Proceedings of the 22nd International Scientific Conference on Applications of Mathematics and Statistics in Economics (AMSE 2019)

Every year the Scientific Committee of AMSE strives to make that particular year of the AMSE conference unique. This year has been unique on several counts. Perhaps the most credible and tangible output of the 22nd AMSE is the present collection of conference proceedings published as a special volume of the prestigious Atlantis Studies in Uncertainty Modelling. Albeit there were as many as 38 presentations held at the conference, this volume contains a mere selection of 19 papers that passed through the rigorous manner of the review process.

AMSE stands for "Applications of Mathematics and Statistics in Economics" and has been organized jointly and supportively on a rotating basis by the Faculty of Informatics and Statistics of the University of Economics in Prague (Czech Republic), the Faculty of Economics of Matej Bel University in Banská Bystrica (Slovak Republic) and the Wrocław University of Economics (Polish Republic) since 1998. The honour of organizing the 22nd AMSE fell upon the Slovak organizers who decided that the conference would take place at Nižná in the Slovak region of Orava. This was the ninth opportunity for Slovaks to organize AMSE and to host conference participants on the Slovak ground. To many, Orava is one of the nicest and most charming parts of Slovakia, which guided the process of choosing the conference venue. Nižná in Orava had proven itself a lucky choice as was later confirmed by many a conference participant.

The leitmotif of the 22nd AMSE was a threefold dedication. A first dedication was to the centennial anniversary of official statistics in Czecho-Slovakia, and the other two dedications were to commemorate and honour professional activities of the statistical agencies of the two republics that once made up Czecho-Slovakia: the Statistical Office of the Slovak Republic and the Czech Statistical Office. The dedication to official statistics was also respected and borne in mind whilst arranging the conference program. Hence, the 22nd AMSE was honoured by Marek Rojíček, the president of the Czech Statistical Office, and František Bernadič, the Vice-President of the Statistical Office of the Slovak Republic, who gave their invited lectures on the role of national statistical agencies in their countries.

Two guests accepted an invitation to give their plenary presentations at the 22nd AMSE. Professor Mikuláš Luptáčik of the Vienna University of Economics and Business (Republic of Austria) presented first qualitative results in using multi-objective mathematical programming to address the efficiency-equity trade-off. Professor Emmanuel Thanassoulis of Aston University in Birmingham (United Kingdom) exposed possibilities of using data envelopment analysis for regulatory analysis and discussed extensions of the method useful to improving the incentives aspect of regulation.

Other presenters delivered their presentations during eight regular sessions and one special session, and the 19 papers contained in this volume come from these presentations. Although only one half of the presentations were transformed into volume, in fact each session is represented. One paper falls into Applications in Insurance, four papers are related to Applications of Multivariate Methods, five papers are themed as Macroeconomic Issues I, per one paper is from Macroeconomic Issues I and II, two papers are from Social Issues I, two papers represent Social Issues II and other two papers represent Social Issues III. In addition, there is also a paper that embodies the content of the historically tended special lecture.

Many have participated in the success of the 22nd AMSE and their names appear in the listing of the Scientific Committee and the Organizing Committee. None the less, this volume would not have come into existence but for Janka Špirková who stroke upon an idea of publishing AMSE proceedings through Atlantis Press and who acted as an intermediary in establishing first contacts. A special thanks goes to Vladimír Hiadlovský, the Rector of Matej Bel University in Banská Bystrica, whose attitude was very propitious and friendly towards publishing the proceedings in this manner.

Martin Boďa
Banská Bystrica, 9 Oct 2019