Market Reactions To Company Layoffs: Evidence On The Financial Distress Versus Potential Benefit Hypothesis And The Effect Of Predisclosure Information

The current study extends theory developed by Malatesta and Thompson (1985) to the area of corporate downsizing, and finds that the magnitude of the stock price reaction to announcements of corporate layoffs is a function of two factors, (1) the economic impact of the announced layoff, and, (2) the degree to which the announcement and signal about the underlying conditions related to the announcement have been anticipated by investors and incorporated previously into the stock price (predisclosure information). For firms experiencing a negative overall stock price reaction at the date of a layoff announcement, the larger the layoff (proxy for economic impact), the more negative the stock price reaction.  Also for these firms, the smaller the firm size (proxy for the level of predisclosure information), the more negative the stock price reaction. This provides evidence that for some firms, the financial distress effect dominates, and the market incorporates previously unknown negative information into the stock price, which results in the negative stock price reaction.  For these firms, the larger the impact and the less the event is anticipated, the more negative is the stock price reaction. For firms experiencing a positive overall stock price reaction at the date of a layoff announcement, the larger the layoff (proxy for economic impact), the more positive the stock price reaction.  Also for these firms, the smaller the firm size (proxy for level of predisclosure information), the more positive the stock price reaction. This provides evidence that for some firms, the potential benefit effect dominates.  The market has previously incorporated negative information associated with the conditions leading up the layoff, and is now incorporating positive information about the benefits to be achieved by the layoff, which results in the positive stock price reaction.  For these firms, the larger the impact and the less the event is anticipated, the more positive is the stock price reaction. In this study, hypotheses are developed which combine the effects of both economic impact and predisclosure information with the financial distress and potential benefit hypotheses developed in prior research in corporate downsizing.  Instead of offering the these two hypotheses as competing and mutually exclusive, evidence is provided that supports the conclusion that these hypotheses simultaneously explain concurrent and additive effects on the stock price reaction to announcements of company layoffs.  Finally, results indicate that the relationship between economic impact, predisclosure information and stock price reaction to layoff announcements depends on the relative dominance of the signals provided by the layoff about both financial distress and potential benefit

Design and test of a 100 ampere-hour nickel cadmium battery module

A feasibility study was conducted on the design and construction of a flight-worthy replaceable battery module consisting of four 100 A.H. nickel-cadmium rechargeable cells for large manned space vehicles. The module is planned to weigh less than 43 pounds and be fully maintainable in a zero-g environment by one man without use of special tools. An active environmental control system was designed for the temperature control of the module

A cluster theory for a Janus fluid

Recent Monte Carlo simulations on the Kern and Frenkel model of a Janus fluid have revealed that in the vapour phase there is the formation of preferred clusters made up of a well-defined number of particles: the micelles and the vesicles. A cluster theory is developed to approximate the exact clustering properties stemming from the simulations. It is shown that the theory is able to reproduce the micellisation phenomenon.Comment: 27 pages, 8 figures, 6 table

Neural noise distorts perceived motion: the special case of the freezing illusion and the Pavard and Berthoz effect

When a slowly moving pattern is presented on a monitor which itself is moved, the pattern appears to freeze on the screen (Mesland and Wertheim in Vis Res 36(20):3325–3328, 1996) even if we move our head with the monitor, as with a head mounted display (Pavard and Berthoz in Perception 6:529–540, 1977). We present a simple model of these phenomena, which states that the perceived relative velocity between two stimuli (the pattern and the moving monitor) is proportional to the difference between the perceived velocities of these stimuli in space, minus a noise factor. The latter reflects the intrinsic noise in the neural signals that encode retinal image velocities. With noise levels derived from the literature the model fits empirical data well and also predicts strong distortions of visually perceived motion during vestibular stimulation, thus explaining both illusions as resulting from the same mechanism

Quasi-Moessbauer effect in two dimensions

Expressions for the absorption spectrum of a nucleus in a three- and a two-dimensional crystal respectively are obtained analytically at zero and at finite temperature respectively. It is found that for finite temperature in two dimensions the Moessbauer effect vanishes but is replaced by what we call a Quasi-Moessbauer effect. Possibilities to identify two-dimensional elastic behavior are discussed.Comment: 18 pages, 5 figures, notation simplifie

Trends of Incidence and Survival of Gastrointestinal Neuroendocrine Tumors in the United States: A Seer Analysis

OBJECTIVES: To examine trends in detection and survival of hollow viscus gastrointestinal neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) across time and geographic regions of the U.S

Natural selection favoring more transmissible HIV detected in United States molecular transmission network.

HIV molecular epidemiology can identify clusters of individuals with elevated rates of HIV transmission. These variable transmission rates are primarily driven by host risk behavior; however, the effect of viral traits on variable transmission rates is poorly understood. Viral load, the concentration of HIV in blood, is a heritable viral trait that influences HIV infectiousness and disease progression. Here, we reconstruct HIV genetic transmission clusters using data from the United States National HIV Surveillance System and report that viruses in clusters, inferred to be frequently transmitted, have higher viral loads at diagnosis. Further, viral load is higher in people in larger clusters and with increased network connectivity, suggesting that HIV in the United States is experiencing natural selection to be more infectious and virulent. We also observe a concurrent increase in viral load at diagnosis over the last decade. This evolutionary trajectory may be slowed by prevention strategies prioritized toward rapidly growing transmission clusters

Surface Core-Level Shifts of Ta(110) and W(110) vs. Alkali-Atom Coverage: Implications for theAlkali-Substrate Interaction

The change in the average surface-atom core-level shift (SCS) produced by submonolayer coverages of alkali adsorbates is quite small for both Ta(110) and W(110), less than 45 meV in magnitude. The small change of the measured SCS’s as a function of coverage decisively supports the covalent-bonding picture of alkali adsorption proposed by Ishida and Terakura

Transcriptomic Analysis of Light-Induced Genes in Nasonia vitripennis:Possible Implications for Circadian Light Entrainment Pathways

Circadian entrainment to the environmental day–night cycle is essential for the optimal use of environmental resources. In insects, opsin-based photoreception in the compound eye and ocelli and CRYPTOCHROME1 (CRY1) in circadian clock neurons are thought to be involved in sensing photic information, but the genetic regulation of circadian light entrainment in species without light-sensitive CRY1 remains unclear. To elucidate a possible CRY1-independent light transduction cascade, we analyzed light-induced gene expression through RNA-sequencing in Nasonia vitripennis. Entrained wasps were subjected to a light pulse in the subjective night to reset the circadian clock, and light-induced changes in gene expression were characterized at four different time points in wasp heads. We used co-expression, functional annotation, and transcription factor binding motif analyses to gain insight into the molecular pathways in response to acute light stimulus and to form hypotheses about the circadian light-resetting pathway. Maximal gene induction was found after 2 h of light stimulation (1432 genes), and this included the opsin gene opblue and the core clock genes cry2 and npas2. Pathway and cluster analyses revealed light activation of glutamatergic and GABA-ergic neurotransmission, including CREB and AP-1 transcription pathway signaling. This suggests that circadian photic entrainment in Nasonia may require pathways that are similar to those in mammals. We propose a model for hymenopteran circadian light-resetting that involves opsin-based photoreception, glutamatergic neurotransmission, and gene induction of cry2 and npas2 to reset the circadian clock.</p