  The scaling properties encompass in a simple analysis many of the volatility
characteristics of financial markets. That is why we use them to probe the
different degree of markets development. We empirically study the scaling
properties of daily Foreign Exchange rates, Stock Market indices and fixed
income instruments by using the generalized Hurst approach. We show that the
scaling exponents are associated with characteristics of the specific markets
and can be used to differentiate markets in their stage of development. The
robustness of the results is tested by both Monte-Carlo studies and a
computation of the scaling in the frequency-domain.
