Thalia

The new science of econophysics has arisen out of the information age. As large-scale economic data are being increasingly generated by industries and enterprises worldwide, researchers from fields such as physics, mathematics, and information sciences are becoming involved. The vast number of transactions taking place, both in the financial markets and in the retail sector, is usually studied by economists and management and now by econophysicists. Using cutting-edge tools of computational analysis while searching for regularities and "laws" such as those found in the natural sciences, econophysicists have come up with intriguing results. The ultimate aim is to establish fundamental data collection and analysis techniques that embrace the expertise of a variety of academic disciplines. This book comprises selected papers from the international conference on novel analytical approaches to economic data held in Tokyo in March 2009. The papers include detailed reports on the market behavior during the financial crisis of 2008 and discussions on the mechanism of bubbles and crashes, with proposals for avoiding new crises. Filled with up-to-date research, this book will interest researchers and students, finance professionals, and scholars in diverse fields.