Editorial

Citation

Dunse, N. (2012), "Editorial", Journal of European Real Estate Research, Vol. 5 No. 3. https://doi.org/10.1108/jerer.2012.35905caa.001

Editorial

Article Type: Editorial From: Journal of European Real Estate Research, Volume 5, Issue 3

The 19th Annual ERES Conference took place in Edinburgh, the capital city of Scotland. The conference was hosted by Heriot-Watt University, and Nottingham Trent University, and covered a number of cross-cutting themes relating to commercial and residential real estate. Abstracts and papers can be downloaded from the ERES 2012 web site (www.eres2012.com).

Around 400 delegates attended the conference from over 40 different countries. As in previous years the conference began with PhD paper sessions with discussants reading the work of PhD participants. Following on from Eindhoven and Milan, PhD master-classes covering issues in econometrics, academic publishing, and investment and finance were integral elements of the conference.

Two keynote speeches set the scene for the conference. These were by Colin Jones from Heriot Watt University and by Colin Lizieri from the University of Cambridge. The speeches focused on the financial crisis in residential and commercial real estate, respectively. In the following parallel sessions these issues were developed by different authors and discussions on the influence of the financial crisis were a key theme in the conference. Panel sessions also picked up some of these ideas. The housing panel reflected on post-crash issues in housing economics, policy, and finance. This was also an opportunity to reflect upon the seminal contributions made by the late John Quigley in a career spanning over 40 years who also served as a member of the Editorial Advisory Board of JERER. The VOGON/SPR/AREIM industry panel examined the financial issues from a commercial real estate perspective and debated the macroeconomic issues in the euro-zone. The Education panel was jointly organised with the International Real Estate Society focusing on exchange opportunities for students and academics. We were also pleased to have for the first time a joint parallel session with the European Regional Science Association and a parallel session with Standard Life Investments, which is a major employer in the UK’s financial sector.

The ERES Edinburgh Conference continued to build upon the reputation of real estate research with high quality academic papers. Several best paper prizes provide authors with the opportunity to gain further recognition of their research with publication in leading journals including the special issue of JERER. The conference provided a splendid networking opportunity for researchers and with industry and continued the success of previous ERES Conferences. The European Real Estate Society is fortunate to have several sponsors which support the Annual Conference in various ways including hosting functions and prize winning papers which we wish to duly acknowledge.

Neil Dunse, Michael White, Colin JonesCo-chair