1.0: Purpose and Scope
1.1: The name of the organization shall be the Society of Computational
Economics.
1.2: The purpose of the Society shall be to promote computational
methods in economics and finance. This shall include the usage
of computers for the enhancement of research in economics,
finance, game theory, regional science, urban economics,
agricultural and resource economics, and related work in
operations research, numerical analysis, statistics, computer
science, and mathematics. The Society will encourage work on
developing numerical methods in model solution and econometric
computation, applying artificial intelligence and simulation
methods in modelling economic behavior, developing techniques
to exploit large scale and distributed-computing environments,
developing programming and modelling languages, and creating
software libraries and economic databases.
1.3: To pursue these objectives, the Society will sponsor an annual
scientific conference, generally to be held in the summer months.
The conference shall be structured, to the degree practicable, to
include the research interests of all members of the Society and
to encourage their participation. The site of the conference
shall alternate, to the degree practicable, between Eastern
and Western Hemisphere locations to promote international
participation.
1.4: The Society will not lobby or take positions on any partisan issue.
It shall be organized as a not-for-profit scientific organization under
the laws of the United States of America.
1.5: The term for which the Society is organized shall be perpetual.
2.0: Officers
2.1: The officers of the Society shall consist of a President and
a Secretary-Treasurer.
2.2: The President shall serve as the chief executive of the Society,
responsible for planning and supervising the Society's activities and
selecting the site for the annual conference.
2.3: The President shall be elected by a
ballot of the membership for a term of two calendar years. The
President may be reelected for any number of nonconsecutive terms.
2.4: The President shall appoint the Secretary-Treasurer, who will be
responsible to keep membership information, collect membership fees,
make records of official meetings, and correspond with the membership.
2.5: The President shall appoint the Program Chairperson for the conference.
The Program Chairperson and the President together shall choose the
remaining members of the Program Committee.
3.0: Advisory Council
3.1: There shall be an Advisory Council of fourteen members. The members
shall be the President, the Secretary-Treasurer, the Editor of the
Journal of Computational Economics, an editor of the JEDC chosen by
the JEDC Editors, six elected members, the immediate past president,
and three members appointed by the President. Any past president may
attend an Advisory Council meeting in an advisory role. The
President's appointments are to be used to assure a Council
representative of the diverse research interests of the Society's
membership. The terms of all elected and appointed members shall be
three years with no limit on reelection or reappointment. These terms
shall all be staggered. The Council's primary role shall be to
represent the diverse fields of interest and activity within the
Society, and to advise the Society's officers and membership on
issues relating to the annual conference, on the Society's relations
with other scientific organizations, governmental bodies, and
commercial enterprises, and any other issue related to the purpose of
the Society, and any other activity of the Society.
3.2: The Council shall assist in preparing a slate of nominees for the
Presidency and for the seats on the Council. All must be members of
the Society.
3.3: If the office of the President shall become vacant, the Council shall
appoint a successor to serve the remainder of the term.
3.4: The six elected members of the Council shall serve for three-year,
staggered terms. If a seat on the Council becomes vacant, a
replacement to serve for the remainder of the term shall be elected
at the next regular election. Until that time, the President shall
appoint a member.
3.5: The three appointed members of the Council shall serve for three-year,
staggered terms. Vacancies will be filled by Presidential appointment.
4.0: Membership
4.1: Any individual with an interest in the Society's purpose and scope may
apply to the Secretary-Treasurer to become a member for the
calendar year and shall be duly enrolled on payment of annual dues.
4.2: There shall be one class of membership. Membership dues shall be set
by the President, with Advisory Council approval, at the minimum level
required to support the Society's activities.
5.0: Elections
5.1: All regular elections, by ballot of the membership of record of
September 30, shall be conducted in December of each year by the
Secretary-Treasurer. Two members of the Council shall be elected
at-large each year, plus any elections to fill vacant seats (or
seats filled by a temporary appointment as in Section 3.4). The
President shall be elected every other year. Short biographical
sketches on the candidates shall be provided along with the ballots.
5.2: Any member may nominate him- or herself for a seat on the Council by
application to the Secretary-Treasurer on or before the date specified
for the close of nominations. Any member may place his or her name
in nomination for the Presidency when he or she has the expressed
support of ten per cent of the membership. Membership lists shall
be made available for such purposes at cost.
5.3: Each member shall have one vote, and a simple plurality of ballots
received shall be sufficient for election. In the case of a tie vote,
the current Council shall vote to break the tie.
6.0: Business Meetings
6.1: The President may call, when he deems it necessary, a business meeting
as part of the annual conference to consider whatever business shall
come before the membership. The President, or in his or her absence
the Secretary-Treasurer, or a member of the Advisory Council appointed
by the President (in that order), shall preside over the meeting.
7.0: Provision for Amendment
Proposed amendments to the by-laws may be submitted by (1) any
member, as long as the proposal includes signatures from 20% of
the Society's membership or 30 members, whichever is less or (2)
any Council member. Proposed amendments meeting these requirements
will be voted upon by the membership. A two-thirds majority of
votes received is required for amendment.
8.0: Implementation of the By-Laws
These by-laws will go into effect November 1, 1995, at which date
officer elections will take place among the membership.