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We study time evolution of the relationship between sunspot numbers and global temperatures between 1880 and 2016 using wavelet coherence framework. The results suggest that the relationship is stable in time. Changes in the sunspot numbers precede changes in the temperatures by more than two years as suggested by the wavelet phase differences. This leading position of the sun activity is stable in time as well. However, the relationship has been disturbed by increasing $CO_2$ emissions since 1960s. Without controlling for the effect of possible global warming, or more precisely the positive connection between increasing $CO_2$ emissions and the global temperatures, the findings would have been quite different. Combination of the cointegration analysis and wavelet coherence framework has enabled uncovering a hidden relationship between the solar activity and global temperatures, and possibly explaining equivocal results in the topical literature., Comment: 16 pages, 7 figures

We examine the performance of six estimators of the power-law cross-correlations -- the detrended cross-correlation analysis, the detrending moving-average cross-correlation analysis, the height cross-correlation analysis, the averaged periodogram estimator, the cross-periodogram estimator and the local cross-Whittle estimator -- under heavy-tailed distributions. The selection of estimators allows to separate these into the time and frequency domain estimators. By varying the characteristic exponent of the $\alpha$-stable distributions which controls the tails behavior, we report several interesting findings. First, the frequency domain estimators are practically unaffected by heavy tails bias-wise. Second, the time domain estimators are upward biased for heavy tails but they have lower estimator variance than the other group for short series. Third, specific estimators are more appropriate depending on distributional properties and length of the analyzed series. In addition, we provide a discussion of implications of these results for empirical applications as well as theoretical explanations., Comment: 19 pages, 6 figures

We study power-law correlations properties of the Google search queries for Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) component stocks. Examining the daily data of the searched terms with a combination of the rescaled range and rescaled variance tests together with the detrended fluctuation analysis, we show that the searches are in fact power-law correlated with Hurst exponents between 0.8 and 1.1. The general interest in the DJIA stocks is thus strongly persistent. We further reinvestigate the cross-correlation structure between the searches, traded volume and volatility of the component stocks using the detrended cross-correlation and detrending moving-average cross-correlation coefficients. Contrary to the universal power-law correlations structure of the related Google searches, the results suggest that there is no universal relationship between the online search queries and the analyzed financial measures. Even though we confirm positive correlation for a majority of pairs, there are several pairs with insignificant or even negative correlations. In addition, the correlations vary quite strongly across scales., Comment: 22 pages, 6 figures

We inspect a possible clustering structure of the corruption perception among 134 countries. Using the average linkage clustering, we uncover a well-defined hierarchy in the relationships among countries. Four main clusters are identified and they suggest that countries worldwide can be quite well separated according to their perception of corruption. Moreover, we find a strong connection between corruption levels and a stage of development inside the clusters. The ranking of countries according to their corruption perfectly copies the ranking according to the economic performance measured by the gross domestic product per capita of the member states. To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first one to present an application of hierarchical and clustering methods to the specific case of corruption., Comment: 16 pages, 3 figures

In this note, we investigate possible relationships between the bivariate Hurst exponent $H_{xy}$ and an average of the separate Hurst exponents $\frac{1}{2}(H_x+H_y)$. We show that two cases are well theoretically founded. These are the cases when $H_{xy}=\frac{1}{2}(H_x+H_y)$ and $H_{xy}<\frac{1}{2}(H_x+H_y)$. However, we show that the case of $H_{xy}>\frac{1}{2}(H_x+H_y)$ is not possible regardless of stationarity issues. Further discussion of the implications is provided as well together with a note on the finite sample effect., Comment: 9 pages

We propose a framework combining detrended fluctuation analysis with standard regression methodology. The method is built on detrended variances and covariances and it is designed to estimate regression parameters at different scales and under potential non-stationarity and power-law correlations. The former feature allows for distinguishing between effects for a pair of variables from different temporal perspectives. The latter ones make the method a significant improvement over the standard least squares estimation. Theoretical claims are supported by Monte Carlo simulations. The method is then applied on selected examples from physics, finance, environmental science and epidemiology. For most of the studied cases, the relationship between variables of interest varies strongly across scales., Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures

We study finite sample properties of estimators of power-law cross-correlations -- detrended cross-correlation analysis (DCCA), height cross-correlation analysis (HXA) and detrending moving-average cross-correlation analysis (DMCA) -- with a special focus on short-term memory bias as well as power-law coherency. Presented broad Monte Carlo simulation study focuses on different time series lengths, specific methods' parameter setting, and memory strength. We find that each method is best suited for different time series dynamics so that there is no clear winner between the three. The method selection should be then made based on observed dynamic properties of the analyzed series., Comment: 19 pages, 18 tables

We focus on emergence of the power-law cross-correlations from processes with both short and long term memory properties. In the case of correlated error-terms, the power-law decay of the cross-correlation function comes automatically with the characteristics of separate processes. Bivariate Hurst exponent is then equal to an average of separate Hurst exponents of the analyzed processes. Strength of short term memory has no effect on these asymptotic properties. Implications of these findings for the power-law cross-correlations concept are further discussed., Comment: 6 pages

Online activity of the Internet users has been repeatedly shown to provide a rich information set for various research fields. We focus on the job-related searches on Google and their possible usefulness in the region of the Visegrad Group -- the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia. Even for rather small economies, the online searches of their inhabitants can be successfully utilized for macroeconomic predictions. Specifically, we study the unemployment rates and their interconnection to the job-related searches. We show that the Google searches strongly enhance both nowcasting and forecasting models of the unemployment rates., Comment: 22 pages, 2 figures, 3 tables

We introduce two new estimators of the bivariate Hurst exponent in the power-law cross-correlations setting -- the cross-periodogram and local $X$-Whittle estimators -- as generalizations of their univariate counterparts. As the spectrum-based estimators are dependent on a part of the spectrum taken into consideration during estimation, a simulation study showing performance of the estimators under varying bandwidth parameter as well as correlation between processes and their specification is provided as well. The newly introduced estimators are less biased than the already existent averaged periodogram estimator which, however, has slightly lower variance. The spectrum-based estimators can serve as a good complement to the popular time domain estimators., Comment: 15 pages, 4 figures

Bitcoin has emerged as a fascinating phenomenon of the financial markets. Without any central authority issuing the currency, it has been associated with controversy ever since its popularity and public interest reached high levels. Here, we contribute to the discussion by examining potential drivers of Bitcoin prices ranging from fundamental to speculative and technical sources as well as a potential influence of the Chinese market. The evolution of the relationships is examined in both time and frequency domains utilizing the continuous wavelets framework so that we comment on development of the interconnections in time but we can also distinguish between short-term and long-term connections., Comment: 19 pages, 5 figures

We introduce a new method for detection of long-range cross-correlations and multifractality - multifractal height cross-correlation analysis (MF-HXA) - based on scaling of qth order covariances. MF-HXA is a bivariate generalization of the height-height correlation analysis of Barabasi & Vicsek [Barabasi, A.L., Vicsek, T.: Multifractality of self-affine fractals, Physical Review A 44(4), 1991]. The method can be used to analyze long-range cross-correlations and multifractality between two simultaneously recorded series. We illustrate a power of the method on both simulated and real-world time series., Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures

In this paper, we present the results of Monte Carlo simulations for two popular techniques of long-range correlations detection - classical and modified rescaled range analyses. A focus is put on an effect of different distributional properties on an ability of the methods to efficiently distinguish between short and long-term memory. To do so, we analyze the behavior of the estimators for independent, short-range dependent, and long-range dependent processes with innovations from 8 different distributions. We find that apart from a combination of very high levels of kurtosis and skewness, both estimators are quite robust to distributional properties. Importantly, we show that R/S is biased upwards (yet not strongly) for short-range dependent processes, while M-R/S is strongly biased downwards for long-range dependent processes regardless of the distribution of innovations., Comment: 15 pages, 6 tables