Western Economic Association International
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 946136375
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2012–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025, Form 990-T 2025
- Location
- Fountain Valley, CA, USA
- Phone
- 7149658800
- Rating
- 85
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Economics
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $998,871
- Expenses
- $1,222,198
- Assets
- $3,906,902
- Liabilities
- $497,207
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
13 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- NANCY ROSE (PRESIDENT (THRU 06/2025))
- MAURICE OBSTFELD (PRESIDENT-ELECT/PRESIDENT)
- CAROLINE HOXBY (VICE PRESIDENT/PRESIDENT-ELECT)
- THOMAS LEMIEUX (VICE PRESIDENT)
- WADE MARTIN (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
Highest reported compensation
- WADE MARTIN (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $162,000 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
To encourage economic research and discussion and to disseminate economic knowledge through organizing conferences and publishing two scholarly journals: economic inquiry and contemporary economic policy.
What it reported doing in 2025
Annual conferences and international conferences on economics and related current events.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Earned-program. 86% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
- Distribution model
- Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.
The verdict
STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Expenses are high relative to revenue and reported officer compensation is a large share of total spending, which may reflect staffing concentration.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 79
- Transparency & Controls: 89
- Accountability: 100
- Sustainability: 32
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 95.4%; rating input score 95
- Program expense ratio: 77.6%; rating input score 78
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 5 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 83
- Compensation committee: Pass
- Independent consultant: Missing
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
- Written employment contract: Pass
- Compensation survey or study: Pass
- Board or committee approval: Pass
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: Limited
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 8 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 100
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: Pass
- Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -22.4%; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.2; rating input score 76; 76th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.13; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 13.3%; rating input score 29; 29th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 1.5% per year; rating input score 100; 20th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 0.2% per year; rating input score 100; 12th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 2.6% per year; rating input score 100; 25th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 95.4% of revenue deployed · 77.6% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 9 of 9 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $948K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $162K · 13 people listed · 5 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $142K reported
- Consistency: 26 of 26 current checks pass
- Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
- Filing history: 14 filing years from 2012 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
- Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
- People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.
- Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 6/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 29/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 31/100.