By Robert J. Gordon, Northwestern University¹
(January, 2004 revision of article published in November, 1997 Econometrica)

Contents

1. Purpose and Activities
2. Brief History
3. Governing Documents of the Society
4. Governing Structure of the Society
5. Procedures for Nomination and Election of Officers, Council, and Fellows
6. Society Business Office
7. Society Web Site
8. The Journal Econometrica
9. Monograph Series
10. Regional Meetings and World Congress

1. Purpose and Activities

The Econometric Society is the most prestigious learned society in the field of economics, with a world-wide membership. Its main object is to promote studies that aim at a unification of the theoretical-quantitative and empirical-quantitative approach to economic problems and that are penetrated by constructive and rigorous thinking similar to that which has come to dominate in the natural sciences. It operates as a purely scientific organization, without any political, social, financial or nationalistic allegiance or bias.

The four main activities of the Society are the publication of a journal, Econometrica; the publication of a monograph series in collaboration with the Cambridge University Press; the organization of scientific meetings in six regions of the world (including a World Congress every five years); and the conduct of elections for Fellow of the Econometric Society, an honorary designation highly valued by members of the economics profession. More details on each of these activities are provided below in separate numbered sections of this document.

The governing body of the Society is the Council, of which a subcommittee called the Executive Committee meets annually and makes decisions on all aspects of the Society's operations and governance. Fellows elect Officers, members of the Council, and new Fellows.

The Society is a self-supporting nonprofit organization and operates on behalf of its members. The Society does not receive grants or aid from any outside organization, although some regions of the Society do raise outside funds for support of their regional meetings. The Society uses its financial surplus to finance travel grants to its quinquennial World Congress and to finance extra activities on behalf of members, such as a Members' Directory.

2. Brief History

The Econometric Society was founded in 1930, at the initiative of the Yale economist Irving Fisher (the Society's first president) and the Norwegian economist Ragnar Frisch, who some forty years later was the first economist (together with Jan Tinbergen) to be awarded the Nobel Prize². The first organizational meeting of the Society was held in Cleveland, Ohio, on December 29, 1930. The first scientific meetings of the Society were held in September, 1931, at the University of Lausanne, Switzerland, and in December, 1931, in Washington D.C.

During the year 1931 173 persons became charter members, including all those who had attended the initial Cleveland and Lausanne meetings. Members initially had to be proposed for election by two existing members, although within another year the concept of membership became less restrictive and was opened up to anyone who wanted to join and pay membership dues, as is true today.

Fellows of the Society were initially nominated and elected by the Council, but since the 1960s have been elected by existing Fellows. Twenty nine Fellows were initially elected in 1933, and there are currently about 550 Fellows.

The journal Econometrica published its first issue in 1933, with Frisch as editor-in-chief, and with a budget that was initially subsidized by the financier Alfred Cowles. Frisch had coined the word "econometrics" only a few years earlier, in 1926. The journal started out publishing four issues of 112 pages per year and did not grow beyond 500 pages per year until the 1950s. Since the 1970s Econometrica has published six issues per year containing roughly 1,600 annual pages.

The business and editorial offices of the Society were initially part of the Cowles Commission, founded by Alfred Cowles in Colorado Springs, Colorado, at the same time as the founding of the Society. Cowles served as Secretary, Treasurer, and circulation manager for many years (until 1948 as Secretary and until 1954 as Treasurer). The Cowles Commission (now the Cowles Foundation) moved to the University of Chicago in 1939 and to Yale University in 1954. Since the mid-1960s the editorial office has resided in the academic offices of the principal editor, while the business office moved from Yale to Northwestern University in 1975.

3. Governing Documents of the Society

General principles of the Society's organization are set out in its Constitution. The Constitution stipulates that the Fellows of the Society represent its highest authority. The Constitution can be amended by a majority vote of the Council and two-thirds affirmative vote of the Fellows.

The Constitution is a short document stating general principles. The detailed rules and procedures of the Society's operation are set out in its Aide Memoire, which is revised annually to incorporate decisions made at the annual meeting of the Executive Committee.

4. Governing Structure of the Society

As stated in the Constitution, the highest authority of the Society resides in its Fellows, who constitute the sole electorate for the election of Officers, members of the Council, and new Fellows. To be eligible to vote, Fellows must maintain their active membership in the Society by paying annual dues. Inactive Fellows are not eligible to vote but are maintained on the list of Fellows, published annually in Econometrica. Roughly 25 percent of the Fellows are currently inactive.

The Society is organized into six regions: North America, Europe and Other Areas, Latin America, Australasia, Far East, and South and Southeast Asia. Members of the Council are elected from each region for a three-year term, and retiring members of the Council are automatically renominated to run for election for one additional three-year term. Ten members of the Council are elected from North America and Europe/Other Areas, while in the other regions one member of the Council is elected for every fifty members or substantial fraction thereof.

The seven Officers of the Society consist of the President, the Past President, the First Vice-President, the Second Vice-President, the Secretary, the Treasurer, and the Editor of Econometrica. All are elected annually by mail ballot of the active Fellows. The Second Vice-President is elected annually from two candidates proposed by the Officers' nominating committee. The Second Vice-President then becomes the single candidate in successive years for First Vice-President, President, and Past President. Also on the annual ballot are single candidates for Secretary, Treasurer, and Editor.

In order to maintain regional diversity in the running of the Society, the two nominees for Second Vice-President may not be from the same region as the previously elected Second Vice-President³. Since the Second Vice-President is the only candidate for First Vice-President and the First Vice-President is the only candidate for President, this prevents the presidency from remaining in a single region for two consecutive years.

Most decisions in the operation and governance of the Society are made by the Executive Committee, which operates as a sub-committee of the Council. The Executive Committee consists of the seven Officers plus three at-large members, elected by the Council for staggered and overlapping three-year terms. Eligible in the annual election for at-large members of the Executive Committee are all members of the Council who are not presently serving as at-large members except those Council members from the region of the newly elected Second Vice-President. For otherwise eligible candidates who have previously served on the Executive Committee as Officers or at-large members, three years off the Executive Committee must elapse before an individual may again appear on the ballot for at-large member of the Executive Committee. Voting members of the Executive Committee consist of the three at-large members and the four Officers other than the Secretary, Treasurer, and Editor. The latter three Officers serve as ex-officio nonvoting members of the Executive Committee.

In keeping with its role as an international society, there are regional standing committees which organize the activities of the Society in the separate regions. The membership of the Standing Committees differs somewhat among regions. The chairperson of the Standing Committees for Europe/Other Areas and North America is the First Vice-President or President from that region. Members of regional Standing Committees also include current and future program chairs and local organizers of meetings from that region, and in some regions members of the Council from that region.

Program chairs and local organizers of the quinquennial World Congress are chosen by the Executive Committee.

The Council meets at World Congresses and otherwise is consulted by mail ballot. The Executive Committee normally meets once a year, with possible use of mail ballots or e-mail correspondence between meetings. At both regional meetings and World Congresses of the Society, there are normally meetings of the Fellows and separate meetings of members of the Society.

5. Procedures for Nomination and Election of Officers, Council, and Fellows

Candidates for Society elections are chosen by three nominating committees, one each for Officers, Council, and Fellows. All members of these nominating committees are selected by the current President, subject to the following rules.

The nominating committee for Officers consists of four former Presidents, one of whom is chairperson, along with the Past President, President, and the two Vice-Presidents. The nominating committee for Council consists of six current members of the Council, none of whom are up for reelection, along with the six Officers excluding the Editor. The Past President serves as chairperson. The nominating committee for Fellows consists of four to six Fellows.

The nominating committee for Officers selects the two candidates to run for Second Vice-President. A preliminary list is rank-ordered by the committee, and each of the two leading candidates is asked whether he or she is willing to run. When asked, neither candidate is informed of the identity of the prospective opponent.

The nominating committee for Council selects sufficient candidates from each region so that, including retiring members of the Council eligible for renomination, there is a total of two candidates for each regional opening on the Council. Council members who have served two consecutive three-year terms are not eligible to appear on the Council ballot again until three years off the Council have elapsed. The nominating committee rank-orders a preliminary list of candidates, and the highest ranked fill the appropriate number of slots on the ballot. The final list of candidates is rank-ordered in a mail ballot of the Fellows.

The nominating committee for Fellows proposes a list of names of candidates for Fellow. The list of names considered includes all candidates proposed by any current Member or Fellow, using the nomination form that is available from this web site or from the Secretary. To be eligible for nomination as a Fellow, a person must have published original contributions to economic theory or to such statistical, mathematical, or accounting analyses as have a definite bearing on problems in economic theory, and must be, or upon election become, a member of the Society. The Nominating Committee for Fellows reserves the right to veto nominees proposed by members or Fellows unless the nomination is supported by the signatures of three Fellows. The nominating committee is urged to propose a final list of no more than 50 candidates. Candidates elected to Fellowship are those with a total number of check marks at least equal to 30 percent of the number of mail ballots submitted by Fellows. Over the past decade about 15 candidates per year have been elected as new Fellows.

All three nominating committees are formed by the President in February each year. The deadline for proposal of candidates for Fellow is April 30. Biographical information on candidates for Council is gathered during the summer, and ballots are mailed to all active Fellows in early September with a deadline of November 15 for return of ballots. Results are mailed to all active Fellows, including newly elected Fellows, in early December.

6. Society Business Office

The Society maintains a business office, currently located at New York University.  From 1975 through 2005, the office has been located at Northwestern University and before that was located at Yale. The business office is managed by a salaried General Manager and the Executive Vice President of the Society. The office coordinates the nomination and election process, counts ballots, manages the central Society financial accounts, prepares the "Announcements" section of Econometrica, coordinates the posting of information to the Society's web site, and initiates new functionality for the web site. The business office also sells advertisements in the journal, rents out the Society's mailing list, handles permissions to reprint from the journal, and arranges for the promotion of membership in the Society. It contracts for various services, including a circulation fulfillment agent which collects membership dues and subscription fees and maintains the Society's mailing list, firms to do typesetting and printing of the journal, a managing editor who prepares copy for the journal and deals with the typesetter and printer, and an agent to maintain and sell the inventory of back issues of the journal.

7. Society Web Site

The Society launched its web site in mid-1997. It can be found at
www.econometricsociety.org

The site resides on the servers of John Wiley & Sons, and the material on the site is prepared and updated by the managing editor of Econometrica. The site contains information on all functions of the Society, including past and future articles in the journal, information and programs for past and future meetings, and links to sites managed by organizers of regional meetings. An important feature of the web site is an electronic directory of members, accessible to anyone and available by password for members to update and augment their own entries. Also, each year more of the papers presented at the World Congress and at regional meetings of the Society are available electronically as pdf files. These papers can be found initially at the web sites of the individual meetings (each linked to the main Society web site); in subsequent years the programs and the subset of papers available electronically are archived at the Society's web site. Also, some regional meeting programs include links to authors' web sites, as does the directory of members, at least for those members who provide that information.

8. The Journal Econometrica

The journal Econometrica, founded in 1933, is known for the rigor and scientific integrity of its refereeing process. It publishes six annual issues and an annual total of about 1,600 pages. Econometrica publishes original articles in all branches of economics--theoretical and empirical, abstract and applied. The journal attracts some of the highest quality work in applied economics by awarding the biennial Frisch medal for the best applied paper published in the journal during the previous five years.

Widely regarded as one of the top journals in the profession, the standing of Econometrica is confirmed by its ranking in a virtual tie for first among "core" economic journals in citations from other "core" journals, and in second place in citations from all journals⁴.

Since its founding, Econometrica has served not just as a vehicle for the publication of the highest quality scientific articles, but also as a medium of communication among the membership of the Society. The journal regularly publishes reports by its Officers, Calls for Papers for future regional meetings and the World Congress, and announcements of interest to members.

The editorial office of the journal is located in the academic offices of the Editor, currently Stephen Morris of Princeton University. There are six co-editors who share with the Editor decisions on the acceptance or rejection of submitted articles. These are currently Daron Acemoglu of MIT; Steven Berry of Yale University; David Levine of Washington University in St. Louis; Whitney Newey of MIT; Larry Samuelson of Yale University; and Harald Uhlig of the University of Chicago. The Editor and Co-editors serve for four-year staggered and overlapping terms and are appointed by the Executive Committee. There are 38 Associate Editors, appointed by the Editor who help with the refereeing process and in advising the Editor and Co-Editors. The Associate Editors, of whom there are typically 36 (although more or fewer may be appointed at the discretion of the Editor), are appointed for three-year staggered and overlapping terms.

All back issues of Econometrica up to five years previous are now available in a searchable format at www.jstor.org for those individuals at an institution that is a member of JSTOR. Password protected access to all recent issues of Econometrica is available to Econometric Society members and access to back issues is available from JSTOR for those Econometric Society members whose institutions are not subscribers to JSTOR.

9. Monograph Series

The Econometric Society monograph series, managed by the Society in collaboration with the Cambridge University Press, has published approximately 30 scholarly monographs since its first volumes were published in 1983. The series includes advanced level texts and monographs dealing with economic theory and econometrics, as well as volumes containing the invited lectures given at the quinquennial World Congresses of the Society. The monograph series will now also be considering shorter and more tightly focused ventures, on the order of 100-150 pages, of new results or surveys on cutting-edge or perennially important topics.  Volumes in the monograph series are sold to members of the Society at a discount of 40 percent.

Volumes for the monograph series are selected on the basis of a rigorous refereeing process. There are two co-editors, currently Matthew O. Jackson of Caltech and Andrew Chesher of University College London. The co-editors are appointed by the Executive Committee and serve for four-year terms.

10. Regional Meetings and World Congress

Currently Econometric Society regional meetings are held semi-annually in North America; annually in Europe, Australasia, and Latin America; and bi-annually in the Far East and South and Southeast Asia regions.

In addition, a World Congress is held every five years, since 1965. Four out of the eight Congresses held since were organized in Europe (Rome, 1965; Cambridge UK, 1970; Aix-en-Provence, 1980; and Barcelona, 1990). The other four were held in Toronto, 1975; Cambridge USA, 1985; Tokyo, Japan, 1995; and Seattle USA, 2000. All three of the most recent Congresses have been attended by at least 1,000 participants, with the record of 1,400 being set by the Barcelona World Congress in 1990. During years of the World Congresses in years ending in "0" and "5" no other regional meetings are held other than the North American winter meeting.

Calls for papers for each regional meeting appear on the web site and in Econometrica at least six months before the deadline for submission of papers. Preliminary and final programs are posted on web sites managed by local organizers, each linked to the Society's main web site. Many regional meetings now provide electronic "pdf" versions of some or all papers, and some also provide links to authors' web sites where these are available.

The North American summer meetings and the European meetings have a reciprocal pair of lectureships. The North American meeting invites a non-North American to give the Walras-Bowley lecture, and the European meeting invites a non-European to give the Fisher-Schultz lecture. The Society also sponsors a Marschak lectureship that rotates among the Latin American, Australasian, and Far Eastern regions.

The European meetings are usually held at the end of August and last four and a half days. In recent years they have been attended by 600 to 800 participants. The European Standing Committee is also responsible for the organization and financing of smaller-scale conferences. An important regular one is the Winter Symposium, which gathers a group of young postdoctoral scholars chosen by an ad hoc committee and representing different groups of countries⁵. There are several differences between the North American meetings and those held in Europe, as described above. The Summer North American meeting is a smaller-scale affair, with typically about 250 participants, most of whom present papers. The meeting is primarily an occasion for younger economists to meet each other and interchange ideas, although in recent years organizers have had considerable success in attracting senior economists to give invited papers and to act as discussants. The Winter North American meeting is held in big-city hotels in conjunction with the annual meeting of the American Economic Association and other member groups in the Allied Social Sciences Associations. The AEA handles all local arrangements, and the Society provides a program, typically consisting of 225 papers chosen from among 600 or more submissions.

Meetings held in other regions have their own individual characteristics. The Latin American meeting is on quite a large scale, and it has been typical for the meetings to raise substantial funding to cover travel expenses of participants. The Latin American meetings are more oriented to applied and policy-related topics than in Europe or North America. In Australasia, the Far East, and India/Southeast Asia, as in Latin America, the Society regional meetings have less competition from meetings of other organizations and play an even more central role in the intellectual life of economists than in the other regions.

11. The Constitution of the Econometric Society

Scope of the Society

The Econometric Society is an international society for the advancement of economic theory in its relation to statistics and mathematics. The Society shall operate as a completely disinterested scientific organization without political, social, financial, or nationalistic bias. Its main object shall be to promote studies that aim at a unification of the theoretical-quantitative and empirical-quantitative approach to economic problems and that are penetrated by constructive and rigorous thinking similar to that which has come to dominate in the natural sciences. Any activity which promises ultimately to further such unification of theoretical and factual studies in economics shall be within the sphere of interest of the Society.

Members

Membership shall be open to anyone seriously interested in the objectives of the Society. The Council shall establish such classes of membership and requirements for each as it considers appropriate for the achievement of Society objectives.

Fellows

All Fellows of the Society shall be nominated by one or more nominating committees appointed by the President, and elected by mail vote of the Fellows. Such nomination may be made at any time. To be eligible for such nomination, a person must have published original contributions to economic theory or to such statistical, mathematical, or accounting analyses as have a definite bearing on problems in economic theory, and must be, or become, a member of the Society. Each year, the members shall be offered an opportunity to suggest nominees for Fellowship. The Fellows represent the highest authority of the Society. The Council shall consult them on any vital question that affects the policy of the Society, obtaining their decision by mail vote.

Officers

The officers of the Society shall consist of a President, one or more Vice-Presidents, a Secretary, and a Treasurer. The latter two offices may be combined. The Council shall determine the number and term of the Vice-Presidents to be elected. The Nominating Committee for Officers is made up of the Past President, the President, the Vice-Presidents, and former Presidents appointed by the President. This committee shall submit to the Fellows the names of one candidate for President, two candidates for Vice-President, one candidate for Secretary, and one candidate for Treasurer, but Fellows may vote for names not on this list. The term of the President is one year and no President or Vice-President may serve more than one term. The President shall act as Chair of the Council. The Treasurer shall present annual financial statements to the Council and shall publish a condensed statement each year in Econometrica.

The Council

Candidates for the Council shall be nominated by one or more nominating committees consisting of the officers and those members of the Council that are appointed by the President. The President, the retiring President, the Vice-Presidents, the Secretary, and the Treasurer shall be ex- officio members of the Council. The ratio of other Council members to the membership and the designation of the geographic areas to be represented shall be determined by the Council. The Council shall be elected by the Fellows. The nominating committee or committees shall submit to the Fellows a list of twice the number of candidates required to fill the vacancies on the Council in each area, but Fellows may vote for names not on the list. All Fellows are eligible to vote for candidates in all areas. The term of the Council members shall be three years, and no member shall serve more than two consecutive terms, except that members elected to a Standing Committee of the Council shall have their term on the Council extended if it would otherwise expire before their term on the Standing Committee. However, such an extension shall not exceed two years.

Activities

Any activities which fall within the sphere of interest of the Society may be authorized by the Council, such as local scientific meetings, international meetings under the auspices of the Council, and the issuance of publications reporting the activities of the Society or containing other matters of econometric interest. In each area, the President shall designate one or more Council members to be responsible for organizing Econometric Society meetings in that area, and for other administrative purposes.

Financial Organization

The dues for regular members and the dues for Fellows shall be fixed by the Council. Such dues shall be moderate in amount. Bequests and gifts may be received.

Amendment of the Constitution

Amendments to the Constitution must be approved by the Council, and, before becoming effective, they must be ratified by a two-thirds majority of those voting in a mail vote taken among all Fellows.

Footnotes

1 Suggestions for changes, additional content, and improvements to this document are welcome and can be sent to Claire Sashi, General Manager by email at sashi@econometricsociety.org . The document posted to the Society's web site will be updated regularly in response to suggestions and comments.

2 Many of the Nobel prize winners have served as Presidents of the Society. These include K. Arrow, G. Debreu, R. Frisch, T. Haavelmo, L. Klein, T. Koopmans, W. Leontief, R. E. Lucas, Jr., J. Mirrlees, F. Modigliani, P. Samuelson, R. Solow, J. Tinbergen, and J. Tobin.

3 The Society's membership has become increasingly more diverse. The share of membership located in North America dropped from 67 percent in 1985 to 51 percent in 2003. The distribution of Fellows is less diverse, in that 68 percent are located in North America.

4 See "The Measurement of Intellectual Influence," by I. Palacios-Huerta and O. Volij, (Econometrica, May, 2004, Table I, p. 972), in which Econometrica ranks first among all journals in per-article impact based on the authors’ "invariant" method.

5 The groups are Italy-Switzerland, Scandinavia, France-Spain-Portugal, Belgium-Netherlands-Luxembourg, Great Britain, Germany-Austria, and Eastern Europe.