History of the Meetings of the Allied Social Science Associations Since World War II

The Allied Social Science Associations (ASSA) is a "doing business as" moniker of the American Economic Association. The name refers to an informal group of associations, rather than to an association itself. The American Economic Association (AEA) holds an annual three-day meeting that "unfolds each year like an urban Brigadoon, [its] location forever shifting among convention cities" (Warsh 2006: 3). I The Allied Associations FOR ITS ANNUAL CONVENTION, the AEA organizes about 170 two-hour scholarly sessions organized into nine meeting slots, three per day. AEA invites the participation of about 50 other more specialized scholarly associations that generally emphasize the study of specific areas of interest within economics. These "allied" associations independently organize the content of about 330 additional sessions. The total program constitutes a 400+ page book. A limited number of sessions organized by allied associations are co-sponsored by the AEA. The co-sponsored sessions tend to broaden participation on the AEA Program (Hinshaw and Siegfried 1995: 161). Joint participation by the allied associations in the annual AEA meetings diversifies the intellectual mix available to attendees. Because the AEA has never sanctioned sections or subgroups within the organization, economists with strong specialized interests have often found it attractive to form separate societies with a focus on particular economic issues. Many of these societies are part of ASSA. II The Convention THE AEA Is MANAGERIALLY, financially, and legally responsible for all aspects of the meeting other than the content of the scholarly sessions of the allied associations. The meeting has attracted from 7,000 to 9,000 people annually during the first decade of the 21st century. It is viewed as a "citywide" convention by most locations. It rotates among U.S. cities, without a particular prescribed pattern other than to vary the region in which it is held. The sessions (hotels call them "break-outs') usually are held in the public space of hotels rather than in a convention center. Because this arrangement requires several large hotels (i.e., 1,500 to 2,000 rooms) within easy walking distance, there currently are only about 10 cities likely to host the ASSA meetings: New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Chicago, New Orleans, Denver, San Francisco, and San Diego. Travel mileage is minimized when the meetings are held in Washington, D.C. or Philadelphia. The most travel is incurred when the meetings are in San Francisco or San Diego (Siegfried and Nelson 1979: 985). A few locations other than these 10 are possible, but less likely for various reasons. For example, the meetings were held in Toronto in 1972, but since then customs and immigration complications have raised the cost of crossing an international border for "business purposes" for book exhibitors and members. The meetings were held in Dallas in 1984, but the three largest hotels are not within walking distance there, and a massive shuttle bus configuration is incompatible with a meeting scheduled as tightly as the ASSA convention. The meetings could be held in Las Vegas, but because of weekend gambling crowds there, the convention would have to be held mid-week, exacerbating conflicts with teaching responsibilities. Moreover, periodic surveys indicate that Las Vegas is the least favorite potential convention location among AEA members. III Membership in ASSA THE ASSA Is NOT an incorporated or separately chartered entity. There has been no trace nor mention of a charter or bylaws or any formal agreement among the associations participating in ASSA in the AEA Executive Committee or Annual Business Meeting Minutes since World War II. Moreover, the number and identity of the associations participating in this collective annual scholarly meeting with the AEA has varied considerably over the past 100 years. …