January 2018 Issue 2

President's Column

Relevance, Validity, and Analytical Fiddling
January 2018

In my AAEA presidential address, “Why Should I Believe Your Applied Economics?” (in press, AJAE Feb 2018), I called for research that is both relevant and valid. The toughest question from the audience asked how to handle cases where the researcher distorts results to boost their importance. In short, does analytical fiddling mean that the goals of relevance and validity are at loggerheads?

In a world where citations drive impact and novelty drives citations, the temptation is great for a researcher to fiddle analytically until hitting upon some result that is both novel and statistically significant. Analytical fiddling may take the form of p-hacking in statistical models or of choosing biased parameters in simulation or optimization models. But analytical fiddling also serves essential, benevolent purposes. Here are four follow-up thoughts to that very important question.

Read more>>

AAEA News

Announcing the 2018 AAEA Fellows

AAEA would like to congratulate the 2018 Fellows:

February 8, 2018 Deadlines

• Bruce Gardner Memorial Prize for Applied Policy Analysis Award
• Distinguished Extension/Outreach Program Awards
• Distinguished Teaching Awards
• Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation Award
• Outstanding Master's Thesis Awards
• Publication of Enduring Quality Award
• Quality of Communication Award
• Quality of Research Discovery Award

Other News

Hold the Date Request and Call for Papers:
Pre-Conference Research Workshop on Advances in the Economic Analysis of Food System Drivers and Effects

The 2018 Northeast Agricultural and Resource Economics Association (NAREA) Pre-Conference Workshop, co-sponsored by the Northeast Regional Center for Rural Development, will be held on June 9-10, 2018, just prior to the NAREA conference taking place June 10-12 in Philadelphia. This pre-conference workshop will highlight recent advances in the economic analysis of food systems in the United States as well as globally. We seek papers that address individual impacts and causes as well as papers that examine system-wide interactions within the food system, including production, distribution and consumption linkages. Abstract Deadline is February 16, 2018.
Read more>>

2018 NAREA Annual Meeting & Workshop:
Call for Papers and Symposia

Submission Deadline: February 9, 2018
Annual Meeting: Selected paper sessions, organized sessions, and a poster session allow scholars to share their current research. We also welcome discussion symposia proposals. We welcome submissions in all areas of environmental, natural resource, and agricultural economics.

For information on submission of papers for the Workshop on “Advances in the Economic Analysis of Food System Drivers and Effects,” please refer to the Workshop website: http://www.narea.org/2018/workshop/about.asp.
Read more>>

AJARE Call for Papers:
Special Issue on the Economics of Food Fraud

Food fraud—illegally deceiving consumers and other businesses in the production and marketing of food for economic gain—poses risks to private industry, government regulation programs, and consumers (Spink & Moyer, 2011). Food fraud encompasses a range of actions including food adulteration, tampering, theft (and resale), diversion of products outside of intended markets, and counterfeiting. 
Read more>>

Food and Health Economics Workshop
Call for Papers

The Food and Health Economics Workshop will take place at the Toulouse School of Economics (TSE) June  7 and 8, 2018. The Food and Health Economics Workshop brings together researchers from around the world working in the field of Food and Health Economics.
Read more>>

AARES 2018 Annual Conference
February 6-9, 2018

The 2018 Annual AARES Conference will be held at the Adelaide Convention Centre on North Terrace in Adelaide, South Australia.

The venue is close to public transport and there are numerous hotels within a 2-3 minute walk. The airport is approximately 20 minutes by car. Registrations are open. For information on the rates, workshops available, social functions and to register, head to the Registrations page.
Read more>>

Call for Chapter Proposals
“Selflessness in Business”

Vernon Press invites chapter proposals on Selflessness in Business. The volume will be edited by Dr. Dominika Ochnik, Katowice School of Economics, Poland.

We invite submissions that explore the selflessness in relations with business and psychology of work. Possible contributions may include the following topics (non-comprehensive list, open to suggestions):

1. Selected aspects of business selfless actions at individual, organizational and social level
2. The role of selflessness in open collaboration 
3. Business Ethics: possibilities and limitations
4. Volunteering as a manifestation of selflessness

Read more>>

IMMANA Fellowships
Call for Applications

The Friedman School of Nutrition at Tufts University and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine are pleased to announce the fourth and last round of Post-doctoral Fellowships for emerging leaders in agriculture, nutrition, and health research, funded with UK aid from the UK government through the Department for International Development (DFID) through their program on Innovative Methods and Metrics for Agriculture and Nutrition Actions (IMMANA). For 2018-19, IMMANA will award five 12-month Post-doctoral Fellowships to early career researchers who are using and developing or adapting these new methodological approaches with Mentors in ongoing research programs in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).
Read more>>

Journal of Consumer Affairs & Financial Literacy and Education Commission
Call for Papers

The Journal of Consumer Affairs and the Financial Literacy and Education Commission announce a Special Issue and Symposium on: “Effective Financial Capability Interventions for Economically Vulnerable Individuals and Families”
Read more>>