Recently documented ice patch sites in the southwest Yukon are ideal for evaluating precontact hunter-gatherer land-use patterns in the western subarctic. Located in the alpine of the mountainous regions of the boreal forest, ice patches are associated with well preserved hunting equipment, caribou (Rangifer tarandus) dung and an abundance of faunal remains dating to over 8000 years ago. However, current models are inadequate for explaining caribou hunting at ice patches as they tend to emphasize large-scale communal hunts associated with latitudinal movements of caribou. Much less is known about the alititudinal movment of caribou and the associated hunting forays to ice patches in the alpine. Based on literature from caribou biology an altitudinal hunting model is proposed. During summer months caribou are predictable in their use of ice patches for relief from insect harassment. Pollen dated from caribou dung frozen in organic layers from the Granger (JdUt-1) and Friday Creek (JcUu-1) ice patches was analysed and compared to pollen assemblages from modern caribou dung to test whether ancient caribou were using these locations during summer months. The multivariate statistical technique, Nonmetric Mutlidimensional Scaling shows that ancient pollen assemblages are unlike any modern dung. Results indicate that pollen derived from dung is complex and various temporal transformations and taphonomic factors such as: (i) the use of modern analogue samples; (ii) changes in phenology; (iii) mode of pollination and; (iv) caribou feeding strategies must be understood before making interpretations on seasonality from dung pollen. I propose that a qualitative model of seasonal pollen signatures also be used to evaluate ancient pollen spectra, especially when there is no modern analogue. Regardless of these factors, the identification of a diversity of forbs and the presence of insect-pollinated taxa such as Polemonium and Epilobium suggest that some of the dung was deposited by caribou in the summer. Ancient hunters, knowing that caribou aggregate in mixed herds on ice patches in summer months, took advantage of this behaviour. Hunting equipment found on ice patches indicates that atlatls (8360± 60 to 1250± 40 yrs BP) and bow and arrows (1300 ± 70 to 90 ± 40 yrs BP) and hunting blinds were part of the ice hunting strategy. Faunal analysis suggests caribou was the primary game animal hunted at ice patches, although sheep (Ovis dalli) may have been important at some locations. Developing an altitudinal migration model provides a fuller picture of caribou hunting at alpine locations in the southwest Yukon and assists in understanding Holocene precontact hunting and land-use patterns in the western subarctic.

Flood hazard estimations are conducted with a variety of methods. These include flood frequency analysis (FFA), hydrologic and hydraulic modelling, probable maximum discharges as well as climate scenarios. However, most of these methods assume stationarity of the used time series, i.e., the series must not exhibit trends. Against the background of climate change and proven significant trends in atmospheric circulation patterns, it is questionable whether these changes are also reflected in the discharge data. The aim of this PhD thesis is therefore to clarify, in a spatially-explicit manner, whether the available discharge data derived from selected German catchments exhibit trends. Concerning the flood hazard, the suitability of the currently used stationary FFA approaches is evaluated for the discharge data. Moreover, dynamics in atmospheric circulation patterns are studied and the link between trends in these patterns and discharges is investigated. To tackle this research topic, a number of different analyses are conducted. The first part of the PhD thesis comprises the study and trend test of 145 discharge series from catchments, which cover most of Germany for the period 1951–2002. The seasonality and trend pattern of eight flood indicators, such as maximum series and peak-over-threshold series, are analyzed in a spatially-explicit manner. Analyses are performed on different spatial scales: at the local scale, through gauge-specific analyses, and on the catchment-wide and basin scales. Besides the analysis of discharge series, data on atmospheric circulation patterns (CP) are an important source of information, upon which conclusions about the flood hazard can be drawn. The analyses of these circulation patterns (after Hess und Brezowsky) and the study of the link to peak discharges form the second part of the thesis. For this, daily data on the dominant CP across Europe are studied; these are represented by different indicators, which are tested for trend. Moreover, analyses are performed to extract flood triggering circulation patterns and to estimate the flood potential of CPs. Correlations between discharge series and CP indicators are calculated to assess a possible link between them. For this research topic, data from 122 meso-scale catchments in the period 1951–2002 are used. In a third part, the Mulde catchment, a mesoscale sub-catchment of the Elbe basin, is studied in more detail. Fifteen discharge series of different lengths in the period 1910–2002 are available for the seasonally differentiated analysis of the flood potential of CPs and flood influencing landscape parameters. For trend tests of discharge and CP data, different methods are used. The Mann-Kendall test is applied with a significance level of 10%, ensuring statistically sound results. Besides the test of the entire series for trend, multiple time-varying trend tests are performed with the help of a resampling approach in order to better differentiate short-term fluctuations from long-lasting trends. Calculations of the field significance complement the flood hazard assessment for the studied regions. The present thesis shows that the flood hazard is indeed significantly increasing for selected regions in Germany during the winter season. Especially affected are the middle mountain ranges in Central Germany. This increase of the flood hazard is attributed to a longer persistence of selected CPs during winter. Increasing trends in summer floods are found in the Rhine and Danube catchments, decreasing trends in the Elbe and Weser catchments. Finally, a significant trend towards a reduced diversity of CPs is found causing fewer patterns with longer persistence to dominate the weather over Europe. The detailed study of the Mulde catchment reveals a flood regime with frequent low winter floods and fewer summer floods, which bear, however, the potential of becoming extreme. Based on the results, the use of instationary approaches for flood hazard estimation is recommended in order to account for the detected trends in many of the series. Through this methodology it is possible to directly consider temporal changes in flood series, which in turn reduces the possibility of large under- or overestimations of the extreme discharges, respectively. / Hochwasserabschätzungen werden mit Hilfe einer Vielzahl von Methoden ermittelt. Zu diesen zählen Hochwasserhäufigkeitsanalysen, die hydrologische und hydraulische Modellierung, Abschätzungen zu maximal möglichen Abflüssen wie auch Langzeitstudien und Klimaszenarien. Den meisten Methoden ist jedoch gemein, dass sie stationäre Bedingungen der beobachteten Abflussdaten annehmen. Das heißt, in den genutzten Zeitreihen dürfen keine Trends vorliegen. Vor dem Hintergrund des Klimawandels und nachgewiesener Trends in atmosphärischen Zirkulationsmustern, stellt sich jedoch die Frage, ob sich diese Veränderungen nicht auch in den Abflussdaten widerspiegeln. Ziel der Dissertation ist daher die Überprüfung der Annahme von Trendfreiheit in Abflüssen und Großwetterlagen, um zu klären, ob die aktuell genutzten stationären Verfahren zur Hochwasserbemessung für die vorhandenen Daten in Deutschland geeignet sind. Zu prüfen ist des Weiteren, inwiefern regional und saisonal eine Verschärfung bzw. Abschwächung der Hochwassergefahr beobachtet werden kann und ob eindeutige Korrelationen zwischen Abflüssen und Großwetterlagen bestehen. Den ersten Schwerpunkt der vorliegenden Dissertation bildet die deutschlandweite Analyse von 145 Abflusszeitreihen für den Zeitraum 1951–2002. Acht Hochwasserindikatoren, die verschiedene Aspekte der Hochwasser-Charakteristik beleuchten, werden analysiert und bezüglich möglicher Trends getestet. Um saisonalen Unterschieden in der Hochwassercharakteristik der einzelnen Regionen gerecht zu werden, werden neben jährlichen auch saisonale Reihen untersucht. Die Analyse von Maximalreihen wird durch Schwellenwertanalysen ergänzt, die die Hochwasserdynamik bzgl. Frequenz und Magnitude detaillierter erfassen. Die Daten werden auf verschiedenen Skalen untersucht: sowohl für jeden einzelnen Pegel wie auch für ganze Regionen und Einzugsgebiete. Nicht nur die Analyse der Abflussdaten bietet die Möglichkeit, Bewertungen für die zukünftige Hochwasserabschätzung abzuleiten. Auch Großwetterlagen bilden eine bedeutende Informationsquelle über die Hochwassergefahr, da in der Regel nur ausgewählte Zirkulationsmuster die Entstehung von Hochwasser begünstigen. Die saisonal differenzierte Untersuchung der Großwetterlagen und die Prüfung einer Korrelation zu den Abflüssen an 122 mesoskaligen Einzugsgebieten bilden deshalb den zweiten Schwerpunkt der Arbeit. Hierzu werden tägliche Daten der über Europa dominierenden Großwetterlage (nach Hess und Brezowsky) mit Hilfe verschiedener Indikatoren untersucht. Analysen zum Hochwasserpotential der einzelnen Wetterlagen und weiterer Einflussfaktoren werden für das mesoskalige Einzugsgebiet der Mulde in einer separaten Studie durchgeführt. Für diese Detail-Studie stehen 15 Abflusszeitreihen verschiedener Länge im Zeitraum 1909–2002 zur Verfügung. Um die Daten von Abflüssen und Großwetterlagen bezüglich vorhandener Trends zu testen, werden verschiedene Methoden genutzt. Der Mann-Kendall Test wird mit einem Signifikanzniveau von 10% (zweiseitiger Test) angewendet, was statistisch sichere Bewertungen ermöglicht. Neben der Prüfung der gesamten Datenreihe werden multiple zeitlich-variable Trendanalysen mit Hilfe eines Resampling-Ansatzes durchgeführt. Darüber hinaus werden räumlich differenzierte Analysen durchgeführt, um die saisonale Hochwassercharakteristik einzelner Regionen besser zu verstehen. Diese werden durch Tests zur Feldsignifikanz der Trends ergänzt. Mit der vorliegenden Arbeit kann gezeigt werden, dass die Hochwassergefahr für einzelne Regionen im Winterhalbjahr signifikant steigt. Davon sind insbesondere Gebiete in Mitteldeutschland betroffen. Die Verschärfung der Hochwassergefahr durch eine längere Persistenz ausgewählter Großwetterlagen konnte ebenfalls für das Winterhalbjahr nachgewiesen werden. Sommerhochwasser zeigen zwar ebenfalls steigende, aber auch fallende Trends, die räumlich geclustert sind. Im Elbe- und Weser-Einzugsgebiet sinken die Abflüsse signifikant, im Donau- und Rheineinzugsgebiet steigen sie nachweisbar. Darüber hinaus ist eine signifikante Abnahme der Anzahl verschiedener Großwetterlagen sowohl im Sommer als auch im Winter zu verzeichnen. Bzgl. der Studie zum Mulde-Einzugsgebiet konnte ein zweigeteiltes Hochwasserregime nachgewiesen werden. In den Wintermonaten treten häufig kleine Hochwasser auf, die auch die Mehrheit der jährlichen Maximalwerte bilden. Sommerhochwasser sind seltener, können aber extreme Ausmaße annehmen. Ein Vergleich der geschätzten Jährlichkeiten mit verschiedenen Zeitreihen zeigt die Notwendigkeit der Berücksichtigung saisonaler Aspekte für die Bemessung von Hochwassern. Aufgrund der Ergebnisse müssen die bisher genutzten stationären Verfahren als nicht mehr geeignet bewertet werden. Es wird daher die Nutzung instationärer Verfahren zur Abschätzung von Extremhochwasser und der damit verbundenen Bemessung von Schutzmaßnahmen empfohlen, um den teilweise vorliegenden Trends in den Daten Rechnung zu tragen. Durch diesen Ansatz ist es möglich, zeitlich dynamische Veränderungen im Hochwassergeschehen stärker zu berücksichtigen. Darüber hinaus sollten saisonale Aspekte des Einzugsgebietes Eingang in die Gefahrenabschätzung finden.

All animals are adapted to the environmental conditions of the habitat they chose to live in. It was the aim of this PhD-project, to show which behavioral strategies are expressed as mechanisms to cope with the constraints, which contribute to the natural selection pressure acting on individuals. For this purpose, small mammals were exposed to different levels and types of predation risk while actively foraging. Individuals were either exposed to different predator types (airborne or ground) or combinations of both, or to indirect predators (nest predators). Risk was assumed to be distributed homogeneously, so changing the habitat or temporal adaptations where not regarded as potential options. Results show that wild-caught voles have strategic answers to this homogeneously distributed risk, which is perceived by tactile, olfactory or acoustic cues. Thus, they do not have to know an absolut quality (e.g., in terms of food provisioning and risk levels of all possible habitats), but they can adapt their behavior to the actual circumstances. Deriving risk uniform levels from cues and adjusting activity levels to the perceived risk is an option to deal with predators of the same size or with unforeseeable attack rates. Experiments showed that as long as there are no safe places or times, it is best to reduce activity and behave as inconspicuous as possible as long as the costs of missed opportunities do not exceed the benefits of a higher survival probability. Test showed that these costs apparently grow faster for males than for females, especially in times of inactivity. This is supported by strong predatory pressure on the most active groups of rodents (young males, sexually active or dispersers) leading to extremely female-biased operative sex ratios in natural populations. Other groups of animals, those with parental duties such as nest guarding, for example, have to deal with the actual risk in their habitat as well. Strategies to indirect predation pressure were tested by using bank vole mothers, confronted with a nest predator that posed no actual threat to themselves but to their young (Sorex araneus). They reduced travelling and concentrated their effort in the presence of shrews, independent of the different nutritional provisioning of food by varying resource levels due to the different seasons. Additionally, they exhibited nest-guarding strategies by not foraging in the vicinity of the nest site in order to reduce conspicuous scent marks. The repetition of the experiment in summer and autumn showed that changing environmental constraints can have a severe impact on results of outdoor studies. In our case, changing resource levels changed the type of interaction between the two species. The experiments show that it is important to analyze decision making and optimality models on an individual level, and, when that is not possible (maybe because of the constraints of field work), groups of animals should be classified by using the least common denominator that can be identified (such as sex, age, origin or kinship). This will control for the effects of the sex or stage of life history or the individual´s reproductive and nutritional status on decision making and will narrow the wide behavioral variability associated with the complex term of optimality. / Das Verhalten von Tieren ist das Ergebnis eines kontinuierlichen Anpassungsprozesses im Laufe der Evolution einer Art und damit der Veränderung der Umgebung in der es lebt und der Interaktion mit anderen Arten. Dies wird besonders deutlich im Verhalten von potentiellen Beutetieren, ihre Strategien beinhalten meist ein möglichst unauffälliges Verhalten im Zusammenspiel mit reduzierter Bewegung und möglichst guter Tarnung. Dementgegen stehen essentielle Bedürfnisse, wie zum Beispiel die Nahrungssuche, die Verteidigung von Ressourcen (zum Beispiel Territorien, Futterstellen) und die Suche nach Paarungspartnern. Beutetiere leben also in einem Spannungsfeld indem sie Ihr Verhalten optimieren müssen. Hierbei stehen die Ernährung, erfolgreiche Verpaarung und andere Chancen auf der einen Seite, die Vermeidung von Begegnungen mit Prädatoren auf der anderen. Vor allem Kleinsäuger sind häufig als Beutetiere mit einer Vielzahl von Prädatoren aus der Luft und auf dem Boden konfrontiert. Sie müssen für die verschiedenen Bedrohungen adaptive Verhaltensanpassungen bereit haben und in der Lage sein, auf die optischen, olfaktorischen oder akustischen Signale, die die Gefahr durch Prädatoren anzeigen, mit plastischen Verhaltensmustern zu reagieren. Die vorliegende Dissertation beschäftigt sich mit bisher als Konstanten behandelten Faktoren und untersucht anhand von Verhaltensexperimenten mit wilden Wühlmäusen (Microtus arvalis) folgende Fragestellungen: - Wie verhalten sich Tiere, die einer homogenen Risikoverteilung ausgesetzt sind, zum Beispiel weil ihr Prädator genauso gross ist wie sie, im gleichen Habitat lebt und es keinen sicheren Ort gibt? - Mit welchen Anpassungen reagieren Tiere, wenn sie gleichzeitig verschiedenen Prädatoren ausgesetzt sind? - Wie unterscheiden sich die Nahrungssuchstrategien von Männchen und Weibchen? - Wie verhalten sich laktierende Weibchen, die einer permanenten, indirekten Gefahr, z.B. durch einen Nestprädator ausgesetzt sind? Die Ergebnisse der verschiedenen Versuche in künstlichen Arenen und Aussengehegen zeigen, dass die Mäuse in der Lage sind, adaptive Verhaltensanpassung an homogenes Risiko und verschiedene Prädationstypen abzurufen. So sind sie in der Lage, Luft- von Bodenprädatoren zu unterscheiden und jeweils das Verhalten zu zeigen, dass die größtmögliche Sicherheit mit sich bringt. Die simultane Kombination von verschiedenen Prädatoren bewirkt hierbei additive Effekte. Gibt es keine Auswahl zwischen Habitaten, sondern nur unterschiedliche homogene Risikolevel, reagieren sie auf steigendes Risiko immer mit verminderter Aktivität und konzentrieren ihre Nahrungssuche auf weniger Futterstellen, beuten diese dafür jedoch länger aus. Die Wertigkeit von Futterstellen und alternativen Optionen verändert sich also mit dem Risikolevel. Ähnliches zeigt sich auch in den unterschiedlichen Futtersuchstrategien von Männchen und Weibchen. Die untersuchte Art ist polygyn und multivoltin, dementsprechend verbinden die Männchen mit ihrer Nahrungssuche Aktivitäten wie die Suche nach Paarungspartnern und unterscheiden sich die Aktivitätsmuster zwischen Männchen und Weibchen. Zusätzlich zeigen die Ergebnisse, das laktierende Weibchen in der Lage sind, das Risiko für sich und für Ihre Jungen abzuschätzen, wenn sie mit einem Nestprädator (Sorex araneus) konfrontiert werden. Für die Interaktion zwischen diesen beiden Arten ist jedoch die Saison (und damit die Ressourcenlage), in der sie sich begegnen, von entscheidender Bedeutung. Wühlmäuse reagieren mit entsprechenden Verhaltensanpassungen zum Schutz des Nestes um die Überlebenschancen ihrer letzten Würfe im Herbst zu erhöhen. Die vorliegende Arbeit konnte grundsätzliche Probleme der antiprädatorischen Verhaltensanpassung von Beutetieren klären und wichtige Faktoren der Entscheidungsfindung unter Prädationsdruck analysieren. Sie zeigt, dass Tiere das Risiko in ihrer Umgebung nicht unbedingt über direkt Signale wahrnehmen, sondern ihre Verhaltensstrategien einem empfundenen Gesamtrisikolevel anpassen. Dies ermöglicht ihnen, adaptive Strategien zu verfolgen, auch wenn sie keine Auswahl an sicheren Habitaten haben. Sie zeigt auch die unterschiedliche Wahrnehmung von Risiken durch Männchen und Weibchen, die durch die unterschiedlichen mit der Aktivität zusätzlich wahrgenommenen Chancen verknüpft zu sein scheint. Zusätzlich wurde der Einfluss des reproduktiven Status (z.B. laktierend), sowie der Ressourcenlage (z. B. je nach Saison) nachgewiesen.

This study examines how people in dryland areas cope with food insecurity and adversities over time. It draws from the experience of the Gogo people living in Mvumi in the semiarid zone of central Tanzania, an area with a long history of food shortages. The study specifically examines the potential for dryland resources to sustain livelihoods. The study looks at the historical perspective of the problem in order to explore factors influencing the food situation in the area. It specifically investigates the role of local knowledge as a factor for adapting to dryland conditions by exploiting seasonality and local diversity. A detailed account is made of the coping strategies among three identified wealth groups in the area. Apart from their wealth levels, households in these wealth categories differ in how they mobilise and deal with labour in various seasons. Households in the well-off group have greater ability in mobilising and using external labour as well as accumulating and managing food surplus. The households in the intermediate group are flexible in utilising their own labour by performing various farm and non-farm activities according to their seasonalities. The households in the poor category sell their own labour and perform various farm and non-farm activities regardless of the season. It is clear from the study that different wealth groups differ in their ability to develop immediate coping into more pro-active livelihood strategies. The study winds up by assessing the potentials of the prominent land resource utilisation strategies in terms of economic, social and environmental perspectives.

This thesis examines seasonal, diel and vertical distribution patterns of activity of host-seeking Ixodes ricinus (L.) ticks at three localities in south-central Sweden. In addition, by examining the prevalence of infection in ticks with Lyme borreliosis (LB) spirochetes, Borrelia burgdorferi s.l, information for estimating relative LB risk in humans and the effect of control measures directed against this tick vector is provided. The seasonal activity pattern of I. ricinus was, in general, bimodal with peaks of activity in May-June and August-September. Tick densities were generally high at Torö and low at Kungshamn-Morga. The greatest variation in tick density occurred at the sample site level, which indicated a patchy distribution of ticks. The diel activity of adult I. ricinus sampled at Bogesund showed a distinct nocturnal activity peak while nymphal ticks exhibited no particular diel variation. At the meadow site, there was a strong negative association between activity of each tick stage and ambient air temperature, and larval ticks also showed a nocturnal activity peak. I. ricinus of all stages were present in the vegetation up to at least 140 cm above ground level. At Torö, host-seeking larvae were found at significantly lower levels (below 20 cm) in the vegetation compared to nymphs and adults (50-59 and 60-79 cm, respectively). Vegetation structure is likely to be the main factor governing tick vertical distribution at this locality. The northern limit of the geographical distribution of I. ricinus in Sweden corresponds with the southern boundary of the taiga zone, as well as with several other climatic or vegetational isoclines primarily associated with the vegetation period. The prevalence rates of Borrelia spirochetes, recorded by phase-contrast microscopy in host-seeking I. ricinus, were 0% in larvae, 5.8-13.1% in nymphs and 14.5-28.6% in adult ticks. The human LB risk, estimated by the number of Borrelia-infected nymphs per hectare, was greater at Torö than at Kungshamn-Morga and greater in woodland than in open areas. The risk also possessed a bimodal seasonal pattern similar to that of subadult host-seeking activity. Controlling the number of infected nymphs through de-ticking of reservoir hosts seems not to be an effective control measure in Sweden due to the ubiquitous availability of alternative reservoir hosts.

The Chinese stock market is a remarkable emerging market, the two stock markets Shanghai and Shenzhen Stock Exchanges were both established in 1990, and since then they have been playing a very important role in Chinese economy. More and more attention is focused on the emerging Chinese market, and investors have been trying to find the opportunity to achieve abnormal returns through the Chinese stock market. We name this phenomenon market efficiency anomaly, one pattern of which is seasonality effect. In our study, we would like to choose the seasonality effect as the approach. This study focuses on Shanghai Stock Exchange Composite Index, and we settle two research questions: Does seasonality effect exist in Chinese Stock exchange? Is the seasonality effect persistent over times?We try to test the seasonality in Chinese stock market by day of the week effect, January effect and semi-month effect. Deductive approach and quantitative research method are used in this thesis. To analyze seasonality effect, the data has been collected from Shanghai Stock Exchange Index and has been tested in four periods: 1992-1996,1997-2001, 2002-2006 and the whole period 1992-2006. Null hypothesis and T-test with α=0.05 is used to test the seasonality effect. The results show that seasonal anomalies like Day of the week effect, positive March effect, and negative July effect exist in the Chinese stock market, while semi-month effect does not occur significantly; but the existing seasonal effect is not persistent over times. The above indicates that the Chinese stock market is not fully efficient yet. Investors may have opportunities to make use of the seasonal anomalies to earn abnormal return.

In this study, I describe the seasonality of reproduction in bottlenose dolphins by examining data from stranded animals, photographic surveys and focal follows. I examined inter-birth intervals from focal follows of known female dolphins. I found bottlenose dolphins that frequent the coastal waters of North Carolina to be comprised of at least two populations; one with a primarily spring birthing peak and a presumed second (or second and third) with two smaller birthing peaks in the fall and winter. These animals are reproducing at 2-3 year inter-birth intervals, which are shorter than bottlenose dolphin inter-birth intervals in the Moray Firth, Scotland, Shark Bay, Australia, or Sarasota Bay, FL. A decrease in reproductive intervals can indicate a density-dependent response to an anthropogenic disturbance or a natural change. Association patterns between and among these known females revealed relationships that have persisted for more than a decade. Most association patterns of the female dolphins in this area are long-term casual acquaintances which are evident in the fission-fusion grouping pattern, and individuals are not highly gregarious. Females appear to associate with most other females in the local area and do not form bands, as defined by researchers in Sarasota, FL (Wells et al. 1987). However, females do exhibit preferred associates, with whom they associate, regardless of reproductive state. Associations of females with young of the year were slightly stronger than associations between females with different aged calves, except for preferred associates. Future work will include genetic research on some of these known females, and continued study of the life and reproductive histories of these known females and their offspring. / Dissertation

This is a case study on a water sports facility named Liquid Leisure which is owned by Stuart Marston. The aim of this case study is to get a deeper understanding of Liquid Leisure’s capital and business structure and how it affects Liquid Leisure when trying to raise capital. It will also look at potential knowledge gaps within Liquid Leisure and how these potential gaps have formed Liquid Leisure as a company. There are a significant number of research that point out that small/family businesses operates in different ways compared to large businesses. Because of these deviations it is important to know how small/family businesses think to get an understanding of their advantages and disadvantages. This research will provide a deeper understanding of Liquid Leisure as a small/family businesses and how they address corporate governance, bootstrapping and the agency problem. It will also give an understanding of the advantages and disadvantages facing Liquid Leisure when raising debt and equity. These aspects have been compared to the complexity in the characteristics of small/family businesses. This will later be compared to Stuart Marston’s views and how Liquid Leisure is being operated. The results shows that Liquid Leisure has some characteristics in common with other small/family businesses but that Stuart’s behaviour create some complications for Liquid Leisure.

No description available.

GARCH models have been widely used in finance to model volatility ever since the introduction of the ARCH model and its extension to the generalized ARCH (GARCH) model. Lately, there has been growing interest in modelling seasonal volatility, most recently with the introduction of the multiplicative seasonal GARCH models. As an application of the multiplicative seasonal GARCH model with real data, call prices from the major stock market index of India are calculated using estimated parameter values. It is shown that a multiplicative seasonal GARCH option pricing model outperforms the Black-Scholes formula and a GARCH(1,1) option pricing formula. A parametric bootstrap procedure is also employed to obtain an interval approximation of the call price. Narrower confidence intervals are obtained using the multiplicative seasonal GARCH model than the intervals provided by the GARCH(1,1) model for data that exhibits multiplicative seasonal GARCH volatility.