The aim of this report was to investigate the economy of passive houses. The work was focused on economy in total and on the economy of different components such as windows, insulation, heat exchanger and the air tightness of the climate shell. No attention was paid on the comfort factor or to the impacts on the environment.Two houses, aspiring to be passive were chosen; A big one and a small one. Hence, comparisons considering the size of the building have been possible to do as well.The comparisons were made by calculating ?break even? between two concepts; passive and BBR- concept.

Background: The construction industry is Sweden?s single most important industry branch with a significant influence on Sweden?s wealth. The political restrictions that once controlled the industry are today almost gone. This combined with an unbalanced supply and demand situation on the Swedish constructions market, caused by urbanisation, has led to increased pressure on the Swedish construction companies who now are forced to find new methods in their struggle to contain or increase their competitive advantage. Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to survey: which strategic variables are of great importance in today?s Swedish construction industry with focus on the four main actors, JM, NCC, PEAB and Skanska.

This master thesis covers the seasonal planning of a small scale hydropower system. The system in this study is owned and operated by Mälarenergi Vattenkraft AB. The total system consists of 4 different main rivers with 24 hydropower stations and several dams. The total installed power in the system is 43.75 MW. Most of the hydropower stations are regarded as small scale hydropower stations and thus entitled to green certificates.In this report the issue of planning is formulated as an optimization problem.

In today's society it has become increasingly important for organizations to take into account non-financial values. Sustainability reporting involves reporting the economic, social and environmental aspects of an organization's operations. The trend has been towards an all the more scrutinizing society with an increasing demand for transparency and translucency. A greater focus on environmental issues has also contributed to sustainability?s increasing importance as a topic.

The purpose of this study has been to create a better understading of how face?to?face activities in course´s impacts on the experience of interaction within a course.More specifically, the study puts the student'?s perception of how mandatory face?to?face activities affect and are affected by the interaction in focus. This is done by the following research questions. What affects the student'?s perception of face?to?face activities? Which interaction dimension affects the factors that influence students perception of the activities? Which interaction dimension is influenced by the student'?s perception of the activities?The theoretical base is Wagner'?s (1994) three types of interaction and Andersson´s(2003) theory of interaction dimensions.

ABSTRACTThe aim of this quantitative study was to investigate if stress, self-efficacy and life satisfaction varied with gender and age. The sample was selectively chosen in the municipality, country council, private sector and in the trade business. 237 participants were included in the study, of which 94 were men and 143 were women. Age was split in two categories: younger adults (18-40 years) and older adults (41-65 years). The results showed that there were correlations between the dependent variables: stress, self-efficacy and life satisfaction.

Due to the globalization and the changes in the market, companies have now realized the importance of a strong brand. This has led to the phenomena outsourcing. The relation between the branding consultant and his or her client has changed. Earlier the consultants worked as a single unit and were given a task to independently accomplish the assignment. Today there has to be co-operation between the two parties.

Aim: The purpose of this work is to investigate what differences there are between a credit union that is connected to Sweden?s Credit Association and an independent association, and how these differences have affected the union?s success. Method: A qualitative study has been made by means of email and telephone interviews. Respondents were chosen from Sweden?s Credit Association, Credit Guarantee Association in Gävleborg and Övre Norrland Guarantee Association. The interviews were then analyzed in the light of our theoretical studies. Result and conclusions: We have found that there are three major differences between the unions.

Natural disasters are becoming more common due to climate change and it is important to adapt the society and its infrastructure to withstand events such as extreme rainfall. Precipitation is an important climatic factor affecting the transport and annually generates the cost of millions in damages, over the past 40 years heavy rain has increased and will continue to increase in the future. The extreme rainfall that occurred in Kramfors municipality in September 2013 led to flooding and destroyed several roads, including highway 90, which recently both had been rebuilt and given a new stretch of road. Extreme rainfall had also occurred in the municipality earlier.  The aim of the thesis was to examine how the Swedish Transport Administration handles new knowledge gained after natural disasters and how this is used in the planning of new roads.

The harness racing industry has roots hundreds of years back in time and breeders through time have changed the horses to a mix of potential, harmony and speed. Breeding has changed the conditions and created a horse that perform better and better. A risk with high-performance horses is that injuries related to training and racing may occur more often. In training and racing situations, lameness is the most common injury. There are many factors affecting the occurrence of injuries and lameness of the trotter horses, such as how the horse is trained and raced, the surface condition of the racetrack, banking and angle of the curves of the racetrack and how fast injuries are discovered and treated.

Sweden has an obligation to report child abuse suspicions to Social Services. According to Socialtjänstlagen (swedish constitution) 1 § Chapter 14, all employees in agencies affecting children, such as schools, have a responsibility to report their suspicions. Research shows that many abuses are not reported. The consequence of this is that Social Services does not hear about all cases of abused and harmed children. One profession where reporting is mandated is school counselors.

Background: During extreme market conditions like the period during fall 2008 the discussion of what affects company value becomes apparent. The capital structure is the relation between borrowed capital and equity in a company´s financing mix. What impact changes in capital structure have on company value is a widely debated subject within the theory of finance. If a relationship between capital structure and company value exists the implication is that an optimal capital structure where company value is maximized also exists.Aim: The aim of the thesis is to study whether a certain relationship between capital structure and company value exists among selected stocks and companies listed on Stockholmsbörsens OMXS30.Implementation: With aim to fulfill the purpose of the thesis regression analysis has been performed among chosen stocks and companies. The empirical results eventuating from this have been analyzed from the view of elected relevant theory.Completion and results: We find that during normal market conditions a positive relationship between debt ratio and enterprise value (EV) can be established.

There has been a dramatic increase in long-term sick leave in Sweden, which largely depends on occupational stress. Occupational stress applies particularly in relationship-intensive jobs, which means that the individual works with a lot of contact or responsibility for other people. Research has shown that attachment is relevant to the choice of coping style and perception of stress in the workplace. The aim of the present study was to investigate the relationships between attachment patterns, coping styles and occupational stress in relationship-intensive jobs and to extend previous studies by adding the variables age, work experience and education in relation to coping styles and occupational stress. The study was in quantitative form in which 186 participants from various relationship-intensive jobs across Sweden participated.

The primary purpose of this paper is to find the determinants of first-day returns on the Stockholm Stock Exchange. Our research will cover the 1996 ? 2004 periods. Our secondary purpose is intended to find a profitable trading strategy with regard to future IPOs on the Stockholm Stock Exchange. By using regression analysis, focusing on company specific factors and the IPO process, we hope to find a function exhibiting statistical significance, determining future first-day returns from which construction of a profitable trading strategy will be possible.

AbstractAuthors: Mikael Gustafsson & Kristofer von WachenfeldtTitle: With help from people and cattle; to recover from mental illness in a rural environment [translated title]Supervisor: Kent-Inge PerseiusPurpose: The aim of this study was to examine feelings of recovery from mental illness in the perspective of individuals participating in Nymålen; a rural- situated facility focusing on recreation- and work- related interventions. The study took place outside of Oskarshamn, Sweden. The study focused on if, and in that case how, Nymålen contributes to recovery from mental illness. We were also interested in which factors affecting the recovery-process, as expressed by the participants themselves.Method: Eight individuals from Nymålen participated in individually performed semi- structured interviews. The collected data was then coded and categorized to enable further analysis by using Qualitative content analysis inspired by Graneheim & Lundman (2003).