Name of event: 29th International Input-Output Conference
Participation in the conference was very high: over four days, 288 IIOA members from 36 countries presented 252 papers. Along with plenary sessions, there were specialized parallel sessions, normally with six sessions running simultaneously. This arrangement maximized the number of possible presentations, yet it was often very difficult to decide which sessions to attend. Many of the presentations were on environmental topics, which is a rapidly growing focus of research in input-output (IO) analysis. In addition, there were several presentations (such as mine), which addressed methodological issues. The quality of the presentations was typically very high, although there were some that were good in terms of content but poor in terms of delivery. Often this was a result of a lack of fluency in English, along with too much detail on slides.
My research is concerned with the use of non-survey methods in constructing regional IO models. Such models are a very useful aid to regional analysis. However, there is a paucity of suitable regional data to build regional models. One relatively straightforward and inexpensive way round this problem is to adapt the national IO table by using readily available national and regional employment or output data by sector, along with some form of location quotient (LQ) such as the FLQ (Flegg’s LQ). The FLQ was first proposed in a seminal paper in Regional Studies in 1995. I presented the latest refinement of this technique. This was tested by using the survey-based national and regional data sets constructed by the Bank of Korea for 2005 and 2015. Normally, such survey-based regional data are unavailable. South Korea is a rare exception and the Bank’s data sets offer an opportunity to test alternative methods.
This conference was unique in that it didn’t take place in a conference centre or hotel but instead in several buildings scattered around the charming old city of Alghero. This was a refreshing change from other conferences I’ve attended but it did mean that I often tended to get lost! Also, the multiplicity of conference locations meant that it was impractical to display RSA materials. However, at the outset of my presentation, I mentioned the RSA’s award of a generous travel grant to attend this conference. I also mentioned the RSA’s annual conferences and its work in publishing journals such as Regional Studies and Spatial Economic Analysis. My grant is acknowledged on the first page of my conference paper (see separate email).
My conference paper was co-authored by scholars from the Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Spain, the University of Jyväskylä, Finland, and the Escuela Politécnica Nacional, Ecuador. We have submitted it for publication in the Annals of Regional Science. If accepted, I will add an acknowledgement to the RSA.
The conference offered many networking opportunities, along with the chance to gain critical feedback from an expert audience. The session I chaired was well attended and there was some lively debate.
For me, the highlights of the social programme were a performance of Italian operatic works in the old theatre and the conference dinner in a rural restaurant, which gave me a chance to try typical Sardinian delicacies. Overall, this conference was an enjoyable and useful experience.