Arndt-Corden Department of Economics

Crawford School’s Associate Professor Budy Resosudarmo has been elected as President of the Regional Science Association International (RSAI).

Associate Professor Resosudarmo, who until recently was head of the Indonesia Project in the Arndt-Corden Department of Economics at Crawford School, will take on the post with RSAI for a two-year term until the end of 2018.

He is a developmental and environmental economist working on the impact of economic and environmental policies on household incomes. He has a particular interest in development economics, resource and environmental modelling, and inter-regional modelling.

RSAI was founded in 1954 as an international community of scholars interested in the regional impacts of national or global processes of economic and social change. The Association aims to draw on expertise across different academic disciplines to encourage and facilitate new theoretical insights for tackling regional challenges.

Associate Professor Resosudarmo said he is excited to be chosen to lead the organisation and is looking forward to the challenges ahead.

“This is a great honour for me,” he said.

“The RSAI is a globally-recognised organisation with significant scholarly and policy impact. It’s work, and the work of its members, is contributing to answering many of the big questions facing an increasingly globalised world.

“I’m looking forward to helping develop RSAI activities in developing countries while maintaining RSAI sections in developed countries as centres of excellence in regional science.”

Associate Professor Resosudarmo has had a distinguished career in academia. He is a former Fulbright Visiting Fellow at the Kennedy School of Government and has served as President of the Pacific Regional Science Conference Organisation, Vice-President of the East Asian Association of Environmental and Resource Economics, and the Vice-President of the Indonesian Regional Science Program.

Crawford School Director Helen Sullivan said his election as President of RSAI recognised his significant contribution to regional research.

“Budy is not only a distinguished academic, he is also a highly-successful leader who has helped the Indonesia Project go from strength to strength. He is well respected by his academic peers and policymakers all around the world.

“His election highlights his great work over many years and illustrates again the calibre of public policy research and researchers at Crawford School.

“On behalf of the whole Crawford community, I congratulate him on his appointment and look forward to seeing RSAI thrive under his presidency.”