About the Center for Pacific Basin Monetary
and Economic Studies
Background
Since 1974, the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco has conducted
an active Pacific Basin program to promote cooperation among central banks
in the region and enhance public understanding of major Pacific Basin
economic policy issues. The Bank has sponsored international conferences
and published books and articles on Pacific Basin issues. The Bank's Center
for Pacific Basin Monetary and Economic Studies, established in 1990,
opened the program to the participation of other institutions and individuals
who wish to join in promoting greater understanding of major Pacific Basin
monetary and economic policy issues.
Participation
Researchers may participate in the Center's activities as either Visiting
Scholars or Center Associates.
Visiting Scholars
Visiting Scholars at the Center are invited to conduct research on Pacific
Basin monetary, financial, and economic policy issues of interest to the
United States and other nations in the region. The Center is prepared
to receive up to three Visiting Scholars at a time. Generally, the terms
of Visiting Scholars are for six months; in special cases, shorter or
longer terms can be considered. To qualify, a Visiting Scholar must have
an established research record in terms of publications in professional
economic journals, and the ability to interact in English with other researchers.
Besides an opportunity to conduct full-time research on Pacific Basin
subjects, a particular attraction to scholars is an environment that provides
active and mutually supportive interactions with other scholars with similar
interests. Additionally, scholars have access to the expertise of the
Bank's research staff in a wide range of subject areas, such as monetary
policy, macroeconomics, international economics, economic development,
and banking and financial markets. In addition, scholars have access to
renowned faculty members in economics and finance at the universities
and research institutes located in the San Francisco Bay Area. Visiting
Scholars also benefit from the Center's research support facilities, including
research assistants, computers, the Bank's databases, and its Research
Library's reference services and Pacific Basin collection.
The Center provides research support facilities, but typically relies
on visiting scholars to come with their own funding. Institutions in the
United States and other Pacific Basin countries that share the Bank's
interest in promoting Pacific Basin studies are invited to sponsor and
fund Visiting Scholars. The sponsoring institution can either nominate
a Visiting Scholar subject to the Center's approval or leave the nomination
to the Center subject to the sponsoring institution's approval. University
faculty members on sabbatical leave will find the Center a particularly
attractive place to undertake their studies.
Center Associates
Any researcher who is interested in the Center's activities may become
a Center Associate. Benefits of membership include opportunities to: present
research findings at the Center's seminars; publish abstracts of their
research papers in Center publications; and receive Center publications.
There are no membership fees.
Activities
Seminars
Each Visiting Scholar is expected to present a seminar on a subject of
his or her own past research on Pacific Basin issues and to outline a
proposed research project to be conducted while in residence at the Center.
Members of the Bank's Economic Research Department also present their
research in seminars.
Publications
The Center carries out an active research program. Preliminary research
results by Visiting Scholars and the Bank's research staff are distributed
as Pacific
Basin Center Working Papers to Center Associates free of charge.
The Center semi-annually publishes Pacific Basin Research Abstracts
to disseminate summaries of research results by Center Associates. In
addition, the Center publishes a semi-annual Clearinghouse Bulletin
of Pacific Basin Central Bank Economic Research. Distribution of
the Bulletin is limited to those Associates currently doing research
on central banking. Staff research on Pacific Basin issues also appears
in the Economic
Review and "Pacific Basin Notes" in the Economic
Letter series, publications of the Economic Research Department
of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco.
Conferences
The Center organizes and hosts conferences on major Pacific Basin economic
policy issues at periodic intervals, to which central banks, research
institutes, and international organizations interested in the region are
invited. Conference papers are published in book form by commercial publishers
for worldwide distribution. The Center also sponsors occasional conferences,
often jointly with other institutions. Papers of these conferences are
usually not published or distributed beyond the conference participants.
Contact Information
Mark Spiegel
Vice President and Director
Center for Pacific Basin Studies
Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco
101 Market Street, MS 1130
San Francisco, CA 94105-1579
Telephone: (415) 974-3241
Telex: 4979495 FRBUI
Fax: (415) 974-2168
E-Mail: Mark Spiegel
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