The International association for the Economics of Participation (IAFEP) is dedicated to exploring the economics of democratic and participatory economic organizations, such as labor-managed firms, cooperatives and with firms with broad-based employee share-ownership, profit-sharing and worker participation schemes, as well as democratic nonprofit, community and social enterprises. The IAFEP Conferences, which take place every two years, provide an international forum for the presentation and debate of current research and scholarship on the economics of participation. For additional information about the IAFEP, see our website: http://ocean.st.usm.edu/~w300388/index.html
The major themes of the 2008 conference will be:
The incidence of democratic economic organizations in industrialized, transition and developing economies
The effects on firm performance (productivity, profitability, investment, employment and compensation) of various forms of financial and decision-making participation
The creation, growth and survival of employee-owned firms
The development and (in)stability of employee share ownership in conventional firms
The evolution of employee ownership in transition economies
Participation and discriminated or marginalised groups
Issues facing expanding and transnational employee-owned firms
As in the past IAFEP conferences, presentations in the following areas are welcome:
Worker participation
Self-management, labor-managed firms
Employee ownership
Co-determination
Cooperatives
Profit sharing and stock options
Employee involvement programs (self-directed teams, quality circles, works councils)
Economic and industrial democracy
Community and social enterprises
Call for papers
Submissions are invited from all relevant fields of study including comparative economic systems, industrial and labor economics, organisational studies, management studies, economic sociology, institutional economics, evolutionary economics, development economics and studies of economies in transition. We also invite proposals for complete sessions.
Abstracts (max. 400 words) in English should be sent by e-mail to iafep08@hamilton.edu or by post to Jeffrey Pliskin, Department of Economics, Hamilton College, Clinton, NY 13323 by May 15, 2008. Abstracts should include full details of institutional affiliations and e-mail and postal addresses. Proposals for complete sessions should include a brief description of the theme of the session and an abstract for each paper.
Horvat-Vanek Prize
The Horvat-Vanek prize is awarded every two years for a research paper of exceptional quality written by a young scholar in one of the areas of interest to IAFEP. The prize, of a value of US $1,000, will be awarded during the conference.
In order to be considered for the prize, researchers and doctoral students aged 35 or under should submit one research paper in English (maximum length 10,000 words) by May 15, 2008 to iafep08@hamilton.edu. Please include your institutional affiliation and an abstract, and indicate clearly on the paper that you wish it to be considered for the Horvat-Vanek prize (the recipient will be requested to provide a passport or other official evidence of their date of birth in order to receive the prize).
Conference Dates
The conference will consist of full day sessions on July 15th and July 16th and a half-day session on July 17th. There will be an informal reception during the evening of July 14th.
Registration and Accommodations
Detailed information on registration (including fees) and local accommodations is available on the conference website: http://www.hamilton.edu/iafep/. Participants will be able to stay in Hamilton College dorm rooms, local bed and breakfast inns, and nearby hotels.
Participants from developing and transition Economies and Students
A small amount of funding is available for participants from developing and transition economies and students. If you require funding to take part in the conference, please send by May 15th, 2008 a letter (along with your abstract) to iafep08@hamilton.edu, explaining what you require.