University of Saskatchewan

About: University of Saskatchewan is a education organization based out in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Health care. The organization has 25021 authors who have published 52579 publications receiving 1483049 citations. The organization is also known as: USask.

Disclosure Policy, Information Asymmetry, and Liquidity in Equity Markets*

Abstract: . This study investigates the relation between disclosure policy and liquidity in equity markets. Disclosure policy influences market liquidity because uninformed investors “price protect” against adverse selection, and this price protection is manifested in market liquidity. Bid-ask spreads, the empirical measure of market liquidity used in this study, are predicted to be inversely related to disclosure policy. In addition, increased trading by informed traders and higher probability of information event occurrence are predicted to both increase spreads and intensify the relation between spreads and disclosure policy. These predictions apply during periods in which no news about the firm is disclosed or pending. The results show that relative bid-ask spreads for firms with disclosure rankings in the bottom third of the empirical distribution are approximately 50 percent higher than spreads for firms with disclosure rankings in the top third of the empirical distribution. Tests that assume endogenous disclosure policy reveal a significant negative relation between disclosure policy and spreads, even after controlling for the effects of return volatility, trading volume, and share price. Tests for cross-sectional variation in spreads and for the sensitivity of spreads to disclosure policy based on informed trade activity and probability of information event occurrence are generally consistent with the predictions, though these results are not statistically significant. The findings of this study are consistent with the notion that a well-regarded disclosure policy reduces information asymmetry and hence increases liquidity in equity markets. Resume. L'auteur analyse la relation entre la politique d'information et la liquidite des marches d'actions. La politique d'information influe sur la liquidite du marche, etant donne que les investisseurs non informes se protegent contre les choix prejudiciables en ce qui a trait aux cours, comportement de protection qui se manifeste dans la liquidite du marche. Les ecarts entre les cours acheteur et vendeur, la mesure empirique de la liquidite du marche utilisee dans la presente etude, devraient presenter, selon les previsions, une relation inverse avec la politique d'information. De plus, l'intensification de l'activite des negociateurs informes et la probabilite accrue de l'occurrence d'un evenement d'information devraient, selon les previsions, augmenter tous les deux les ecarts et consolider la relation entre les ecarts et la politique d'information. Ces previsions s'appliquent aux cours des periodes dans lesquelles aucune information nouvelle au sujet de l'entreprise n'est publiee ou n'est sur le point de l'etre. Les resultats demontrent que les ecarts relatifs entre cours acheteur et vendeur des entreprises dont la publication d'information les place dans le tiers inferieur de la distribution empirique sont d'environ 50 pour cent superieurs aux ecarts des entreprises dont la publication d'information les place dans le tiers superieur de la distribution empirique. Les tests qui supposent une politique d'information endogene revelent une relation negative significative entre la politique d'information et les ecarts, meme apres avoir controle les consequences de la volatilite du rendement, le volume des operations et le cours de l'action. Les tests relatifs a la variation transversale des ecarts et de la sensibilite des ecarts a la politique d'information, basee sur l'activite de negociation informee et la probabilite d'occurrence d'un evenement d'information, sont generalement conformes aux previsions, bien que les resultats n'en soient pas statistiquement significatifs. Les conclusions de l'etude confirment le principe selon lequel une politique d'information bien pensee reduit l'asymetrie de l'information et, par consequent, augmente la liquidite des marches d'actions.

Waste cooking oil – an economical source for biodiesel: a review

Abstract: Biodiesel (fatty acid methyl ester) is a nontoxic and biodegradable alternative fuel that is obtained from renewable sources. A major hurdle in the commercialization of biodiesel from virgin oil, in comparison to petroleum-based diesel fuel, is its cost of manufacturing, primarily the raw material cost. Used cooking oil is one of the economical sources for biodiesel production. However, the products formed during frying, such as free fatty acid and some polymerized triglycerides, can affect the transesterification reaction and the biodiesel properties. Apart from this phenomenon, the biodiesel obtained from waste cooking oil gives better engine performance and less emissions when tested on commercial diesel engines. The present paper attempts to review methods for the transesterification of waste cooking oil and the performance of biodiesel obtained from waste cooking oil in a commercial diesel engine. The paper also examines the basic chemistry involved during frying and the effects of the products formed in the frying process on biodiesel quality.

The Use of β-Agonists and the Risk of Death and near Death from Asthma

Abstract: Background. Morbidity and mortality from asthma appear to be increasing, and it has been suggested that medications used to treat asthma are contributing to this trend. We investigated a possible association between death or near death from asthma and the regular use of β2-agonist bronchodilators. Methods. Using linked health insurance data bases from Saskatchewan, Canada, we conducted a matched case–control study of subjects drawn from a cohort of 12,301 patients for whom asthma medications had been prescribed between 1978 and 1987. We matched 129 case patients who had fatal or near-fatal asthma with 655 controls (who had received medications for asthma but had not had fatal or near-fatal events) with respect to region of residence, age, receipt of social assistance, and previous hospitalization for asthma. Results. The use of β-agonists administered by a metered-dose inhaler was associated with an increased risk of death from asthma (odds ratio, 2.6 per canister per month; 95 percent confidence...

The Genome Sequence of Taurine Cattle: A Window to Ruminant Biology and Evolution

Abstract: To understand the biology and evolution of ruminants, the cattle genome was sequenced to about sevenfold coverage. The cattle genome contains a minimum of 22,000 genes, with a core set of 14,345 orthologs shared among seven mammalian species of which 1217 are absent or undetected in noneutherian (marsupial or monotreme) genomes. Cattle-specific evolutionary breakpoint regions in chromosomes have a higher density of segmental duplications, enrichment of repetitive elements, and species-specific variations in genes associated with lactation and immune responsiveness. Genes involved in metabolism are generally highly conserved, although five metabolic genes are deleted or extensively diverged from their human orthologs. The cattle genome sequence thus provides a resource for understanding mammalian evolution and accelerating livestock genetic improvement for milk and meat production.