Minutes of the PRSCO Council Meeting(Approved by the PRSCO Council Meeting in Acapulco, 2 July, 2003)
Held on Friday 15 November 2002
Boardroom 2, Condado Plaza Hotel
San Juan, Puerto Rico
Commencing at 5:45 PM
1. Apologies received, roll-call and confirmation of Section representatives
Apologies received:
B. Brodjonegoro (IRSA), J.H. Choi (KRSA), D. Edgington (CRSA), C. Feng (CRSA-T,represented by S.K. Peng), L. Gibson (WRSA, represented by K. Haynes), P. Gonzarez(friend of PRSCO), J. Guilhoto (friend of PRSCO), R.A. Gutierrez (friend of PRSCO),
H. Kohno (PRSCO friend, former RSAI president), J. Madden (ANZRSAI), Y. Miyata(JSRSAI), J. Serrano (AMECIDER), R. Shearmur (CRSA), K. Tanaka (JSRSAI),
S.O. Park (Immediate Past President, and KRSA), M. Tawada (JSRSAI)
Present:
A. Bailly (RSAI President Elect), P. Batey (PRSCO friend, former RSAI president), K.
Donaghy (Executive Director RSAI), R. Florax (Editor in Chief, RSAI), K.E. Haynes(former RSAI president, representing L. Gibson WRSA), Y. Higano (Executive Secretary,and JSRSAI), G. Horn (invited guest, representing South Africa), P. Nijkamp (PRSCOfriend, former RSAI president), S.K. Peng (representing C.-M. Feng, CRSA-T), D. Plane(Chair, PRSCO President and WRSA), J. Poot (ANZRSAI), J. Quigley (WRSA), B.
Resosudarmo (IRSA), R. Stough (WRSA), R. Wences (representing J. Serrano,AMECIDER)
Confirmation of section representatives, as at 1 July 2002:
AMECIDER: A Corona, J Serrano (Vice-President)
ANZRSA: J. Madden, J PootCRSA: D. Edgington, R. Shearmur
CRSA-T: C.-M. Feng, C. Mai
IRSA: B. Brodjonegoro, B. Resosudarmo
JSRSAI: Y. Higano (Executive Secretary), Y. Miyata, K. Tanaka, M. Tawada
KRSA: J.H. Choi, S. Park (Immediate Past President)
WRSA: L. Gibson, D. Plane (President), J. Quigley, R. Stough2. Minutes of the PRSCO Council Meeting in Bali, 19 June 2002
The minutes were approved as a correct record of the meeting.
3. Report on the 2002 Summer Institute, Bali, Indonesia
B. Resosudarmo gave a brief oral report on the recent PSCRO Summer Institute that washeld June 20-21 at the Melia Bali Hotel in Nusa Dua. The Summer Institute attracted 88
participants in total and 79 papers were presented. It was noted that, in line with PRSCO
policy to encourage participation of students and scholars from developing countries, the1registration fee was waived for 35 participants. In addition, 11 participants received anaccommodation subsidy and 6 participants received a transportation subsidy.
B. Resosudarmo and his Indonesian colleagues were thanked for organizing a very
successful meeting. This sentiment was reinforced with acclamation.
4. Report on the 2002 PRSCO Symposium, Sapporo, Japan
A report prepared by J. Poot had been attached to the agenda for the meeting. J. Pootsummarized this report briefly.
5. Report on preparations for the 18th PRSCO conference in Acapulco, Mexico,
June 30 – July 4, 2003
On behalf of AMECIDER, R. Wences of the University of the State of Guerrero reportedon progress in conference organization. The conference would be held at the HyattRegency Acapulco hotel with very attractive room rates, starting at US $65 (plus tax). A
conference brochure was distributed. The conference would be hosted jointly byAMECIDER and the University of the State of Guerrero. Participant would arrive to awelcome reception on June 30, with paper sessions on July 1 to 4. An excursion would
also be organized.
6. Discussion of possible venues in Chile for the 2004 Summer Institute
Dr Ramon Antonio Gutierrez, who was unable to come to Puerto Rico, would be thelikely organizer of this Summer Institute. He is also involved in organizing the APEC
meeting in Chile in 2004. The dates of the Summer Institute would be decided at the next
PRSCO council meeting in Acapulco.
7. Vote on Confirmation of the Venue and LOC of 19th PRSCO conference
Y. Higano provided information on this forthcoming conference. The conference wouldbe held in the Department of Economics, No. 7 Building, Nihon University in Tokyo.
The dates are tentatively set for Monday 25 July to Thursday 28 July 2005. TheChairperson of the Local Organizing Committee will be Professor Keiichi Tanaka ofNihon University. Y. Higano provided a list of members of the organizing committee.
Sustainability in a broad sense may be the major theme. Sponsorship would be soughtfrom the Science Council of Japan. A formal motion to hold the 19th PRSCO conferencein Tokyo was proposed by J. Quigley, seconded by R. Stough. The motion was carriedunanimously.
8. PRSCO delegate for the RSAI, 2003-2005
This position is currently held by J. Serrano of AMECIDER. It was suggested that J.
Serrano should remain in this position because of he will be the President of PRSCO
during 2004 and 2005. A motion to this effect was proposed by K. Haynes, seconded byY. Higano. The motion was carried unanimously.
9. Progress report on regional science groups in the Pacific Rim areaB. Resosudarmo mentioned that he had spoken to I. Yussof (PRSCO friend fromMalaysia) and Mr Sappuno (PRSCO friend from the Philippines) to see if a future
meeting could be held in either country. K. Haynes noted that it would be important to2

use the network of RSAI contacts in Malaysia to broaden interest in a meeting there. R.
Wences said that the presence of two existing national organization in regional science inSouth America, in Mexico and in Brazil, would be helpful for establishing further RSAI
sections in this part of the world. A meeting in Chile could lead to a new section there,
and possibly also in Argentina. In the ensuing discussion, it was noted that there was a
misconception in organizations such as the World Bank and the Asian Development
Bank that RSAI is just concerned with transportation issues and that this may have
hampered access to international funding. The changing organization and policy of
RSAI was foreshadowed (see also point 11).
10. Papers in Regional Science
The Editor-in-Chief, R. Florax, mentioned that there is an encouraging upward trend in
the number of submitted manuscripts. It was expected that by next year or so, the average
number of manuscripts submitted per year might be about 100. Jessie Poon had been
appointed as North American editor in 2002. He also noted that the impact of the journal
has been increasing in terms of citations. A special issue to commemorate the 50th
Anniversary of the RSAI would be launched at the November 2003 meeting of the RSAIin Philadelphia. R. Florax also noted that a change in the organization of RSAI will havean impact on PiRS. Some membership services are likely to be provided by the publisherof the journal.
J. Poot noted that Pacific manuscripts submissions had been increasing this year,
although the Pacific is still somewhat underrepresented in the total. Language remains anissue in the Pacific and authors from some countries are encouraged to ask nativespeakers of English to edit their paper before submission.
11. RSAI matters
K. Donaghy noted that he would retire as Executive Secretary of RSAI at the end of 2002,
to be replaced by Dr Graham Clark of the University of Leeds. The Secretariat of RSAI
would also shift to the University of Leeds upon the retirement of Beth Carbonneau of
the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. It was likely that the organizational
structure of RSAI would change and that some member services would be outsourced. Atransition committee was formed, chaired by President-Elect A. Bailly. It would reportback at the PRSCO conference in Acapulco. One of the main aims of the reforms would
be to ensure that all 10,000 members or so of regional science organizations around theworld would become part of the RSAI at little cost. It was noted in the discussion that theassociation may also need to cast a wider net in terms of the represented disciplines.
12. Other business
The next Council meeting would be held in Acapulco in the morning of the 4th of July
2003, before the RSAI Council meets in the afternoon of that same day.
D. Plane closed the meeting at 7:00 pm, after which a dinner was held at Italian
Restaurant Il Perugino, 105 Cristo Street in Old San Juan.

3