Academics from the Fraser of Allander Institute joined colleagues and friends to celebrate 20 years of Regional Economic Analysis and Research at REAL (Regional Economic Applications Laboratory) at the University of Illinois in November.
The members of the Fraser modelling team - Professor Peter McGregor, Dr Karen Turner and Dr Soo Jung Ha - were pleased to be with other members of the international regional science community to help celebrate the excellence in regional economic analysis at Professor Geoffrey Hewings's REAL centre at Illinois.
The Fraser team presented a paper on their joint work with Professor Hewings to develop a computable general equilibrium (CGE) model of the Chicago economy. This model has been developed to investigate a range of scenarios, including the macroeconomic impacts of fiscal policy decisions in Chicago. However, it is also a first step in developing a multi-region model of the five Midwest states and the rest of the US, the initial use of which will be focussed on investigating environmental questions. This work is part of Dr Karen Turner's ESRC Climate Change Leadership Fellowship project on investigating the pollution content of trade flows between regions.
The team also joined other members of the Regional Science Association: British and Irish Section in presenting Professor Hewings with an award for his continued support of the Section's activities. Professor Hewings and other US colleagues are key supporters of the 2010 RSAIBIS annual conference, which the Strathclyde team are organising in Glasgow in August.
The visit to the US also provided the opportunity to showcase the original research and regional expertise of the FAI. During the visit Dr Karen Turner was asked to present and run a workshop on computable general equilibrium modelling to the REAL team. This workshop was based on one held in the summer of 2009 at West Virginia University. This course attracted an audience who had travelled from various universities to learn about this type of specialist economic modelling and was hosted by West Virginia's Regional Research Institute, Department of Economics and Division of Resource Economics. Computable general equilibrium modelling is one of the regional economic modelling techniques that earn the FAI its prestigious reputation within the regional economic field. The course was met with a very positive response and there is potential for further collaboration with US colleagues at the universities of Illinois and West Virginia.
Presentation slides from the course and information of Dr Turner's ESRC Climate Change Leadership Fellowship project are available at http://www.esrcsocietytoday.ac.uk/esrcinfocentre/viewawardpage.aspx?awardnumber=RES-066-27-0029