Western Economic Association International

Founded in 1922, Western Economic Association International (WEAI) is a non-profit academic society dedicated to the encouragement and dissemination of economic research and analysis. WEAI's principal activities include the publishing of two quarterly journals, Economic Inquiry and Contemporary Economic Policy, and the staging of a large Annual Conference each summer as well as smaller biennial Pacific Rim Conferences. Membership includes approximately 1,800 individuals from around the world, and over 40 academic institutions, business firms, and other organizations that share WEAI's educational objectives.

Purpose

From WEAI's 2009 Bylaws: "The purposes and objectives for which the Western Economic Association International is formed shall be: (a) the encouragement of economic research and discussion; (b) the encouragement of freedom in economic discussion; and (c) the issuance of publications for the purpose of disseminating knowledge on economic subjects. The corporation shall take no partisan attitude, nor will it commit its Members to any position on theoretical or practical economic questions."^[1]

Journals

Economic Inquiry

Published since 1962, (formerly Western Economic Journal), EI is widely regarded as one of the top scholarly journals in its field.^[2][3] Besides containing research on all economics topic areas, a principal objective is to make each article understandable to economists who are not necessarily specialists in the article's topic area. Twenty-one Nobel Laureates are among Economic Inquiry's long list of prestigious authors. EI was one of the first journals to publish humor papers (now called Miscellany) with the still highly downloaded article "Life Among the Econ" by Axel Leijonhufvud,^[4] and recently "The Theory of Interstellar Trade: by Paul Krugman.^[5] In 2007, then editor R. Preston McAfee introduced the innovative No Revisions policy^[6][7] for submitted manuscripts. Published in cooperation with Wiley-Blackwell, EI's worldwide circulation is approximately 4,200. Wesley W. Wilson, University of Oregon, is the current editor.

Contemporary Economic Policy

First published in 1982 as Contemporary Policy Issues, Contemporary Economic Policy publishes scholarly economic research and analysis on issues of vital concern to business, government, and other decision makers. Leading scholars, including four Nobel Laureates, are among CEP's authors. The objectives are to communicate results of high quality economic analysis to policymakers, focus high quality research and analysis on current policy issues of widespread concern, increase knowledge among economists of features of the economy key to understanding the impact of policy, and to advance methods of policy analysis. CEP aims to publish articles that will be widely read and cited, and economic analyses with an impact on policy choices, rather than papers that fill a narrow niche or are of parochial interest. CEP publishes economic analysis of policy issues, methods and results for policy analysis, and surveys. Published in cooperation with Wiley-Blackwell, CEP's worldwide circulation is approximately 3,900. Brad Humphreys, University of Alberta, is the current editor.

Conferences

Annual Conferences

Held each summer between mid-June and mid-July, WEAI Annual Conferences provide the opportunity for more than 1,000 economists from around the world to meet and exchange ideas. An average of 300 concurrent sessions are held with participants presenting individual research papers, serving as discussants for papers, chairing sessions, and also organizing entire sessions on the topics of their choice. Other academic societies with similar objectives to WEAI participate as Allied Societies regularly holding sessions and sometimes their own annual meetings^[8] in conjunction with WEAI conferences. Conference highlights include the Annual WEAI Presidential Address as well as the Association's newest member-sponsored program, the Graduate Student Dissertation Workshop.

Pacific Rim Conferences

Held since 1994 in cities like Hong Kong, Taipei, Bangkok, Sydney, Beijing, Kyoto, Brisbane, and Tokyo, the biennial Pacific Rim Conferences have become a highly successful marketplace of ideas for economists from around the world. Partnerships have been established in the organizing of these conferences with universities and organizations such as Queensland University of Technology School of Business, Ryukoku University, Guanghua School of Management Peking University, Academia Sinica, and Hong Kong Economic Association. A smaller format than the Annual Conference, the Pacific Rim Conference program generally consists of 80 to 100 sessions including 250 to 300 economists serving as paper presenters, discussants, chairs, and session organizers. Keynote speakers include Nobel Laureates such as James Heckman, Ken Arrow, and Robert Engle.

Past, Present, and Future WEAI Presidents

Asterisk (*) indicates recipient of the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel^[9]

Historical Timeline^[10]

• 1922: First meeting held in Portland, organized by Alfred C. Schmidt as the Pacific Association of Collegiate Schools of Business and Departments of Economics. The association was originally formed to gather institutions together to discuss challenges and ideas for improvement in academia.
• 1925: Conference renamed to Pacific Collegiate Economic and Commercial Conference.
• 1928: Organization renamed to Pacific Coast Economic Association.
• 1930: First conference held that included individual research papers, thus beginning the format used today.
• 1933: First bylaws issued establishing individual association memberships.
• 1942-45: Conferences suspended due to WWII.
• 1962: Western Economic Journal first issued.
• 1971: Association name changed to Western Economic Association.
• 1977: WEJ name changed to Economic Inquiry.
• 1982: Contemporary Policy Issues first issued.
• 1994: First Pacific Rim conference held in Hong Kong.
• 1994: CPI name changed to Contemporary Economic Policy.
• 2012: Largest annual conference to date with 350 sessions.

References

1. ↑ WEAI Bylaws, 2009 revision.
2. ↑ Fullbrook, E. (2011), Digital Impact Factors and Rankings of English Economics Journals 2011. Real-World Economics Review Blog. http://www.paecon.net
3. ↑ "Journals Ranked by Impact: Economics". 2011 Journal Citation Reports. Web of Science (Social Sciences ed.). Thomson Reuters. 2012.  |access-date= requires |url= (help)
4. ↑ LEIJONHUFVUD, A. (1973), LIFE AMONG THE ECON. Economic Inquiry, 11: 327–337. doi: 10.1111/j.1465-7295.1973.tb01065.x
5. ↑ KRUGMAN, P. (2010), THE THEORY OF INTERSTELLAR TRADE. Economic Inquiry, 48: 1119–1123. doi: 10.1111/j.1465-7295.2009.00225.x
6. ↑ No Revisions Policy, introduced by R. Preston McAfee
7. ↑ Pitsoulis, A. and Schnellenbach, J. (2012), On property rights and incentives in academic publishing. Research Policy, 41: 1440–1447. doi: 10.1016/j.respol.2012.03.005
8. ↑ NAASE Bylaws, Article IV, Section 3.
9. ↑ http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/economics/laureates/
10. ↑ ALLEN, W. R. (1998), THE PAST LIES BEHIND. Economic Inquiry, 36: 171–173. doi: 10.1111/j.1465-7295.1998.tb01704.x