We argue against the view that it is mostly the peaks of the empirical densities of stock returns (and of other risky returns as well) that set such data aside from ‘normal’ variables. We show that peaks depend on sample size and on the way returns are standardized, and that for given data...

Stock returns are often modeled as having infinite second or fourth moments with consequences for test statistics which have not yet been fully explored. Conclusions on the existence of moments are usually drawn from a generalized Pareto or simple Pareto tail index estimate. In a recent study...

Ecological, toxicological, and pharmacological research is often concerned with the answer to the question of how a substance is processed within a biological system. The exact knowledge of the corresponding kinetic pattern forms the basis for a useful answer. In order to identify non-linear...

Econometric models are a widely used and powerful tool in macroeconomic analysis and forecasting. Admittedly, their acceptance by the scientific community has had some hard times during the seventies and eighties: a general decline in the reputation of macroeconomics, the Lucas critique, and...