What a Surprise! It’s the traditional extension of the paper submission deadline for our annual meeting in Santa Fe, New Mexico, February 11-14, 2026.
We will accept submissions until the end of November. This year’s FINAL deadline will be November 30. Be sure to get your paper submitted before then!

Remember that the hard deadline for the Graduate Students’ Paper Competition for the Tiebout Prize will be extended to October 31 (not November 30). If you are applying for the Tiebout Paper Competition, submit your full paper by  October 31.

Ready to submit? There’s no reason to wait until the last minute. Simply visit the WRSA website and use the Login/Register link on the left to upload your paper and register for the meeting.

I also encourage you to make your travel arrangements early. We will be meeting at the Eldorado Hotel & Spa, a luxury Santa Fe hotel that blends Southwestern design with rich New Mexican culture. Our negotiated daily room rate is $199 plus applicable taxes plus a reduced resort fee of $15 (from a regular resort fee of $35). See the “Hotel Information” link on the WRSA website. The hotel has agreed to honor our special room rate three days before and three days following our meetings (Feb 8th through Feb 17th), based on availability.

Please note: after January 9, 2026, or as soon as our block fills, the hotel will no longer honor our special room rate! Be sure to book early!

I’m also looking for several students to assist with meeting registration in Santa Fe, New Mexico. In exchange for 12-16 hours of volunteering at the registration desk, students will receive a complete rebate of their preregistration fees (worth $180, to be processed as a refund following the meeting). Contact me via email (wrsa@unlv.edu) if you’re interested.

If you reside outside of the United States and would like to attend the 2026 Western Regional Science Association Annual Meeting, you may be subject to Visa regulations. You can find all current entry regulations and policies here.

Important Notice: The U.S Department of State is currently experiencing long delays in the visa application process and appointments for visa interviews. Wait times vary by country and city; however, estimates can be found here. Travel for the purpose of attending conferences in the United States is usually deemed not qualified for expedited Visa appointments. We urge you to begin your Visa application process as soon as possible. Please note that neither the conference’s organizing committee nor the Metrans Transportation Consortium can assist participants with obtaining earlier appointments for Visa interviews. 

 If you qualify for the Visa Waiver Program, you generally will not need a visa for visits related to business and tourism of less than 90 days. Exceptions apply to those receiving compensation for services and activities such as lectures or presentations etc. If you qualify for the Visa Waiver Program, you must still obtain a travel authorization from the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) prior to your departure.

Letter of Invitation

If you need a Letter of Invitation, please click the button below and provide the required information to us. You will receive your letter within 24 to 48 hours of submitting your request. We recommend you submit a request for a Letter of Invitation as soon as possible, as you may present it during your Visa interview and other travel-related activities.

CLICK HERE TO REQUEST LETTER OF INVITATION

For any questions, please contact the Executive Director, Dr. Jaewon Lim, at wrsa@unlv.edu.

For our 65th meeting in 2026, we’re heading back to Satna Fe, NM (the third meeting since our first one in 2006). 

Our 2026 meeting will be held at the Eldorado Hotel & Spa in Santa Fe, NM, February 11-14. The meeting will officially start on Wednesday, February 11, with our traditional opening plenary session and welcoming reception. Three full days of sessions follow on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday (Feb 12-14).

Only full papers (draft format acceptable) will be accepted for this conference. All submissions will be reviewed and will be assigned to a discussant on the program.

Paper Submission: Papers should be uploaded to the WRSA website by October 15, 2025, although, as in past years, the “deadline” will be extended until mid-November. Remember that program invitations are only issued based on full papers, not abstracts or outlines. Draft papers are sufficient for the October deadline, so long as we have a complete version in hand by mid-January (Jan 15th) 2026.

All presenters are expected to discuss a paper and/or chair a session.

Conference Travel Grant: Thanks to the generous gifts from Prof. Gordon Mulligan, Prof. Arthur Getis, and many other WRSA members, WRSA will provide a Travel Grant for Graduate Students and Early-career Scholars (who earned a Ph.D. after 2020). The Travel Grant will cover the partial Hotel Accommodation at the conference hotel. All awardees must stay at our conference hotel, the Eldorado Hotel & Spa. The WRSA Program Committee will review the submitted papers by Graduate Students and Early-career Scholars and notify the selected recipients by the end of December 2025. To be considered for the travel grant, check the box labeled “Consider my paper for graduate student/early career travel grant!” when submitting your paper.

Hotel Reservations: Our meeting hotel is the Eldorado Hotel & Spa, a luxury Santa Fe hotel that blends Southwestern design with rich New Mexican culture. Conveniently situated in the heart of downtown Santa Fe, it’s just two blocks from the historic Plaza and the Palace of the Governors, and a short walk to the renowned Canyon Road arts district. With so much to explore just steps away, the Eldorado Hotel & Spa offers the perfect setting for our annual meeting. Our negotiated daily room rate is $199, plus applicable taxes and a reduced amenity fee of $15 (normally $35). The amenity fee covers valet parking, luggage service, access to the business center with printer, daily newspapers available in the lobby, complimentary bottled water and snacks in your guestroom, basic wired & wireless Internet in sleeping rooms, and full access to the hotel’s recreational facilities – including rooftop outdoor swimming pool and hot tub.

See the “Hotel Information” link on the WRSA website. The hotel has agreed to honor our special room rate three days before and three days following our meetings (Feb 8th through Feb 17th), based on availability.

Please note: After January 9, 2026, or as soon as our block fills, the hotel will no longer honor our special room rate! Be sure to book early!

Full meeting information will be available on our website by early January 2026!

The 2025 final WRSA Meeting program is now available.

Please click here for the FINAL program of the 64th Annual Meeting of WRSA.

If you have not yet made a hotel reservation, you still have a chance!
The room reservation can be made via this link or you can make a reservation by calling 702-567-4700 and asking for the Western Regional Science Association 2025 group rate (Group code: WRC25).

We look forward to seeing you soon in Lake Las Vegas of Henderson, Nevada!

For our 65th meeting in 2026, we’re heading back to Satna Fe, NM (the third meeting since our first one in 2006). 

Our 2026 meeting will be held at the Eldorado Hotel & Spa in Santa Fe, NM, February 11-14. The meeting will officially start on Wednesday, February 11, with our traditional opening plenary session and welcoming reception. Three full days of sessions follow on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday (Feb 12-14).

Only full papers (draft format acceptable) will be accepted for this conference. All submissions will be reviewed and will be assigned to a discussant on the program.

Paper Submission: Papers should be uploaded to the WRSA website by October 15, 2025, although, as in past years, the “deadline” will be extended until mid-November. Remember that program invitations are only issued based on full papers, not abstracts or outlines. Draft papers are sufficient for the October deadline, so long as we have a complete version in hand by mid-January (Jan 15th) 2026.

All presenters are expected to discuss a paper and/or chair a session.

Conference Travel Grant: Thanks to the generous gifts from Prof. Gordon Mulligan, Prof. Arthur Getis, and many other WRSA members, WRSA will provide a Travel Grant for Graduate Students and Early-career Scholars (who earned a Ph.D. after 2020). The Travel Grant will cover the partial Hotel Accommodation at the conference hotel. All awardees must stay at our conference hotel, the Eldorado Hotel & Spa. The WRSA Program Committee will review the submitted papers by Graduate Students and Early-career Scholars and notify the selected recipients by the end of December 2025. To be considered for the travel grant, check the box labeled “Consider my paper for graduate student/early career travel grant!” when submitting your paper.

Hotel Reservations: Our meeting hotel is the Eldorado Hotel & Spa, a luxury Santa Fe hotel that blends Southwestern design with rich New Mexican culture. Conveniently situated in the heart of downtown Santa Fe, it’s just two blocks from the historic Santa Fe Plaza and the Palace of the Governors, and a short walk to the renowned Canyon Road arts district. With so much to explore just steps away, the Eldorado Hotel & Spa offers the perfect setting for our annual meeting. Our negotiated daily room rate is $199, plus applicable taxes and a reduced amenity fee of $15 (normally $35). The amenity fee covers valet parking, luggage service, access to the business center with printer, daily newspapers available in the lobby, complimentary bottled water and snacks in your guestroom, basic wired & wireless Internet in sleeping rooms, and full access to the hotel’s recreational facilities – including rooftop outdoor swimming pool and hot tub.

See the “Hotel Information” link on the WRSA website. The hotel has agreed to honor our special room rate three days before and three days following our meetings (Feb 8th through Feb 17th), based on availability.

Please note: After January 9, 2026, or as soon as our block fills, the hotel will no longer honor our special room rate! Be sure to book early!

Full meeting information will be available on our website by early January 2026!

The 2024 WRSA Meeting draft program is now available.

Please click?here?for the FINAL program of the 63rd Annual Meeting of WRSA.

If you have not yet made a hotel reservation, you still have a chance!
The room reservation can be made via this link or you can make a reservation by calling 831-372-1234 and asking for the Western Regional Science Association 2024 group rate (Group code: G-WR24).  

If you have any specific questions or requests about paper submission, please contact me via email (wrsa@unlv.edu).

We look forward to seeing you soon in Monterey, California!

The Fall 2023 WRSA�Newsletter�is�here�and it�s got everything you need to know about our 63rd annual meeting in Monterey, CA, in February 2024! Take a look inside for paper submission and meeting registration instructions, as well as hotel reservation and travel details.

The extended due date for your paper submission is Nov 30th, 2023.

Enjoy!

The 37^th Tiebout Prize was awarded to Martina Pardy, a Ph.D. student from the London School of Economics & Political Science in the UK. Congratulations to Martina Pardy! Martina�s winning paper was titled, �Multinationals and intra-regional innovation concentration.�

The Tiebout Reading Committee, comprised of past WRSA Presidents, is charged each year with evaluating a large pool of submissions.� This year�s committee included: Matthias Ruth from the University of York, Genevieve Giuliano from the University of Southern California, Janet Kohlhase from the University of Houston, and Rick Church from the University of California, Santa Barbara,

This year the Tiebout Prize Reading Committee also selected a paper as finalist.� This was Benjamin Cornejo Costas from Utretcht University of the Netherlands with a co-author, Andrea Morrison for their paper “The 1921-1924 immigration act and its unintended consequences on breakthrough innovations in the US.”

The Tiebout Prize is given in memory of Charles Tiebout and his contributions to regional science, especially his mentoring of graduate students.

You can be the next winner!!
Submit your paper for the 38th Annual Competition for The Tiebout Prize which will be awarded for the�best paper by�a�full-time graduate student enrolled at an accredited academic institution (currently or having completed studies during Academic Year 2022�2023).�For more details about Tiebout Prize, please click here!

Our 62nd Annual Meeting in 2023 is just 10 days away!!
We�re heading to Big Island, HI (returning to one of our member’s most beloved spots !! It is our 5th meeting in Big Island!!).

Our meeting dates are February 15-18, 2023, with the opening plenary and reception scheduled for the afternoon of Wednesday (Feb. 15), followed by three full days of sessions on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday (Feb 16-18).

Please find our “FINAL PROGRAM” HERE!

Please review this revised (final) program very carefully since it reflects a few minor changes based on last-minute requests.

In the “Index to Participants” section on pages 24 through 27, you can locate your paper presentation session and other assigned duties (chair and/or discussant roles).

Discussants should prepare about 5�10 minutes of remarks, allowing at least 10 minutes for questions from, and open discussion with, session attendees.

WRSA Program Committee sent out the assigned papers to all the discussants and notified the chairs about the assigned chair role on Feb 1st, 2023. If you have not yet received the assigned paper(s) for your discussant role, please email us (wrsa@unlv.edu), immediately.

Our meeting hotel is Hilton Waikoloa Village in Big Island, HI, one of our members’ most beloved meeting spots. Located on the sunny, scenic Kohala Coast, the oceanfront resort offers a taste of the island life full of culture, poolside relaxation, and a chance to meet marine wildlife up close. At Hilton Waikoloa Village, you can enjoy the magic of Hawaii, an oasis dotted with lagoons, pools, water slides, and a wide variety of restaurants and bars.
With a $15 daily resort fee (reduced from $45 for our group), you can enjoy the perks listed below,

• Internet access in your room (Not in meeting rooms)
• Hawaiian Cultural Classes�Including Ukulele, Lei Making, and Hula Lessons
• PlayStation� 3 access with unlimited movies and games (DVD Now card can only be used in your specified tower)–Limit 2 checked out at any given time
• Local, toll-free, and credit card calls (No access fee)
• Complimentary 15-minute photo session and souvenir keepsake
• 20% discount on beach toys at the saltwater lagoon
• Keiki Pool Activities & Scavenger Hunt�The schedule listed on the back of our resort activities guide
• Fitness or Yoga Class at the Kohala Spa�Space is limited and reservations are recommended by contacting Kohala Spa at extension 1228.
• Big Island Bird Talk with resident wildlife specialist�Daily at 10 am in the main lobby. The talk will last approximately 30 minutes. Reservations are not required and guests can drop by at anytime
• $10 off Hawaii Nautical sailings on the Spirit of Aloha catamaran from Anaeho�omalu Bay

Looking forward to seeing all of you in Waikoloa, the Big Island of HI, soon!!

The testimonials from the first-time participants in the 61st Annual Meeting of WRSA, held in Scottsdale, AZ (Feb 17-20, 2022) are on the WRSA’s YouTube Channel. Simply click the image above or find it on our YouTube Channel (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCopqNIV_8RB8xEl_ehGWqag).
WRSA is perfect for graduate students and early-career scholars since it is “really welcoming, small enough that you can meet as many people as you want, and big enough that you can get a lot of good feedback on your research!”

Looking forward to seeing many new participants, returning members, and colleagues in the upcoming 62nd Annual Meeting in the Big Island of Hawaii (Feb 18-20, 2023)!! The paper submission due is Nov 30th, 2022. Find more from our website, https://www.wrsaonline.org/…/wrsa-2023-our-62nd…/