GTAP Events: 2008 Advisory Board Meeting

General Information
Date:	June 9-10, 2008
Location:	House of the Estates Snellmaninkatu 9-11 Helsinki, Finland
Deliverables:	Agenda Report and Issues Paper 2008 Summary - Supplementary Material - Objectives, goals, and accomplishments - Data Base developments and strategies - Model developments - Course, conference, and website reports

Agency Representatives
Agricultural Economics Research Institute (LEI) The Hague, The Netherlands Represented by: Martin Banse Asian Development Bank (ADB) Manila, Philippines Represented by: Fan Zahi Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics (ABARE) Canberra, Australia Represented by: forthcoming Centre d'Etudes Prospectives et d'Information Internationales (CEPII) Paris, France Represented by: Sebastien Jean Institute of Food and Resource Economics (FOI) Copenhagen, Denmark Represented by: Hans Grinsted Jensen Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) Tokyo, Japan Represented by: Mantaro Matsuya Economic Research Service of the United States Department of Agriculture (ERS) Washington D.C., USA Represented by: Utpal Vasavada European Commission (EU) Brussels, Belgium Represented by: Gaspar Frontini Johann Heinrich von Thunen Institute (vTI) Braunschweig, Germany Represented by: Martina Brockmeier Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Rome, Italy Represented by: Alexander Sarris Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Washington D.C., USA Represented by: forthcoming International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (The World Bank) Washington D.C., USA Represented by: Will Martin International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) Washington D.C., USA Represented by: Antoine Bouet MIT Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change Cambridge, MA, USA Represented by: absent Nathan Associates, Inc Arlington, VA, USA Represented by: Peter Minor Netherlands Bureau of Economic Policy Analysis (CPB) The Hague, The Netherlands Represented by: Paul Veenendaal OECD, Environment Directorate Paris, France Represented by: Jean Chateau Productivity Commission Belconnen, Australia Represented by: Patrick Jomini Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI) Tokyo, Japan Represented by: Ken Kawasaki United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Geneva, Switzerland Represented by: forthcoming US Environmental Protection Agency, Economy and Environment Division (US-EPA) Washington D.C., USA Represented by: Richard Garbaccio United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Represented by: Stephen Karingi US International Trade Commission (US-ITC) Washington D.C., USA Represented by: Robert Koopman World Trade Organization (WTO) Geneva, Switzerland Represented by: absent Members at Large Richard Tol Joseph Francois

Research Fellows
The Board approved to name the following as Research Fellows for 2008-2011: Betina Dimaranan In recognition of her long term sustained contributions to the GTAP Data Base Agapi Somwaru For serving as a software facilitator and for expanding the use of the GTAP Data Base for multiple applications in the ERS. At ERS, Agapi has played a critical role for more than a decade by helping ERS researchers with GEMPACK related problems while interacting closely with Ken Pearson to solve technical problems. She has offered much support to short course participants and has recently been instrumental in helping users of GEMPACK for 64-bit versions. Agapi has also played a key role in implementing the GTAP Data Base for the ERS FARM model. She has worked diligently to develop a working prototype of FARM II that runs off version 7 of the GTAP Data Base and is now being successfully applied to the global analysis of biofuels. Steven Rose Dr. Steven Rose has been instrumental in extending the GTAP data on non-CO2 greenhouse gases (Rose and Lee, 2008) and on developing the supplemental GTAP land data (Hertel, et al. 2008) These are important extensions of the data that are of great use to the community of GTAP users who study climate change and the increasing important issue of biofuels. His commitment of providing funding from the US EPA for these efforts is a significant contribution. However, much more than the funding he has brought staff effort and data from EPA to bear on these issues, organized meetings that brought the communities together that helped develop approaches, and contributed to and oversaw publication of working papers and research results serving as one of the co-editors of the forthcoming volume on modeling land use (Hertel, et al. fortcoming). Jesper Jensen For his contributions to GTAP and to CGE modeling. Recently Jesper Jensen contributed IO tables for Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia. Jesper has also been offering GAMs courses for GTAP users and has published extensively on the analysis of Russian trade and climate change issues. Scott McDonald For his contributions to GTAP and to CGE modeling. Recently Scott McDonald has developed the GLOBE model, a global gams-based model which uses the GTAP Data Base. Scott is also one of our most popular short course instructors and is currently assisting with the conversion of the European SAMs into GTAP format for contribution to the GTAP 7 Data Base. Also, for his general contributions in being a willing resource that answers all calls, no matter how small with solid answers that provide insights, developing the Globe model in GAMS that applies the GTAP Data Base, creating SAMs for the EU and Africa, creating alternative methods for collecting SAM data, and a solid commitment to the application of CGE models to help developing countries formulate better policy. Sergey Paltsev Dr. Paltsev has developed innovative methods for conduction research on the economics of climate change using the GTAP data and has contributed to improving the quality of the energy data. The particularly innovative aspects of the Dr. Paltsev's research has been to make use of supplemental physical accounts on energy to better parameterize new technologies or potential new technologies that are not represented in national income and product accounts (Paltsev, et al., 2005; Reilly and Paltsev, forthcoming). Representation of these technologies are necessary in order to examine potential policy costs of greenhouse gas mitigation where the policies, through the addition of carbon price, take us far outside relative prices of energy we observe in historical data. He is also responsible for expanding the idea of supplemental accounts for other resources and this has proved critical for linking CGE analysis to assessment of impacts (e.g. Matus, et al., 2008). He has guided the technical work of a large number of graduate students at MIT, allowing them to get an appreciation for the value of CGE modeling. His work has also been highly influential in policy debates about greenhouse gas emissions including the performance of the European Emissions Trading Scheme (Reilly and Paltsev, 2006) and proposed trading systems in the US (Paltsev, et al., 2008). The US effort has been widely cited and used in policy circles such as at Resources for the Future, the PEW center, and in the National Bureau of Economic Research.

Research Fellows

The Board approved to name the following as Research Fellows for 2008-2011:

Betina Dimaranan
In recognition of her long term sustained contributions to the GTAP Data Base

Agapi Somwaru
For serving as a software facilitator and for expanding the use of the GTAP Data Base for multiple applications in the ERS. At ERS, Agapi has played a critical role for more than a decade by helping ERS researchers with GEMPACK related problems while interacting closely with Ken Pearson to solve technical problems. She has offered much support to short course participants and has recently been instrumental in helping users of GEMPACK for 64-bit versions. Agapi has also played a key role in implementing the GTAP Data Base for the ERS FARM model. She has worked diligently to develop a working prototype of FARM II that runs off version 7 of the GTAP Data Base and is now being successfully applied to the global analysis of biofuels.

Steven Rose
Dr. Steven Rose has been instrumental in extending the GTAP data on non-CO2 greenhouse gases (Rose and Lee, 2008) and on developing the supplemental GTAP land data (Hertel, et al. 2008) These are important extensions of the data that are of great use to the community of GTAP users who study climate change and the increasing important issue of biofuels. His commitment of providing funding from the US EPA for these efforts is a significant contribution. However, much more than the funding he has brought staff effort and data from EPA to bear on these issues, organized meetings that brought the communities together that helped develop approaches, and contributed to and oversaw publication of working papers and research results serving as one of the co-editors of the forthcoming volume on modeling land use (Hertel, et al. fortcoming).

Jesper Jensen
For his contributions to GTAP and to CGE modeling. Recently Jesper Jensen contributed IO tables for Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia. Jesper has also been offering GAMs courses for GTAP users and has published extensively on the analysis of Russian trade and climate change issues.

Scott McDonald
For his contributions to GTAP and to CGE modeling. Recently Scott McDonald has developed the GLOBE model, a global gams-based model which uses the GTAP Data Base. Scott is also one of our most popular short course instructors and is currently assisting with the conversion of the European SAMs into GTAP format for contribution to the GTAP 7 Data Base. Also, for his general contributions in being a willing resource that answers all calls, no matter how small with solid answers that provide insights, developing the Globe model in GAMS that applies the GTAP Data Base, creating SAMs for the EU and Africa, creating alternative methods for collecting SAM data, and a solid commitment to the application of CGE models to help developing countries formulate better policy.

Sergey Paltsev
Dr. Paltsev has developed innovative methods for conduction research on the economics of climate change using the GTAP data and has contributed to improving the quality of the energy data. The particularly innovative aspects of the Dr. Paltsev's research has been to make use of supplemental physical accounts on energy to better parameterize new technologies or potential new technologies that are not represented in national income and product accounts (Paltsev, et al., 2005; Reilly and Paltsev, forthcoming). Representation of these technologies are necessary in order to examine potential policy costs of greenhouse gas mitigation where the policies, through the addition of carbon price, take us far outside relative prices of energy we observe in historical data. He is also responsible for expanding the idea of supplemental accounts for other resources and this has proved critical for linking CGE analysis to assessment of impacts (e.g. Matus, et al., 2008). He has guided the technical work of a large number of graduate students at MIT, allowing them to get an appreciation for the value of CGE modeling. His work has also been highly influential in policy debates about greenhouse gas emissions including the performance of the European Emissions Trading Scheme (Reilly and Paltsev, 2006) and proposed trading systems in the US (Paltsev, et al., 2008). The US effort has been widely cited and used in policy circles such as at Resources for the Future, the PEW center, and in the National Bureau of Economic Research.

Alan A. Powell Award
Each year at the GTAP Advisory Board meeting we present an award to one of the members of the Board in recognition of outstanding service. This award is in honor of one of the Founding Members of the Advisory Board, and the intellectual grandfather of GTAP - Alan A. Powell. This year's recipient of the Alan A. Powell Award is Patrick Jomini. Patrick Jomini is Assistant Commissioner at the Australian Productivity Commission and recipient of the 2008 Alan Powell Award for his numerous contributions to the GTAP Network and CGE modeling both in Australia and abroad. Patrick played an important role in the public release of the Salter model of world trade -- the predecessor of GTAP, as well as in the development of THE FTAP model which is designed to analyze the liberalization of trade in services. Patrick also led the development of the Integrated Tariff Analysis System to facilitate access to tariff and trade data for trade analysts, modelers and negotiators. More recently, he has provided the leadership behind the development of a Visual Basic program to extract summary tables from the GTAP Data Base as well as promoting the development of alternatives to the Armington Model of Trade. As a member of the GTAP Advisory Board, Patrick also chaired the Research fellows committee where he put in place guidelines for the selection of GTAP research fellows. At the Australian Productivity Commission, Patrick leads a group of about 15 researchers and quantitatively inclined economists who support the Commission's inquiries and research programs. Patrick has worked on a range of economic policy issues, including evaluating the effects of National Competition Policy and tariff reductions, and evaluating the effects of multilateral liberalisation in goods and services trade. More recently, Patrick was involved in estimating the possible effects of a new wave of reforms, the National Reform Agenda. In most of these projects, Patrick played a key role in developing the analytical framework, models and data that enabled the analysis required. Thank you Patrick for your many contributions to GTAP!

Alan A. Powell Award

Each year at the GTAP Advisory Board meeting we present an award to one of the members of the Board in recognition of outstanding service. This award is in honor of one of the Founding Members of the Advisory Board, and the intellectual grandfather of GTAP - Alan A. Powell.

This year's recipient of the Alan A. Powell Award is Patrick Jomini. Patrick Jomini is Assistant Commissioner at the Australian Productivity Commission and recipient of the 2008 Alan Powell Award for his numerous contributions to the GTAP Network and CGE modeling both in Australia and abroad.

Patrick played an important role in the public release of the Salter model of world trade -- the predecessor of GTAP, as well as in the development of THE FTAP model which is designed to analyze the liberalization of trade in services. Patrick also led the development of the Integrated Tariff Analysis System to facilitate access to tariff and trade data for trade analysts, modelers and negotiators. More recently, he has provided the leadership behind the development of a Visual Basic program to extract summary tables from the GTAP Data Base as well as promoting the development of alternatives to the Armington Model of Trade.

As a member of the GTAP Advisory Board, Patrick also chaired the Research fellows committee where he put in place guidelines for the selection of GTAP research fellows.

At the Australian Productivity Commission, Patrick leads a group of about 15 researchers and quantitatively inclined economists who support the Commission's inquiries and research programs. Patrick has worked on a range of economic policy issues, including evaluating the effects of National Competition Policy and tariff reductions, and evaluating the effects of multilateral liberalisation in goods and services trade. More recently, Patrick was involved in estimating the possible effects of a new wave of reforms, the National Reform Agenda. In most of these projects, Patrick played a key role in developing the analytical framework, models and data that enabled the analysis required.

Thank you Patrick for your many contributions to GTAP!

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Last Modified: 10/16/2023 8:53:02 AM

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GTAP Events: 2008 Advisory Board Meeting