2017 Conference

2017 Public Choice Society

Click here to view the Conference Program

NEW: Photos from the 2017 Annual Meetings

NEW: REVISED CONFERENCE PROGRAM


CONFERENCE INFORMATION:

1. The plenary sessions for the 2017 conference have now been finalized. Kicking things off on Thursday, pioneering scholar and PCS Past President Charlie Plott of Cal Tech will present on the continuing impact of his seminal 1967 paper on committees, majority rule, and the “Plott Conditions”. On Friday, the plenary session will feature emerging scholarship by David Skarbek of Kings College London on governance without government. Saturday’s plenary will convene a panel discussion about William Riker,the Society’s third president, and the Rochester school, by a distinguished panel of scholars: Keith Poole of the University of Georgia, Ken Shepsle of Harvard University.

and PCS President Georg Vanberg of Duke University.

2. The third annual Vincent and Elinor Ostrom Prize will award $1,000 to the best combined paper & presentation by a graduate students. Please see the Awards Page for eligibility and competition details.

3. Under our Student Fellows Program, we are able to offer a limited number of travel stipends to graduate students. Please see details under the Conference Procedures below.

Please continue reading our initial CFP below, which has further information about the 2017 Annual Meetings. Thank you.

INITIAL CALL for PAPERS:

Dear Friends and Members of The Public Choice Society:

We are pleased to invite paper and session proposals for the 54th Annual Meetings of The Public Choice Society, March 2-4, 2017 at the historic Hotel Monteleone in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Our new president, Professor Georg Vanberg of Duke University, will be organizing the academic program. With over 70 planned concurrent sessions and three plenary sessions, the conference will bring together cutting edge research across all fields of public choice. Onsite registration will open at 1:00 p.m. on Thursday March 2, and the conference will begin at 4:00 p.m. with our opening plenary address followed by opening reception. Sessions run all day Friday and Saturday, and we conclude with a closing reception on Saturday evening.

A common luncheon on Saturday will announce Society awards, including the Duncan Black Prize, the Gordon Tullock Prize, and the third annual Vincent and Elinor Ostrom Prize. A number of organizations will exhibit books and journals, with special discounts available to conference attendees. Finally, the Hotel Monteleone in March is an ideal time of the year to enjoy the French Quarter.

The paper submission deadline is November 1. Online registration opens September 1. Persons interested in organizing a four-paper session are asked to send their proposal to President Georg Vanberg at the Contact Form. Please visit this site for up-to-date information about conference procedures, important dates, conference schedule, hotel & conference registration rates, travel logistics, and more. In the coming months we will announce further details about plenary speakers, booking your room, and applying for graduate student financial assistance.

Thanks to your participation, the 2017 conference is shaping up to be a wonderful event. So come discover new lines of research, catch up with old friends, and have a good time. We especially encourage you to share this with your graduate students, who will benefit from an invigorating atmosphere, rigorous discussion of their papers, and the chance to compete for the Vincent and Elinor Ostrom Prize for best combined paper & presentation.

On behalf of the Executive Committee, we look forward to seeing you in the Crescent City next March, and we thank you for participating in The Public Choice Society.

Sincerely yours,

Georg S. Vanberg
President, 2016-2018

and

Edward J. Lopez
Executive Director and Past President

Important Dates

09/01/2016 Website open for paper proposals and early registration
* Deadline extended by one week to 11/08/2016 at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time Paper Submission Deadline
12/01/2016 Authors informed of status of their proposals
01/06/2017 Preliminary conference program is published online
01/20/2017 Revised conference program is published online
01/29/2017 (this date was previously listed as 01/20/2017) Graduate student deadline to upload paper for Ostrom Prize
02/06/2017 Regular registration deadline
02/07/2017 Late registration begins
02/16/2017 Deadline for authors to upload complete papers
03/02/2017 Conference Begins — Agenda Below

Conference Agenda

Thursday
March 02

1:00 p.m. On Site Conference Registration Opens

4:30 p.m. Opening Plenary Session: “Social Choice Meets Public Choice: The Plott Conditions at 50”

Charles R. Plott, Edward S. Harkness Professor of Economics and Political Science, and Past President (1976-78) of the Public Choice Society

6:00 p.m. Opening Reception — All Registrants Invited

7:30 p.m. Dinner on Own

Friday
March 03

7:00 a.m. Continental Breakfast

8:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. Academic Sessions

10:00 a.m. Plenary Session 2: Emerging Scholar

David Skarbek, Senior Lecturer in Political Economy, Kings College London

“Governance Without Government”

6:00 p.m. Dinner on Own

Saturday
March 04

7:00 a.m. Continental Breakfast

8:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. Academic Sessions

10:00 a.m. Plenary Session 3: The Rochester School

“William Riker, the Rochester School, and Public Choice”

Distinguished Panelists:

Georg S. Vanberg, President PCS (2016-18), Chair, Department of Political Science, Duke University

Keith T. Poole, Philip H. Alston Distinguished Professor, University of Georgia

Kenneth A. Shepsle, George Markham Professor of Government, Harvard University

1:00 p.m. Awards Luncheon

Duncan Black Prize for Best Paper in Public Choice by a Senior Scholar.

Gordon Tullock Prize for Best Paper in Public Choice by a Junior Scholar

Vincent and Elinor Ostrom Prize for Best Combined Paper & Presentation by a Graduate Student

The 1986 Nobel Prize in Retrospect

Robert D. Tollison (1942-2016): In Memoriam

6:00-7:30 p.m. Closing Reception — All Registrants Invited

7:30 p.m. Dinner on Own

Archived Information for the 2017 Conference

Conference Procedures

SUBMIT PROPOSALS: To propose your paper for the conference, please visit the Submit Paper tab here on the PCS website starting September 1. Presenting authors will initially submit just the title and abstract of their papers. The submission deadline is November 1. The conference selection committee will review proposals and notify authors by December 1. If your paper is selected for the program, you are asked to upload the complete draft of your paper no later than February 28. Following Public Choice Society tradition, all presenting authors also serve as Discussant on another paper presented during the same session.

PAPER PRESENTERS: If you are presenting a paper (as opposed to presenting on a panel discussion), please upload a PDF file of your paper no later than February 16. Papers will not be searchable and are viewable only by PCS members while logged into the website. You will have the option of leaving your paper for the conference archives or taking it down at the end of the conference. The Society retains no rights or privileges to work presented or posted here. To upload your paper, simply log in to the site and browse to the My Account section where you will find the paper upload tool.

CHAIR DUTIES: If you are chairing a paper session, please check to see that presenters on your session have uploaded their papers no later than February 16. Session Chairs are also responsible for establishing and enforcing time allocations. With four papers per 90 minute session, chairs should use good judgment to allocate the available time to presenter and discussants while leaving some time for floor discussion. A baseline is 15 minutes per presenter, 5 minutes per discussant, and 10 minutes for floor discussion.

DISCUSSANT DUTIES: In most cases, each presenter is also a discussant on the same session. Please locate the paper you are discussing on the PCS website by February 16. Prepare critical and constructive comments in advance, and aim your remarks so as to promote rigorous yet collegial discussion during the session.

ORGANIZED SESSIONS: If you would like to propose an entire organized session, please contact the Society President who will reply with criteria and instructions. Program space for organized sessions may be limited.

MEETING ROOM SETUP: Each concurrent session will take place in a hotel meeting room, equipped with a podium, screen, and projector for laptop hookup. There is a limited number of WiFi connections available to PCS attendees in the meeting room space.

CONFERENCE REGISTRATION: Conference registration is $200 for students and $250 for non-students if received by the regular regisration deadline (February 6), after which the rates increase by $75. Individuals who present multiple papers are asked to submit $25 per additional paper. To submit your registration payment, or to confirm that you have paid, simply log in to your account and view the information presented in the My Account area.

STUDENT FELLOWS PROGRAM: Subject to funding, we are able to offer a limited number of graduate students with financial assistance to present a paper at the Annual Meetings. Eligibility requires current standing in a recognized graduate degree program and either: 1) submit a paper proposal through the Society website, in accordance with the procedures and deadlines in the online Call for Papers; or 2) be invited to present a paper on an organized session. After the paper submission deadline, the PCS office will contact eligible recipients to request a short letter from their adviser or chair.

CANCELLATION POLICY: If for some regrettable reason you must cancel then your registration payment will be refunded according to the following schedule: full refund if cancellation notice is received by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on January 20; 50% refund if received by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on February 20; no refund if received by 12:00 a.m. on February 21 or later. Use the Contact Form at the top right of the website to email the PCS office with “Registration Cancellation” in the subject line and a brief explanation in the email body.

EXHIBITORS: Publishers and other organizations are invited to exhibit! Please reach us at the Contact link above. We will reply with information about the exhibit space, shipping, and all other details you will need.

Hotel Information


The Hotel Monteleone is located in the French Quarter at 214 Royal Street, New Orleans, LA 70130. Phone: (504) 523-3341.

The PCS Conference rate is $239 per night for single/double occupancy, plus tax. Check in time is 4:00 p.m., checkout at 12:00 noon. Cancellation window is 72 hours.

To book your room, call (504) 523-3341 and please identify yourself as part of the Public Choice Society room block. Alternatively, you can follow this link to book your room online.


Visitor and Transportation Info

Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport (MSY) is serviced by all major airlines. The Hotel Monteleone is a 16-mile ride from the airport. More information will be posted here as the conference date nears.