The special session on Decision Economics (DECON) is a scientific forum held annually which is
focused on sharing ideas projects research results models and experiences associated with
the complexity of behavioural decision processes and socio-economic phenomena. In 2018 DECON
was held at Campus Tecnológico de la Fábrica de Armas University of Castilla-La Mancha Toledo
Spain as part of the 15th International Conference on Distributed Computing and Artificial
Intelligence. For the third consecutive year this book have drawn inspiration from Herbert A.
Simon's interdisciplinary legacy and in particular is devoted to designs models and
techniques for boundedly rational decisions involving several fields of study and expertise.
It is worth noting that the recognition of relevant decision-making takes place in a range of
critical subject areas and research fields including economics finance information systems
small and international business management operations and production. Therefore
decision-making issues are of fundamental importance in all branches of economics addressed
with different methodological approaches. As a matter of fact the study of decision-making has
become the focus of intense research efforts both theoretical and applied forming a veritable
bridge between theory and practice as well as science and business organisations whose pillars
are based on insightful cutting-edge experimental behavioural and computational approaches on
the one hand and celebrating the value of science as well as the close relationship between
economics and complexity on the other.In this respect the international scientific community
acknowledges Herbert A. Simon's research endeavours to understand the processes involved in
economic decision-making and their implications for the advancement of economic professions.
Within the field of decision-making indeed Simon has become a mainstay of bounded
rationalityand satisficing. His rejection of the standard (unrealistic) decision-making models
adopted by neoclassical economists inspired social scientists worldwide with the purpose to
develop research programmes aimed at studying decision-making empirically experimentally and
computationally. The main achievements concern decision-making for individuals firms markets
governments institutions and last but not least science and research. This book of selected
papers tackles these issues that Simon broached in a professional career spanning more than
sixty years. The Editors of this book dedicated it to Herb.
