Prof. Jan Oosterhaven elected president of International Input-Output Association

Professor of General Economics Jan Oosterhaven has been elected president of the International Input Output Association (IIOA) for a three-year term. This international professional association of researchers and statisticians focuses on theoretical and empirical research into transactions between companies, households and governments. Oosterhaven has been vice-president of the IIOA for the past six years.

‘The IIOA has a world-wide membership of about 400 scientists and professionals’, says Oosterhaven. ‘Input-output analyses can therefore be found in all kinds of fields, such as international trade, supply and outsourcing, but also in energy and environmental issues: input of raw material results in output in the form of air pollution and waste. Comparative research, for example between the environmental impact of road transport versus railway transport, should focus on direct as well as indirect effects of production, because although trains may not cause much direct pollution, a train’s life cycle and the maintenance needed on the railway are very damaging to the environment. Input-output analyses can provide, model and support these insights.’

The IIOA was founded in 1988, growing out of a number of congresses about development issues. Its objective is the advancement of knowledge in the field of input-output analysis, including improvements in basic data, theoretical insights and modelling, and applications, both traditional and novel, of input-output techniques. The next congress will be held in Istanbul in July 2007.

‘Groningen is an important knowledge centre within IIOA’, says the professor. ‘Our researchers are Dirk Stelder, Bart Los and Marcel Timmer, and we also have several PhD students. In addition, my colleague Erik Dietzenbacher is the editor of our journal Economic Systems Research , which is published four times a year.’