The primary way the Society pursues its mission to improve the theory and practice of benefit-cost analysis is by bringing people together, particularly during its annual meetings held each March. It is therefore very rewarding to note the recent increases in conference attendance and the associated increases in Society membership.

The first Society conference took place in 2008 and drew 79 people (Table 1). Attendance has grown steadily since then. In particular, the move to an online format in 2021 and 2022 resulted in very large increases in attendance, with attendance topping 600 people.

Table 1: SBCA Annual Conference Registrations

Note: no conferences were held in 2012 and 2020.

The geographic reach of the Society  grew dramatically with the move to an online conference. For example, the 2022 conference held earlier this year drew registrants from 40 countries (Table 2 and Figure 1). As in past conferences,  the overwhelming majority of registrations came from North America.

Table 2: Registration by Country for the SBCA 2022 Annual Meeting

Figure 1: Countries with People Registered for the SBCA 2022 Annual Meeting

The Society’s geographic reach also grew with the establishment of the SBCA European Conference in 2019. This conference has provided a forum for benefit-cost issues of importance to European policy makers and researchers, as well as another opportunity for people in our field to congregate.

Looking to the future, the Society plans to retain an online element to future Annual Conferences. That way, it can continue to link people globally without requiring that they travel to participate in the conference. Correspondingly, the 2023 Conference Planning Committee is looking for ways to distribute conference sessions across more time zones, which will be particularly important for engaging with colleagues in Europe, Africa, and Asia.

The Conference Planning Committee also hopes to build a more worldwide agenda for the 2023 Conference while continuing to grow its thriving North American base. Work on methods and theory will continue to be critical to the conference agenda and will have broad appeal. At the same time, there are many applications of benefit-cost analysis that will have more national or regional interest. The Committee encourages colleagues from around the world to think about what they would like to share and to submit abstracts for the conference. Also, the Committee welcomes suggestions for material colleagues would like to see on the agenda; suggestions can be sent to [email protected].

The Society also looks to maintain the strong momentum of its European Conference. This year the European Conference will be held in Paris, France, https://sbcaec2022.sciencesconf.org/ and will have a very strong agenda, including keynote talks Marc Fleurbaey (Pairs School of Economics) and Phoebe Koundouri (Athens University of Economics and Business). The Society is also looking for organizations to host the 2023 conference and for people interested in exploring the potential for other regional SBCA conference. Information about these opportunities and other background about the Society are available on the Society’s website.