special issues, 40 monographs and edited books. Although he is close to retirement, Manfred M. Fischer is still highly active in research and publishes extensively. Although his CV may not reflect the whole year, for 2014 it lists 3 journal publications, 1 book, and 4 book chapters.
• The long list of awards, among them the RSAI Fellow (2006), the EIB-ERSA-Prize (2012), demonstrates Manfred M. Fischer’s international recognition.
• Many of the publications listed in the CV of Manfred M. Fischer are coauthored, about half of them with considerably younger scholars. Many of them have themselves entered a successful academic career. Examples are T. Scherngell, A. Varga, and J. Essletzbichler.
• Despite a strong and maintained focus on regional science in general and regional science methods in particular, Manfred M. Fischer also reached out to other areas in his work. On the one hand, he was among the first European regional scientists who collaborated with Chinese scholars. On the other hand, he also aimed to reach across to other disciplines like computational science, management, data management, etc.
• Manfred Fischer is one of the founding fathers and (co) editor in chief of the prestigious methodology publication Journal of Geographical Systems. He also serves on the board of many other journals in Regional Science and related fields.

The University of Wisconsin-Extension is seeking a tenure-track local government specialist to build an applied research and outreach educational program focusing on the needs of Wisconsin local governments. The position requires a PhD in economics, public finance, public administration or related field. The successful candidate will be expected to build research and teaching relations with faculty and staff on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus (position housed on the Madison campus) and other UW campuses as appropriate.

posted: 4/10/2015 
Refer to: PVL# C15078
REVIEW BEGINS: 5/18/2015
View Complete Position Description

Overview
Continuing fiscal strain is transforming the dynamics of finance at all levels of local government. Applied research and outreach education is needed to better understand the impacts of these changes. Local Government Center faculty and staff provide support to elected and appointed officials, as well as professionals working for Wisconsin counties, cities, villages and towns. This education helps Wisconsin communities and those that serve those communities make the best-informed decisions about the quality of life for all residents.

This position provides leadership, direction, and coordination of University of Wisconsin-Extension applied research and outreach education efforts focused on local finance and budgeting. These efforts include planning and delivery of research-based educational programs, directly and through county, tribal and regional Cooperative Extension faculty and staff, using a variety of traditional and innovative means. This position will also endeavor to meet local needs and interests by effectively collaborating with local government organizations, associations, and other interest groups. This position will maintain a programmatic relationship that is centered in and directed by the Local Government Center and will work collaboratively with other Cooperative Extension program areas, as well as faculty and staff at other University of Wisconsin System campuses.

http://www.uwex.edu/ces/hr/listing.cfm?PVL=C15078

The Department of Geography and Planning at the University of Toledo invites applications for an Assistant Professor (tenure track) position in medical/health geography. Start date is August, 2015 (with option of January 2016). This faculty member will be expected to contribute to the BA Geography, MA Geography and PhD Spatially Integrated Social Sciences programs, and to actively collaborate with colleagues across disciplines. The research specialty and teaching focus will be medical/health geography with special interests in spatial aspects of environmental issues, preferably with a focus on water, including public health, disease and contaminants. Evidence of ability to secure external research grant funding is expected. Experience and ability to teach courses in geographic information sciences, quantitative methods, and medical/health geography topics is required. A Ph.D. in Geography or related field is required; ABD candidates a with defense date before January 1, 2016, are welcome to apply.

The department currently has nine full-time faculty members and approximately 50 undergraduate majors and graduate students. The University of Toledo is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer M/F/D/V. Applications from women and members of underrepresented groups are encouraged. Applications must be submitted athttps://jobs.utoledo.edu and must include a letter of interest, curriculum vitae, graduate transcripts, writing sample, and evidence of teaching effectiveness. Please arrange to have three letters of recommendation submitted directly to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or if necessary, letters may be sent by mail to Dr. Patrick Lawrence, Chair, Department of Geography and Planning, University of Toledo, MS 140, 2801 Bancroft Street, Toledo, Ohio 43606. Review of applications will begin immediately, but the position will remain open until filled. Questions should be addressed to Dr. Patrick Lawrence, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Colleagues

For the past several years, I have provided logistical support for the World Bank's annual Conference on Land and Poverty. The meeting takes place in March and brings together researchers, practitioners, and policymakers - including some very high level people - from around the globe. 

In the wake of this year's meeting, I have suggested that we work to increase level of participation among the scientific community - and made the case that RSAI is the organization best positioned to contribute. Toward that end, I write to ask if you'd be interested in participating in the 2016 meeting - and, especially, if you'd be interested in helping to organize a session/s for the meeting? Ideally, I'd like to add at least five new sessions to the meeting.

A link to this year's conference is here:

http://www.worldbank.org/en/events/2014/08/06/landconference2015

A story about GWU's involvement in the conference - namely, our students - is available here:

http://gwtoday.gwu.edu/foot-door-consulting-world

I plan to meet with Klaus Deiniger, who runs the conference, to further discuss possibilities in early May. At the meeting, I hope to present Klaus with a list of prospective participants from our organization - so please let me know if you are interested. I don't need details at this point, just expressions of interest. The Land and Poverty Conference is a terrific venue for us - because it's a venue where some of our ideas find some policy traction.

Please send expressions of interest to me at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. As usual - apologies for cross-postings.

Cheers,

John I. Carruthers, Ph.D.
Director, Sustainable Urban Planning Program
College of Professional Studies
The George Washington University
240.575.8579

INFER Workshop on

Modelling Economic Resilience to External Shocks

June 1-2, 2015, Business and Economics Department, University of the Azores

Jointly organized by

INFER – International Network for Economic Research

CEEAplA – Centre of Applied Economic Studies of the Atlantic

Workshop Objectives

This workshop provides an opportunity for all those interested in the ECONOMIC MODELLING OF EXTERNAL SHOCKS to discuss their research and to exchange ideas. Researchers are invited to submit both empirical and theoretical papers that are broadly consistent with the workshop’s special topic. 

In particular we welcome papers related to the following topics:

Approaches:

THE BLUE ECONOMY

THE GREEN ECONOMY

ECONOMIC SUSTAINABILITY AND EXTERNAL CHANGES

PUBLIC POLICIES TO ADAPT TO CLIMATE CHANGE

RESILIENCE TO SHOCKS

Instruments:                                                               

CGE MODELS

ECONOMETRIC MODELS                                                        

INPUT/OUTPUT MODELS

The workshop is open to anybody involved in these research areas, including both young and experienced researchers, Ph.D. students, post-doctoral researchers, and professionals from business, government and non-governmental institutions.

Keynote Speakers

We are happy to welcome the following internationally distinguished keynote speakers:

Alfredo Marvão Pereira, The College of William and Mary (Department of Economics)

Júlia Seixas, Universidade Nova de Lisboa (Departamento de Ciências e Engenharia do Ambiente)

Ali Bayar, EcoMod Network (Free University of Brussels)

Scientific Committee

Mário Fortuna (CEEAplA and University of the Azores)

Francisco Silva (CEEAplA and University of the Azores)

Luz Paramío (CEEAplA and University of the Azores)

Alberto Bagnai (University of Pescara)

David Duffy (University of Ulster)

Agnieszka Gehringer (University of Göttingen)

Nikolay Nenovsky (University of Amiens)

Elias Soukiazis (University of Coimbra)

Andreea Stoian (University of Bucharest)

Camelia Turcu (University of Orléans)

Jan Van Hove (University of Leuven)

Organization

The workshop is jointly organized by the

- International Network for Economic Research (INFER)

- Centre of Applied Economic Studies of the Atlantic (CEEAplA)

INFER is a non-profit international scientific organization that stimulates research and research networking in all fields of economics through international workshops and conferences. Website:

www.infer-research.net

The Centre of Applied Economics Studies of the Atlantic (CEEAplA) was created in 2003 and it is evaluated and financed by FCT - Portuguese Science and Technology Foundation. Its mission is to promote theoretical and applied scientific advanced research using its highly skilled human resources engaged in research projects in the areas of business and economics, namely: Labor Economics; Tourism Economics and Development, Regional Economics; Public Sector Economics; Economic History; Management; and Finance.

Submission of Papers

Only full papers may be submitted, preferably in pdf-format. Papers should be submitted to 

Susana Sardinha

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Deadline for paper submission is April 25^th, 2015.

Authors are allowed to submit more than one paper. We will confirm receipt of your submission.

All submitted papers will be peer reviewed according to a high-quality and fast referee process. You will receive an e-mail indicating whether your paper is accepted for presentation during the workshop or not before May 5^th, 2015.

Paper presenters are expected to discuss one other paper during the workshop. The discussant assignments will be made by the workshop organizers at a later date. As the workshop intends to build a network in this research area, participation is welcome even without paper contributions.

Publication of Papers

A selection of papers presented at the workshop may be published in one or more international publications. INFER offers several publication possibilities to workshop participants, including book volumes and journal publications. The workshop organizers will contact you about these publication possibilities later.

Registration and Registration Fee

The registration fee for presenting and non-presenting participants will be:

• INFER members: 60 EUR

 • other participants: 120 EUR

Please note: the annual membership fee for private INFER members is 25 EUR only (institutional INFER members 200 EUR). You are invited to become a member! 

The registration fee includes all lunches and drinks. It doesn’t include travel and accommodation expenses. All workshop participants have to register for the workshop. Please note that paper submission is not regarded as a registration. Registration can be done as follows:

By the INFER website + PayPal

Please register on the INFER website (www.infer-research.net). Payment can be done via PayPal on the website. Note that you can use the same website to become an INFER member.

Deadline for registration and payment: May 15^th, 2015.

In case of late registration, the fees will be increased by 50%.

Further Information

Questions may be directed to the local workshop organizers’ secretariat, Susana Sardinha, (CEEAplA and University of the Azores):

Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Local Organizing Committee:

Mário Fortuna, CEEAplA and University of the Azores (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)

Francisco Silva, CEEAplA and University of the Azores (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)

Luz Paramío, CEEAplA and University of the Azores (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)

Questions about INFER may be directed to the Chair of the INFER Workshop Committee, Camelia Turcu (University of Orléans and INFER):

Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Advanced Training in Economic Analysis and Management: Module 4 – Regional Economics

April 20-24, 2015 – OCP Policy Center, Rabat, Morocco

Lecturer: Prof. Eduardo Haddad – University of Sao Paulo (Brazil)

Course Outline

This course will introduce students to some of the commonly-used tool kits in regional economics that help understanding and interpreting the complexity of the spatial structure of sub-national economies. Emphasis in the course will be given to the analysis of integrated inter-regional systems. I have selected some of the various available techniques, ranging from spatial data analysis and classical Leontief input-output analysis to inter-regional computable general equilibrium modeling, which constitutes nowadays one of the main research frontiers in regional modeling. In addition to presenting the bases of the selected methods, I will discuss applications for different countries (Brazil, Colombia, Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco and Portugal) related to topics of interest for regional policy makers, including regional economic development, domestic and international trade, transportation infrastructure, exploitation of natural resources, climate change, government transfers, tourism and regional interdependence.

Program

Day 1 (April 20) – Spatial Data

9:15–10:30: Measures of Concentration, Specialization, and Localization

10:30-10h50: Coffee break

10:50-12:15: Exploratory Spatial Data Analysis (ESDA) – Geovisualization Tutorial

Lunch

14:00-15:30: Exploratory Spatial Data Analysis (ESDA) – Global Spatial Autocorrelation

15:30-15:50: Coffee Break

15:50-17:15: Exploratory Spatial Data Analysis (ESDA) – Local Spatial Autocorrelation

Day 2 (April 21) – Economic Impact Analysis

9:15–10:30: Economic Base Models

10:30-10h50: Coffee break

10:50-12:15: Input-Output Models Text

Lunch

14:00-15:30: Inter-regional Input-Output Models Text

15:30-15:50: Coffee Break

15:50-17:15: Application: Tourism Multipliers (Azores and Brazil) Paper1 Paper2

Day 3 (April 22) – Economic Impact Analysis

9:15–10:30: CGE Models

10:30-10h50: Coffee break

10:50-12:15: Inter-regional CGE Models Text

Lunch

14:00-15:30: Application: Climate Change (Brazil and Lebanon) Paper1 Paper2Paper3

15:30-15:50: Coffee Break

15:50-17:15: Application: Natural Resources (Brazil and VALE) Paper

Day 4 (April 23) – Trade and Networks

9:15–10:30: Application: Trade Liberalization (Colombia) Paper

10:30-10h50: Coffee break

10:50-12:15: Application: Domestic Integration (Colombia, Egypt and Lebanon)Paper1 Paper2 Paper3

Lunch

14:00-15:30: Application: Port Infrastructure (Brazil) / Unexpected Events (Lebanon) Paper1 Paper2

15:30-15:50: Coffee Break

15:50-17:15: Application: Government Transfers as Regional Policies (Brazil)Paper1 Paper2

Day 5 (April 24) – Mobility, Accessibility and Productivity in Inter-regional Systems

9:15–10:30: Application: Intra-Urban Transportation Infrastructure – Passengers (Sao Paulo Metropolitan Area) Paper

10:30-10h50: Coffee break

10:50-12:15: Application: Inter-regional Transportation Infrastructure – Cargo (Minas Gerais, Brazil) Paper

Lunch

14:30-16:00: Application: Tourism Infrastructure and Mega-Sport Events (Brazil)Paper

16:00-16:15: Coffee Break

16:15-17:30: Application: Network Analysis (Brazil) / Regionalization (Morocco)Paper

All information at: http://www.usp.br/nereus/?p=3812

5th Annual Conference of the Argentine

Regional Science Association
Argentine Regions in the Bicentenary
August 12 -14, 2015, San Miguel de Tucumán
Call for Papers

OVERVIEW
The Argentine Regional Science Association (SAER) invites you to participate in the 5th edition of its Annual Conference to be held in August 12-14, 2015 in San Miguel de Tucumán, organized by Facultad de Ciencias Económicas, Universidad Nacional de Tucumán.

The 5th Annual Conference will cover a wide range of topics on Regional Economics including:
• Regional finances, trade, investments and capital markets
• Regional economic growth and development

Previous Seminars (http://www.saerargentina.com.ar ) have attracted speakers from different countries. We welcome scholars, researchers, students as well as corporation and government executives. We will also host special panels on regional topics. You can either present your research work or just attend. There will be a session of work and/or thesis in progress.

SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE
• Emilio Blanco (BCRA)
• Pedro Elosegui (BCRA & Laboratorio de Ideas, Universidad Maimónides),
• Julio Elías (UCEMA),
• Osvaldo Meloni (Universidad Nacional de Tucumán)
• Gabriel Vilches (UNQ)

SUBMISSION PROCEDURE
Submissions (extended abstracts up to 1,000 words or full papers) should be in English and include title, keywords, JEL classification, author(s)’ full name(s), affiliation, address, email and phone of the (responsible) author. Submissions (in pdf file format only) must be made by email only to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

DEADLINES
Submission of papers or extended abstracts: June 2, 2015
Notification of acceptance: June 23, 2015
Submission of final papers/work in progress: July 29, 2015

The organizers will invite participating authors to be discussants of a paper.

The 9th Annual Conference of the Spatial Econometrics Association will take place in Miami 21-23 May 2015.

The deadline for the abstract submission is quickly approaching on April the 15th 2015.

For all details, please visit the website:
http://www.spatialeconometricsassociation.org/2015/