RSAI has the great pleasure to announce that the jury consisting of Janice Madden, Carlos Azzoni and Erik Verhoef chose the article "Borrowing size in networks of cities: City size, network connectivity and metropolitan functions in Europe" by Evert J. Meijers, Martijn J. Burger and Marloes M. Hoogerbrugge,  published in Volume 95, Issue 1, Marh 2016, Pages: 181-198 as the winner of the Martin Beckmann Prize as the best paper published in Papers in Regional Science in 2016.

Motivation:

Through an elegant scientific approach, the paper interprets the contrast that exists between the current dynamics in the Western European urban system and the bourgeoning literature stressing the importance of agglomeration for economic growth. 

The papers argues that rise of ‘city network economies’ leads to processes of borrowed size as well as the rise of agglomeration shadows in networks of cities, and finds that network connectivity positively enhances the presence of metropolitan functions, even if local size remains the most significant determinant for most types of functions. 

Based on the originality of the interest in the topic, and the important results achieved, the jury concluded that the paper was the best published one in 2016.

Many congratulations to Evert J. Meijers, Martijn J. Burger and Marloes M. Hoogerbrugge!

Graduate students enrolled in Ph.D. programs in North America are encouraged to apply for the Eighteenth Benjamin H. Stevens Graduate Fellowship in Regional Science, administered by the North American Regional Science Council of the Regional Science Association International (NARSC-RSAI). This Fellowship, in support of dissertation research in Regional Science, is awarded annually in memory of Dr. Benjamin H. Stevens, an intellectual leader whose selfless devotion to graduate students as teacher, advisor, mentor, and friend had a profound impact on the field. Regional Science is a multidisciplinary field concerned with the theory and method of urban and regional phenomena. Regional Scientists apply theoretical and empirical frameworks and methods of the social and other sciences, as well as develop new ones specifically for regional analysis and policy.

Eligible students should have completed all degree requirements except for their dissertation by the time the Fellowship commences. A requirement of the Fellowship is that the recipient has no duties other than dissertation research during the Fellowship, although the recipient may hold other fellowships concurrently. Applications from students working in any area or any Ph.D. program are welcome as long as their dissertation research addresses a research question in Regional Science.

The Fellowship consists of a stipend in the amount of $30,000 (U.S.), paid over a twelve-month period. Applications for the 2018–2019 Fellowship should be sent electronically by the applicant to the Selection Committee Chair, Professor Mario Polèse, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. by the deadline of February 15, 2018.

An application consists of the following materials:

1. A curriculum vita of no more than two (2) pages in length.

2. A statement in ten (10) pages or less explaining the questions and issues to be addressed, the approach to be used, and the product expected from the dissertation research, preceded by a summary (1-page maximum) describing the intellectual merit of the proposed research, and the broader impacts that may result. The 10-page limit is inclusive of references, but exclusive of tables and figures. This text should be in 12-point or larger font, double-spaced, with one-inch margins; references may be single-spaced.

3. Copies of the candidate’s transcripts for all graduate study. Unofficial copies are acceptable.

In addition, the dissertation supervisor shall provide a confidential letter sent separately as an attachment from her/his email account with the student’s name in the subject line to Professor Mario Polèse. In the letter the supervisor should assess the quality and significance of the proposed dissertation research, specify the current state of progress toward the candidate’s degree and provide a commitment by the dissertation supervisor to obtain a tuition waiver for the candidate for the year of the Fellowship. A condition of the Fellowship is the granting of a tuition waiver for the year of the Fellowship by the university, or equivalent payment of the student’s tuition.

Applications should be emailed to Professor Mario Polèse at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Questions may also be sent to him This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. For information about the North American Regional Science Council (NARSC), go to www.narsc.org. For information about the Regional Science Association International (RSAI), go to www.regionalscience.org.

May 13, 2015
Last revised, June 15, 2017

Lindsay E. Relihan, a Ph.D. candidate in applied economics in the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania was selected as the winner of the Seventeenth Annual Benjamin H. Stevens Graduate Fellowship in Regional Science. The Fellowship will provide a 2017–2018 Academic Year stipend of $30,000 to support Ms. Relihan in her dissertation research entitled, ‘Is Amazon Killing Starbucks? How Online Retail Affects Local Economies.’

The research will investigate how the purchase of a product online may shift the entire set of goods purchased by a consumer, impacting both retailers who directly compete with online platforms and retailers that benefit from consumer interaction with online establishments. She will use a new dataset containing the purchases of millions of anonymized households to make a more detailed study of the effects of online retail on offline economies than has yet been possible. These results will impact any entity affected by the rise of online retail, including policy makers and urban planners who need to prepare for structural changes in local economies and firms whose success depends on their ability to compete in a world with online retail.The research is supervised by Professor Gilles Duranton, Chair of the Real Estate Department at the University of Pennsylvania.

Chair of the Selection Committee, Professor Elena Irwin of The Ohio State University, summarizes the reasons Ms. Relihan’s proposal stood out among an extremely strong field of entries for the 2017-18 competition:

“Lindsay’s proposal topic is central to local economies and regional economics: the effects of on-line retail on offline bricks-and-mortar stores. Lindsay’s question is novel and important: she focuses not on direct competition between on and offline shopping, a well-studied topic, but rather asks what are the effects of online shopping on services that are complementary to offline shopping, e.g., going to a restaurant.

The most impressive aspects of this work are the data and empirical approach: to identify the patterns of complementarities and substitution between on and offline shopping, one needs highly detailed data. Through her confidential access to such data through a major financial institution, Lindsay has assembled daily data at an individual consumer level on different card purchases, representing millions of observations on hundreds of transactions by each individual.

Another very impressive aspect of the proposed work is her careful attention to establishing causality. She proposes to make use of the expansion of multiple online grocery platforms (including those like Amazon Fresh, Peapod, Fresh Direct, etc.), and takes the short-term location decisions of offline retailers (as with coffee shops like Starbucks) as fixed to identify how online product availability and store accessibility alter individuals’ shopping patterns. Her approach underscores the central role of space in studying these retail consumption patterns.

This work will contribute a new understanding of the substitution and complementarities between on and offline retailing. In addition to being an important and novel scholarly contribution, the research is expected to generate new insights that will be of keen interest to local and state policy makers and development professionals.”

 The Fellowship is awarded in memory of Dr. Benjamin H. Stevens, an intellectual leader whose selfless devotion to graduate students as teacher, advisor, mentor, and friend continues to have a profound impact on the field of regional science. Fundraising efforts to increase the Fellowship’s endowment are ongoing. Donations should be sent to: The Stevens Fellowship Fund, First Financial Bank, 1205 S. Neil Street, Champaign, IL 61820 USA. Checks should be drawn to The Stevens Fellowship Fund. Donations may also be made by credit card through the NARSC website at www.narsc.org/newsite/donations2.php.

This most recent Stevens Fellowship competition was judged by a Selection Committee composed of: Laurie Schintler, Public Policy, George Mason University; Elena Irwin, Agricultural, Environmental, and Development Economics, The Ohio State University, Chair; Mario Polèse, Urban and Regional Economics, Université du Québec; Amanda Weinstein, Economics, The University of Akron; and Elizabeth Mack, Geography, Michigan State University. The Stevens Fellowship Committee administrates the Stevens Fellowship Fund on behalf of the North American Regional Science Council; its members are: Tony Smith, Chair; David Plane, Secretary; Michael Lahr, Treasurer; Janet Kohlhase; and Neil Reid, Executive Director of NARSC.

The Committee thanks the 29 students who entered the competition in 2017, as well as their dissertation supervisors. Faculty at all North American Ph.D. programs related to the interdisciplinary field of Regional Science are urged to encourage their best students to apply for the Eighteenth Annual Stevens Graduate Regional Science Fellowship. The winning student’s dissertation research in the field of Regional Science will be supported during the 2018–2019 year with a one-year stipend of $30,000. The application deadline is February 15, 2018. Full submission guidelines will be posted at www.narsc.org/newsite/awards-prizes/stevens-graduate-fellowship/.

June 2017

NARSC Graduate Student Paper CompetitionThe North American Regional Science Council (NARSC) Graduate Student Paper Award contest is held annually in conjunction with the North American Meetings of the Regional Science Association International (RSAI). This contest encourages the participation of young scholars by providing a forum for paper presentation and discussion by senior scholars in the field of regional science. Beginning in 2010, two separate competitions have been held for graduate student papers:

1)    Graduate-Student-Author Paper Competition:Eligibility for the award is limited to current Masters and PhD students, and/or recent graduates who completed their degrees after August 1, 2016.Co-authored papers are acceptable; however, all authors listed on a paper must meet the eligibility criteria above.

2)    Graduate-Student-Led Paper Competition:Eligibility for the award requires that the paper’s “primary author” be a current Masters or PhD student, or a recent graduate who completed his/her degree after August 1st, 2016

Papers with senior co-authors are acceptable; however, most of the substantive work and contribution of the paper must be directly attributable to an author who meets the eligibility criteria above.

The 2017 contest will be held in conjunction with the annual North American Meetings of the Regional Science Association International, to be held in Vancouver, BC.

Acceptance of the paper requires the following:

1. Individuals should submit a digital copy of their paper formatted using the Papers in Regional Science guidelines
2. A cover letter from their academic advisor confirming the author(s) meet the eligibility for the competition selected.

For the Graduate-Student-Author Paper Competition, the cover letter should state that the graduate students meet the eligibility criteria. In addition, the advisor should address that he/she will not be included in the authorship should the paper be published.

For theGraduate-Student-Led Paper Competition, the cover letter should state the approximate percentages of the substantive work (ideas, methods, and applications) and contribution that are directly attributable to the primary author (a student or recent graduate). In addition,the cover letter should state that the graduate students meet the eligibility criteria; andthe advisor should agree to have the student(s) remain as the first author(s) should the paper be published.

1. The paper must be presented at the conference by one of the student authors. Abstracts are due on July 1, 2016. The relevant box should be ticked on the abstract submission page indicating the paper is submitted as part of the student paper competition.
2. The full paper and accompanying academic advisor’s cover letter are due on August 1, 2017. Both, full paper and advisor’s cover letter, should be submitted in electronic format to:

 John Miron from the University of Toronto (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)

If you have any further questions about the NARSC Graduate Student Paper Award contests, please contact the proper individual listed above according to the type of paper being submitted.

CALL FOR PAPERS - LLAMADA DE TRABAJOS
1st Congress of LARSA – Latin American and Caribbean Regional Science Association
University of São Paulo, Brazil, October 11-13 , 2017.
1er Congreso de LARSA – Asociación Latino Americana y Caribeña de Ciencia Regional
Universidade de São Paulo, Brasil, 11-13 de octubre, 2017
For information, please visit (Para informaciones, visite) http://aber-eventos.com.br/

DEAR FRIENDS,

It is a great honour to invite you to the 8TH EUROPEAN COMMISSION'S ANNUAL EVENT -  WEEK OF INNOVATIVE REGIONS (WIRE) conference supported by the European Commission DG Research & Innovation, Spreading Excellence and Widening Participation Programme hosted by Technical university of Košice:

WIRE' 2017 'SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE, CREATIVE AND TRUSTED REGIONAL INNOVATION IN THE DIGITAL ERA',

The event will be held in Košice, Slovakia on June 28th - 30th.

The conference will be accompanied by several side events (field visits, city walks) and open space presentations, networking and workshops (Creativity of rising generation - presentation and visualization of digital creativity, start-ups by Slovak and creatives, Posters/billboards about visionary approaches with interactive presentations, planned Hackaton on Digital Social Innovation and other).

The ambition of the WIRE VIII conference is to enable a deeper understanding of the role and the needs of research and innovation focused on DIGITISATION FOR achieving a GREATER SOCIETAL IMPACT and the digital responsible future for urban and rural development and related societal challenges, e.g. poverty and income inequalities, social inclusion, regional/local growth, data economy, be closer to the people and other. We also believe that the timing of the conference is very relevant since the discussion about the next EU research and innovation programming period has started and we have to take the opportunity to help and support building of our responsible digital future.

Relevant information and additional details about the event, venue, travel, programme/focus are published on the conference website www.wire2017.eu [1].

TOPICS:

We hope that our invitation has raised your attention and we encourage you to register for WIRE 2017 conference on its official web page as the number of its participants is due to venue space limited to 250. The participation is free of charge.

We look forward to meet you at the conference and discuss our responsible digital future for our regions and people.

Thank you in advance!

Kind regards

Organisation committee

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