The value effects of changes in leverage: Evidence from the Travel and Leisure sector

It is well documented that the Travel and Leisure sector is capital intensive when compared to other sectors due to the high level of capital required for fixed assets. Given this, this paper examines the relation between changes in leverage and stock returns of firms in this sector, in addition to examining whether changes in leverage have any significant effect on a sector basis. Using a final sample of 173 firms over the period between 1993 and 2012, we find that leverage only acts as a significant determinant of returns in the case of highly levered firms, as would be the case in the Travel and Leisure sector

Do financial distress and liquidity crises affect value and size premiums?

This study investigates the impact of liquidity crises on the relationship between stock (value and size) premiums and default risk in the US market. It first examines whether financial distress can explain value and size premiums, and then, subsequently, aims to determine whether liquidity crises increase the risk of value and size premium investment strategies. The study employs a time-varying approach and a sample of US stock returns for the period between January 1982 and March 2011, a period which includes the current liquidity crisis, so as to examine the relationship between default risk, liquidity crises and value and size premiums. The findings indicate that the default premium has explanatory power for value and size and premiums, which affect firms with different characteristics. We also find that liquidity crises may actually increase the risks related to size and value premium strategies

L'image en expansion : plaisir de la retransmission sportive et enjeux esthétiques

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Workplace learning a sensitive matter? Employees ideas on workplace leraning in the Netherlands

In this report the Dutch outcomes of a comparative study done by the research network ‘Competence Development as Workplace Learning’ of the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) Education and the Research Hub for Lifelong Learning are presented. The idea behind the study can be found on the website of the ASEMnetwork where the following questions have been formulated: 1. what do people interpret to be ‘voluntary’ and ‘compulsory’ with respect to workplace learning, 2. what does their company or organization offer in terms of formal and non-formal work-related learning, 3. which of these are ‘voluntary’ and which ‘compulsory’ and 4. how do objective opportunities and subjective perceptions influence employees' motivation to learn at work and their satisfaction with the learning they have undertaken

The Jacob2 Lectin of the Entamoeba histolytica Cyst Wall Binds Chitin and Is Polymorphic

For many years, we and others have used cysts of Entamoeba invadens (Ei), a reptilian parasite, to model the infectious and diagnostic cysts of the human pathogen Entamoeba histolytica (Eh). The Ei cyst wall is composed of chitin fibrils, as well as Jacob and Jessie lectins that have unique chitin-binding domains. Our recent results suggest a “wattle and daub” model of the Ei cyst wall, where the wattle or sticks (chitin fibrils bound by multivalent Jacob lectins) is constructed prior to the addition of the mortar or daub (self-aggregating Jessie3 lectins). Here we “humanize” the Ei model of the cyst wall with four findings. First, a recombinant Eh Jacob2 lectin, which has three predicted chitin-binding domains surrounding a large spacer domain, binds chitin beads. Second, polymorphisms in the spacer domain of EhJacob2 discriminate clinical isolates of Entamoeba. Third, chitinase, Jacob2 lectin, and Jessie3 lectin are present in cyst walls of clinical isolates of Entamoeba. Finally, numerous sera from patients infected with Entamoeba recognize recombinant Eh Jacob1 and Jessie3 lectins