We test for departures from normal and independent and identically distributed (NIID) returns, when returns under the alternative hypothesis are self-affine. Self-affine returns are either fractionally integrated and long-range dependent, or drawn randomly from an L-stable distribution with...

Fractal analysis is carried out on the stock market indices of seven European countries and the US. We find evidence of long range dependence in the log return series of the Mibtel (Italy) and the PX Glob (Czech Republic). Long range dependence implies that predictable patterns in the log...

The"distance effect"measuring the elasticity of trade flows to distance has been rising since the early 1970s in a host of studies based on the gravity model, leading observers to call it the"distance puzzle". This paper reviews the evidence and explanations. Using an extensive data set of 124...

Onchocerciasis is a devastating African parasitical disease that causes severe debilitation and intense itching. By the time its victims are in their late twenties, they experience impaired vision, often blindness. Millions continued to succumb to the disease until the onchocerciasis control...