The EEA Standing Committee on Research was created by the Executive Committee and the Council of the EEA at the 2007 EEA meeting. Its founding members were confirmed by the former President of the EEA, Andreu MasColell, on October 8th 2007

Mission

The EEA Standing Committee on Research's (EEA SRC) mission is to help to fulfill the first aim of the European Economic Association: to contribute to the development and application of economics as a science in Europe (EEA Statutes, Art. 3). In particular, it will focus on the organization of economic research in Europe (funding, organizational forms, careers, diffusion, research & economic education, etc.), helping to provide information and a forum of debate on the strengths and weaknesses of economic research in Europe. As a result of this reflection in coordination with the EEA Executive Committee and Council will publicly endorse research policy measures perceived to strengthen economics as science in Europe and establish links with other European scientific societies, as well as with all type of relevant European institutions, participating in the European research policy debate.

Activities 

Invited Sessions 

Although the EEA SRC addresses different aspects of the organization of research in Europe, it focuses its attention on one specific topic every year, organizing a special session, preferably a panel, during the EEA annual congress.

At the first EEA SCR session held in Milan in 2008 the chosen topic was "The Evaluation of Economic Research in Europe" while in Barcelona “Strengthening Economic Research Funding and Graduate Education in Europe” was discussed.  In the 2010 Glasgow Congress, in occasion of the 25th anniversary of the EEA, the topic was “25 Years of Economic Research in Europe”.  In the 2011 Congress held in Oslo, a panel discussed “Research Funding in Times of Crisis“, on looked at how research-funding policies have reacted differently to the financial crisis (from being part of stimulus packages to being an easy-to-cut expenditure), what this may imply for European Research in Economics, and how funding efficiency, and its public perception, can be improved.

2012 Panel Session

The most recent session that was held on August 29 2012 in Malaga was entitled "Building Successful Research Institutions in Europe".  The slides presented are downloadable underneath

Richard Blundell, University College London and IFS

Paul Seabright, Toulouse School of Economics

Maristella Botticini, Università Bocconi, Milano

EEA Survey on Research Funding in Economics in Europe

In 2009, the Committee announced their plan to produce a report underlying some of the strengths and weaknesses of current Research Public Funding programmes, making reference to EC funding and funding in some selected European countries or regions. In order to produce the report it was decided to conduct a web-based survey, which was put together by Ramon Marimon and addressed to members of the European Economic Association (EEA) as well as to the of the top 12.5% RePec listed economists in Europe and the top 25% RePec listed economists from each member country. The objective was that the survey would be of great use to the society in its role of trying to assess the research funding scene in Europe and will enable the EEA to become an effective advocate on behalf of economics research in Europe.
The preliminary results of the Report were presented during the Committee’s session at the 2010 EEA congress and then again during the 5th Max Weber Programme Academic Careers Observatory Conference held at European University Institute during November of the same year. The final Report, completed during the first half of 2011, was presented to members of the Directorate-General for Research and Innovation and other research organizations with presence in Brussels was presented on July 7 2011 at Bruegel, Brussels. The presentation of the report was successful in letting the Committee’s main findings known to research funding organizations – in the July 27 issue of Research Europe, there was an article entitled “Research grants missing ‘flexibility’, say economists”. The Survey has been subsequently extended, by the Academic Careers Observatory of the Max Weber Programme of the EUI, to other social sciences, showing the robustness of most of the conclusions of the EEA report.  To view this report, please click here

EEA SRC Composition

Contact Information

To contact the committee, send an email to the Committee Chair, Professor Marc Ivaldi, through the EEA central office at admin@eeassoc.org