Focus on statistical physics modeling in economics and finance

This focus issue presents a collection of papers on recent results in statistical physics modeling in economics and finance, commonly known as econophysics. We touch briefly on the history of this relatively new multi-disciplinary field, summarize the motivations behind its emergence and try to characterize its specific features. We point out some research aspects that must be improved and briefly discuss the topics the research field is moving toward. Finally, we give a short account of the papers collected in this issue.