Who we are

REVISED STATUTES OF THE INTERNATIONAL INPUT-OUTPUT ASSOCIATION AS DECIDED BY THE SPECIAL SESSION OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY ON 15 JANUARY 2007

1. Name, Headquarters and Activities

The Association shall be called "International Input-Output Association" (in German: Internationale Gesellschaft für Input-Output-Analyse) and shall have its seat in Vienna, Austria. The activities of the Association shall not be restricted to Austria only.

2. Objectives and Fields of Interest

The main objective of the Association shall be the advancement of research in and teaching of input-output analysis. The Association shall also promote the integration and use of input-output applications and techniques in other scientific disciplines. The Association shall be non-profit making, its sole aim being the promotion of the objectives as set forth in these statutes. These objectives shall be carried out by:
1. Promoting the exchange of scientific experiences between members of the Association.

2. Organizing public lectures and events, especially scientific conferences.

3. Publishing a scientific journal as well as other relevant scientific publications.

4. Supporting relevant scientific projects.

5. Supporting relevant educational institutions and libraries.

6. Widening the access to scientific publications and relevant statistical data.

7. Encouraging and promoting scientific research and teaching.

8. Co-operating with scientific associations and institutions of a similar kind.

9. Providing financial support to members.

10. Awarding prizes for outstanding scientific achievements.

11. Any comparable activities that fall within the scope of the Association.

3. Property and Funds of the Association

The Association shall draw the necessary funds for carrying out its objectives from membership dues, voluntary contributions, subsidies, royalties and returns to the capital held by the Association.

4. Membership

(1) The Association has ordinary, institutional and honorary members.

(2) All scholars and other qualified (natural) persons, independently of sex, race, religion and nationality, who are actively engaged in the field of input-output analysis, input-output statistics and related scientific fields can become ordinary members of the Association.

(3) Juridical persons, irrespective of whether private or public, resident or foreign, can become institutional member of the Association. Institutional members have to pay a higher membership fee (institutional membership fee). Institutional members shall have the right to name up to three persons who principally will hold all rights and duties of ordinary members, with the exception of the payment of membership fees.

(4) Persons who have made themselves particularly deserving with regard to either the Association or the goals of the Association may be appointed as honorary member.

5. Rights and duties of the members

(1) All members shall be committed to promoting the interests of the Association as best as they can. Institutional members contribute to these goals by paying the special institutional membership fee.

(2) The ordinary members (and the persons named by the institutional members) shall have the right to participate in the scientific activities organized by the Association and to make use of its infrastructure. Furthermore, they shall hold the right to participate and vote in the General Assembly as well as holding the active and passive voting right to the Council of the Association.

(3) Honorary members have the same rights as the ordinary members, but are exempted from paying membership dues.

(4) All members shall provide prompt payment of the membership dues in the valid amount set.

6. Acquisition and loss of membership

(1) The acquisition of a member is organized by the Management of the Association. The institutional members have to report their named persons also to the Management of the Association. In case of withdrawal of one of these persons, the institutional member has to name the successor also to the Management. Persons named by an institutional member lose all their membership rights in case that the institutional member ceases its institutional membership.

(2) If a member despite reminders fails to pay his/her membership fees for two consecutive years, his/her membership shall automatically be suspended. He/she shall still have to pay the outstanding fees.

(3) Members who wish to end their membership from the following calendar year onwards have to hand in a written statement to this effect to the Management of the Association before November 15 of the current year. Such members shall still have to pay their outstanding membership fees. If such a statement is provided after the deadline, it will come into force only the year thereafter.

(4) Membership also ends with the decease of a member or if an institutional member loses its juridical status.

(5) In case of violation of membership duties or dishonorable behavior, membership can be suspended by the Council or the nomination of persons by institutional members can be revoked. Under the same conditions the Council can also suspend an honorary membership.

7. Correspondence

Information letters, invitations and similar messages from the Association to the members can be made in writing, by telefax or by e-mail. In case of doubt of the identity of the sender of an e-mail, the receiver can require a written confirmation of the message which can be transmitted by telefax. This has no effect on the correct timeliness of the correspondence sent earlier.

8. Organs of the Association

The Organs of the Association shall be the General Assembly, the Council, the Management and the Auditors.

9. The General Assembly

(1) The regular session of the General Assembly shall be held at least every four years, if possible on the occasion of an International Input-Output Conference. The General Assembly is convened by the Council. The General Assembly can be held outside of Austria. Reports of the Council as well as the reports of the Auditors have to be prepared annually and provided to the members in written form.

(2) An irregular session of the General Assembly should take place upon the request of at least one tenth of the members, upon the request of the Council, the Management or the Auditors within four weeks.

(3) For the regular as well as for the irregular sessions, all members shall be invited in writing. This invitation has to be mailed at least three weeks before the respective date. The invitation shall also contain the agenda of the session.

(4) The General Assembly has a quorum if eleven members eligible to vote are present.

(5) Elections and decisions in the General Assembly shall as a rule follow the principle of a simple majority of votes. Decisions amending the statutes of the Association or dissolving the latter shall, however, need a qualified majority of two thirds of the valid votes cast.

(6) The sessions of the General Assembly shall be chaired by the President; in case of absence, by one of the Vice-Presidents, in the order of age, if the latter are also absent, the Secretary shall chair the session.

10. Tasks of the General Assembly

The General Assembly shall carry out the following tasks:

1. Approve the reports and the financial statements submitted by the Council.

2. Fix the membership fees.

3. Appoint the Auditors.

4. Decide on statute amendments and on the voluntary dissolution of the Association.

5. Suspension of Council members.

6. Discuss and decide on other questions on the agenda.

11. The Council

(1) The Council shall consist of nine elected members, the Secretary, the Treasurer, the Editor of the scientific journal of the Association. The Council is entitled to appoint up to three additional members.

(2) The nine members shall be elected from among the Association members by all those who hold the right to participate in the General Assembly.

(3) The election has to be organized in written form by letter, telefax or e-mail.

(4) The elected members shall serve for a period of nine years. The function period starts on 1 January of the year following the year in which the election took place. Every three years, three members shall be newly elected. Immediate re-election after the end of a term of office shall not be possible. If, for whatever reason, elected Council members resign, additional Council members have to be elected in course of the following Council election so that the number of elected Council members is restored to nine.

(5) The function period of appointed members is restricted from one to five years. A reappointment is possible.

(6) The Secretary is responsible for the management of the Council elections.

(7) All Association members have the right to nominate up to three members as candidates for Council elections. The nominations have to be provided by 30 September of the election year at latest; the nominations should be sent to the Secretary.

(8) Within two weeks the Secretary has to ask all nominated persons whether they would stand as candidates and has within four weeks after the end of the nomination deadline prepare the ballots and distribute them to the members.

(9) Every member holding the right to vote can within four weeks vote for up to three candidates. Those three candidates receiving most of the votes are elected. In case of a draw, the result shall be determined by casting lots. The votes have to be sent to one of the Auditors.

(10) Within two weeks after the election deadline the Auditor has to establish the results of the election, whereupon the Secretary has to inform all members, and especially the candidates, on the result of the election.

(11) After the election, the new Council shall appoint a President and two Vice-Presidents from among the nine elected Council members. They shall represent the Council to the outside. The term of office of the President and the Vice-Presidents shall start with 1 January of the year following the election and shall be three years. A reappointment as President or Vice-President is possible.

12. Council operations

(1) The Council is chaired by the President, in case of absence by the Vice-Presidents, in the order of the age.

(2) The Council has a quorum if more that 50% of its members are present, the President or one of the two Vice-Presidents has to be present in any case. Decisions are taken by simple majority. In case of a draw, the vote of the President determines the result. In case of decisions referring to the management of the Association or including orders to the Management, the Management has no valid vote.

(3) The Council operations shall be determined by the Bylaws drawn up by the Council itself. Decisions amending the Bylaws need a qualified majority of two thirds of the valid votes.

(4) In case of urgent issues, decisions can also be taken in a written procedure, outside a Council meeting. It needs to be argued why the issue is urgent and all Council members have to be informed. The rules of the quorum are analogous to those in case of a Council meeting.

(5) Council meetings are convened by the President, in case of impediment by one of the Vice-Presidents. The President and the Vice-Presidents can also empower the Secretary to convene a Council meeting. In urgent cases also the Secretary on his/her own can convene a Council meeting.

(6) Council members shall hold honorary offices. However, they shall be entitled to reimbursement of demonstrable costs resulting from their activity for the Association, provided that they have reached an agreement with the Secretary or the Treasurer before undertaking the activities from which the costs result.

13. Tasks of the Council

The Council shall carry out the following tasks:

(1) The Council takes the basic decisions on the activities of the Association.

(2) The Council shall appoint the Secretary and the Treasurer.

(3) The Council approves the annual report of the management and the proposed financial budget and prepares the report to the General Assembly.

(4) The Council shall decide all scientific matters of the Association. The Council shall, in particular, plan and organize all scientific conferences held by the Association.

(5) If the Association decides to publish a scientific journal or other scientific publications, the Council shall appoint the Editor (and (a) Co-Editor(s), if desired) and the members of the Editorial Board.

(6) The Council shall decide upon the granting of aid for scientists and the award of scientific prizes.

(7) The Council shall have the possibility to install working groups or similar task forces for certain tasks or projects.

(8) The Council shall have the right to invite non-members to the meetings and events organized by the Association. It shall also have the right to pass on published material to non-members if this seems suitable.

(9) The Council decides on the suspension of ordinary members, of members named by institutional members, and on the appointment and termination of honorary membership.

(10) In case that an Auditor resigns during his/her office period, the Council shall appoint a substitute, whose office period lasts until the next General Assembly.

(11) The Council can give orders to the management on single cases as well as in general for the running of the Association.

(12) The Council decides on its Bylaws.

14. The Management

The Management of the Association consists of the Secretary and the Treasurer.

The Secretary and the Treasurer hold honorary offices; they shall be entitled to reimbursement of demonstrable costs resulting from their activity for the Association. The Secretary and the Treasurer are appointed for a period of three years. Reappointment is possible.

15. Tasks of the Management

The Management is in charge of the management of the Association in all juridical and administrative issues, which are not under the responsibility of other organs of the Association. In particular, the Management shall carry out the following tasks:

(1) Preparation of annual and financial reports to the Council.

(2) Preparation of the annual report, the financial statement and the financial budget for the next two years within three months of the end of the reporting year.

(3) Preparation of the sessions of the General Assembly.

(4) Organization of the Council elections.

(5) Carrying out the decisions of the council and the orders given to the Management.

(6) Convene meetings of the Council according to 12

(5) and of irregular sessions of the General Assembly according to 9 (2).

16. The Secretary

The Secretary is head of the administration of the Association and is also responsible for the handling of day-to-day business. He/she shall represent the Association to the outside and hold the sole authority to sign in all matters of business. In all matters of business that carry financial implications, an agreement with the Treasurer shall have to be reached before any steps are taken. In case that the financial implication amounts to less than € 1.500.-, the Secretary can sign alone.

17. The Treasurer

The Treasurer shall be responsible for the books and the handling of all financial transactions. He/she prepares the financial reports and statements and the financial budgets. The financial budgets are prepared together with the Secretary. He/she holds the sole authority to sign for all matters of business in this field, in cases that the individual transactions amount to less than € 1.500.-.Otherwise the Treasurer signs together with the Secretary.

18. The Auditors

The General Assembly elects two Auditors for a term of office of three years, one of which from the pool of Austrian Economic Trustees. Re-election shall be possible. Auditors must not be member of the Association. The task of the Auditors is the assessment of the correctness of the financial conduct of the Association and the assessment of the financial statement. The Auditors have to report to the Council (annually) and to the General Assembly. In case of any noteworthy issues they have to report to the Council immediately.

19. The Journal

If the Association decides to publish a journal or another scientific publication, the Association shall provide access for the members at preferential conditions.

20. The Court of Arbitration

(1) The Court of Arbitration shall settle all non-scientific disputes arising within the Association.

(2) The Court of Arbitration shall consist of five Association members. It shall be constituted in such a way that each disputing party appoints two Association members as Arbitrators within ten days and informs the Council of the decision taken. These arbitrators shall elect a Chairman for the Court of Arbitration from among all Association members following the principle of simple majority. In case of a tie, the person elected as Auditor from the Pool of Austrian Economic Trustees shall serve as Chairman.

(3) The Court of Arbitrators shall take its decision in the presence of all its members according to the principle of simple majority. The members shall decide according to the best of their knowledge and belief. Decisions taken by the Court are final from the Association’s point of view.

21. Dissolution of the Association

(1) The voluntary dissolution of the Association can only be decided in an irregular General Assembly convened specifically for this matter and only with a two-thirds majority of all valid votes cast.
(2) This General Assembly shall also have to decide on liquidation, if Association capital exists. In particular, the Assembly shall have to appoint a person to carry out the liquidation and to decide to whom the latter shall transfer the remaining capital once all liabilities have been paid. The remaining capital shall, where this is possible, be transferred to an organization pursuing similar or identical goals and objectives to those of the Association.