The Latin American and Caribbean Economic Association (LACEA) is an international association of economists with common research interests in Latin America. It was founded in July 1992, to encourage professional interaction and foster increased dialogue among researchers and practitioners whose work focuses on the economies of Latin America and the Caribbean. Since 1996, its Annual Meetings bring together scholars, practitioners and students to discuss research papers and listen to invited keynote speakers who present the latest academic findings in economic and social development issues. LACEA fosters several thematic research networks, publishes the academic journal Economia, and administers the digital repository LACER-LACEA.
Objectives The objectives of the Latin American and Caribbean Economic Association are:
To encourage research and teaching related to the economies of Latin American and Caribbean countries and to foster dialogue among researchers and practitioners whose work focuses on the economies of the region. As a matter of policy, LACEA welcomes economists of all nationalities, theoretical orientations and policy perspectives. To encourage interaction among scholars, teachers and policy-makers residing and working in Latin America and the Caribbean and professionals residing outside the region. To sponsor programs, meetings, conferences and other opportunities for scholarly exchange among individuals and organizations concerned with the economies of Latin American and Caribbean nations. In this capacity, LACEA can act both independently and as a member of other professional or nonprofit associations.
History
Beginnings The Latin American and Caribbean Economic Association (LACEA), or Asociación de Economía de América Latina y el Caribe, was founded in July 1992 in order to encourage greater professional interaction and foster increased dialogue among researchers and practitioners who focus their work on the economies of Latin America and the Caribbean. The idea of creating such an association of economists was first put into action during the April 1991 Washington, DC meetings of the Latin American Studies Association by Michael Conroy, then a professor of economics at the University of Texas at Austin. At a meeting attended by close to forty participants, a seven-member Organizing Committee, led by Nora Lustig, was appointed. The Organizing Committee quickly obtained enthusiastic support for the idea of creating an association from a dozen leading scholars in the field, including Albert Hirschman, Eliana Cardoso, John Williamson, and Albert Fishlow. This early support was critical to the success of the efforts to create LACEA. Soon after, the Organizing Committee identified the initial Executive Committee, drafted the association’s bylaws, and applied for membership of the Allied Social Science Associations (ASSA), officially launching LACEA. Over one hundred prominent economists from throughout the region were invited and accepted the invitation to be charter members of LACEA. The first Executive Committee was selected and Albert Fishlow, then professor at the University of California, Berkeley was invited to become the first President of LACEA. Nora Lustig, then at the Brookings Institution, was selected as Vice-President, and Darryl McLeod, professor at Fordham University, was invited to become the Treasurer of the association. The other members of the Executive Committee were: Edmar Bacha, Carlos Bazdresch, Guillermo Calvo, Michael Conroy, Vittorio Corbo, Carmen Diana Deere, Sebastian Edwards, Raul Feliz, Daniel Heymann, Ricardo Hausmann, Patricio Meller, and John Welch. On July 1, 1994 the charter members officially approved LACEA's Bylaws and its first Executive Committee. In January, 1993, under Albert Fishlow’s presidency (1993–97) LACEA became a member of the Allied Social Science Associations and soon began to host sessions at the annual meetings of the American Economics Association, the Latin American Studies Association and the Latin Amean Meetings of the Econometric Society. In 1996, LACEA began to host annual international meetings of its own. The first meeting was hosted by ITAM, in Mexico City, and featured 157 papers and over 200 participants. The 1997 meeting was held in Bogotá, Colombia and was co-organized by Fedesarrollo and Universidad de los Andes. At this meeting, close to 250 participants attended and 208 papers were presented. Ever since, the meetings have taken place annually (see the Lacea's Annual Meeting section above), attracting larger numbers of participants and papers. On average since 2010, 560 economists have attended LACEA's meetings, and 280 papers have been presented during the three-day conference. Under Nora Lustig’s presidency (1998–99), LACEA expanded its activities in several directions. In conjunction with the Inter-American Development Bank and the World Bank, it created the Network on Inequality and Poverty in 1998. It also started the Network on Political Economy and a series of seminars on International Economics and Finance, a joint initiative with the Center for International Economics at the University of Maryland. All these activities were carried out in conjunction with academic centers in Latin America and the Caribbean. In 1999, at the Fourth Annual Meetings in Santiago, LACEA announced the launching of a new academic Journal, Economia. Professor Andres Velasco was appointed as Editor of the journal, which was modeled on the Brookings Papers on Economic Activity and Economic Policy. The first issue was released in 2000. Another significant event in 1999 was the awarding of a major grant to LACEA from the Development Grant Facility of the World Bank (later transformed into the Global Development Network), which gave support to the annual meetings, the research networks, and the journal. Since 2000, Professors Fishlow and Lustig have played many influential roles in the Association, most importantly as advisers to the presidents and the Executive Committee, and as goodwill ambassadors of the Association before other international organizations and academic institutions. In recognition of their contributions, the title of President Emeritus was awarded to Professors Fishlow and Lustig at the 2017 Lacea meeting in Buenos Aires (November 9–11).
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