Proceedings of the 20th International Academic Conference, Madrid

Dear Authors, esteemed Readers,

It is with deep satisfaction that I write this Foreword to the Proceedings of the IISES 20th International Academic Conference held in Madrid, Spain, in October 6-9, 2015.

The conference particularly encouraged the interaction of research students and developing academics with the more established academic community in an informal setting to present and to discuss new and current work. Their contributions helped to make the conference as outstanding as it has been. The papers contributed the most recent scientific knowledge known in the field of Business and Economics, Social Sciences and Humanities, Teaching and Education, Law in Society, Environment and Sustainable Development, Health and Welfare, Quantitative Methods and Energy Resources and Policy.

In addition to the contributed papers, a keynote speech was given by Professor Takayasu Ito from the School of Commerce, Meiji University, Tokyo, Japan who spoke about Does the Fisher Hypothesis Hold in Sweden? An Analysis of Long-Term Interest Rates under the Regime of Inflation Targeting.

These Proceedings will furnish the scientists of the world with an excellent reference book. I trust also that this will be an impetus to stimulate further study and research in all these areas.

We thank all authors and participants for their contributions.

Robert Holman
Conference Chair