The aim of this study is to examine whether the two factors SMB and HML in the Fama-French Three Factor Model proxy for default risk. The study is based on companies noted on the Stockholm Stock Exchange between 2003 and 2008. These companies are used to create the factors SMB and HML, as well as a default risk factor we call RMS. In a first set of regressions, we examine the explanatory power of the original Fama-French model on a set of portfolios consisting of Swedish companies of different size and book-to-market ratio. The default risk factor RMS is then added to the original Fama-French model.

The acid deposition of sulphur- and nitrogenoxides from combustion of coal and oil cause acidification that lowers pH and gives increased contents of metals and altered aquatic biodiversity in the stream. The liming of lakes and streams, which was introduced to resist the acidification, demand large economic resourses despite of the decreased deposition of the acidifyng substances. Some of the streams are influenced by the acid deposition, while others are naturally acidic. It is therefore importaint to separate the anthropogenically acidified waters from the naturally acidic, in order to optimize the use of governmental fundings for liming. This thesis aims to estimate the acidity status and impact of acidification on 24 catchments upstream liming dispensers, which is part of the liming activities at the County of Dalarna.The acidity status of the streams was classified according to the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency old classification system (Naturvårdsverket 1999) as very acid to acid, with small ability to withstand a pH-change (alkalinity) due to acid deposition.

The aim of this study was to compare unemployed and workers' life situation and the way they cope with different situations and to determine their degree of Type A. We used two different instruments: Friedman and Rosenman?s Type A-test and Carver?s cope test. The total number of respondents amounted to 169 participants. The participants were selected from a convenience sample at the employment service and from three different companies.

The aim of my study is to critically analyse the discourse behind two different integration projects in Sweden, by using post colonial theory. My hypothesis is that many projects intended for increased integration includes a view of immigrants as the ?Others? which can be seen in how one talks about integration and culture in the discourse behind integration projects.The first of these two projects aims at increased diversity in the cultural sphere, organized on at state level. The purpose of the second project is to increase the communication and results for schools in areas with a high rate of immigrants in Malmö. In my study I make a discourse analysis of the discourse behind these two projects and study how they are motivated and how one conceptualise culture and integration in these documents.

The purposes of this thesis is study the European Court of Justice from a non legal perspective and investigate the courts possibility to advance its own preferred goals rather that of the member states in cases of non-compliance. Drawing on general principal-agent theory I construct a model from which I derive certain hypothesis mainly about under what circumstances we should expect the Court to be more sensitive to member states preferences and under what circumstances we should expect the Court to be less sensitive. These hypotheses are then tested empirically against all cases of non-compliance initiated by the European Commission against member states between 1953-2000. The results from the study are rather positive. The most important result is that when the threat of sanctions against the Court increases so does the Courts sensitiveness to member states preferences and when it decreases so does the Courts sensitiveness..

The main purpose of this examination paper has been to do a review of recent scientific and evaluated studies performed on children 0-15 years of age, treated with an animal as an assistant to the therapist/professional. The key term is Animal Assisted Therapy (AAT). Our focus has been to describe in what fields these kinds of studies have been performed, what the results are and how effective they have been. As a supplement to our study we have performed 8 short telephone interviews with professionals in the same field of occupation corresponding to the studies we have summarized. Our results concerning the studies show that there has been a positive outcome in the treatment of children and adolescents and AAT.

The aim of this study is to examine the word acquisition, focusing on the nouns and word exercises, in two Swedish textbooks for German in the upper secondary school. The chosen method for investigating the nouns was corpus analysis. The noun frequency and distribution in the textbooks were analysed and discussed in relation to research in second language acquisition. The Involvement Load Hypothesis by Batia Laufer and Jan Hulstijn was used to examine the exercises in the textbooks. The study showed that most nouns only occurred once in the textbooks, but the most frequent nouns were well spread in the textbooks.

The aim of this thesis is to investigate how Bahamas, a magazine belonging to the antideutsche current in German left-wing politics, acted during a two year period between the summer 2001 and 2003. When explaining the anti-deutsche phenomena and the editors? politics it is common to take the currents own history-writing as a fact, thus presenting the development of the current as a reaction to outside factors and impulses outside. In this thesis it is stressed that the editors are far from only passively reacting, rather the opposite is true. I claim that the editors have a fixed ideology that they strive to implant in to certain parts of the radical left.

The limit for mercury in fish, set by health authorities, is exceeded in about half of the lakes in Sweden. Methyl mercury (MeHg) is the most toxic form of mercury and accumulates in fish. Therefore transformation of inorganic mercury (Hg) to methylmercury (MeHg) is an important process that we need to understand in order to possibly counteract the negative effects of mercury in the environment. The seasonal dynamics of mercury biogeochemistry is likely of great importance for the accumulation of MeHg in the aquatic food web. In thesis the chemical speciation and transformations of Hg and MeHg in bottom waters and sediments is followed in Ängessjön, a small lake located on the east coast in the middle of Sweden. The lake is not directly affected by any industrial pollution and concentrations of Hg in the sediment reflect the atmospheric deposition in this area, as well as processes taking place along the hydrological pathways from soil to lake. Samples from sediment, bottom- and streamwater were collected in average every second month during the period Feb.

Syftet med det här arbetet var att presentera några faktorer som hindrar eleverna i år nio från att uppfylla sin önskan om att lära sig kommunicera på franska och därmed att uppfylla kursplanens mål angående muntlig kommunikation. För att kunna ge exempel på sådana faktorer har jag studerat litteratur och tidigare forskning samt genomfört fyra kvalitativa intervjuer med elever i år nio. Undersökningarna visade att kommunikativ kompetens är ett komplext begrepp. Det medför att anledningarna till att eleverna inte kommunicerar varierar. De faktorer jag har presenterat som hindrar eleverna från att kommunicera är: otillräcklig mängd av och svårighetsgrad på input, avsaknad av kunskaper om vad kommunikativ språkförmåga innebär bland elever samt att eleverna inte känner språklig eller social trygghet i undervisningssituationen..

Civil society is facing many challenges in modern society and there is a lot of debate about where it is heading - is volunteer work declining or just taking a new form Whichever hypothesis will prove correct in the future, organizations that are dependent on volunteers will need to adapt to the new circumstances. This study aims to examine what forces drive voluntary work at Rädda Barnen (Save the Children Sweden) and Hungerprojektet (The Hunger Project Sweden). Through interviews with employees and volunteers at the two organizations, this study finds that volunteers at Rädda Barnen are primarily driven by values and understanding, and that the volunteers at Hungerprojektet are primarily driven by career and to some extent by values, enhancement and social factors. Understanding these driving forces allow the organizations to adapt to the new circumstances by matching the volunteers interests with the organizations' needs..

In this paper I study how the repeal of the Swedish wealth tax (1 of January 2007) has affected people´s labour supply behaviour. This particular issue is relevant because it may help us understand some of the effects of the earnings tax changes that have taken place in Sweden. Accoring to standard economic theory a repealed wealth tax is similar to an income effect for the persons who previously paid the tax. That means that they theoretically will want to consume more leisure, that is decrease their labour supply. The method I am using to test this hypothesis is a difference-in-difference approach where the treatment group consists of persons who previously paid the tax and the control group of comparable persons who did not pay the tax.

Through interviews with children of ages 4-5 years old and by observing children children at play at three preschools with different types of outdoor surroundings, I have investigated if the preschools outdoor surroundings have any influences on the children´ choice of play. The hypothesis was that natural surroundings can entice children´s interest in nature being in it and play. I have also investigated if the children know why it is important to be outdoors and if they know it has a positive influence on their health.The result of my investigation is that the children play about the same games at the three different preschool gardens, but at the preschool with more natural surroundings, the children have more contact with plants and animals, and could learn of the different phenomena of nature by the preschool teacher answering their questions. Most of the children in the interviews know it´s useful to be outdoors and be on the move and get fresh air, but many of them thought it was most important to play. By being outdoors the children get exercise, fresh air, play and at the same time they establish an understanding of the nature and a healthier life..

The aim of this paper was to investigate whether or not it is possible to keep bottlenose dolphins and killer whales in captivity while maintaining good animal welfare. Today, many zoos and aquariums claim that their primary function is to conserve species and educate people about conservation and threatened species. The keeping of wild animals is justified by conservation programs and by the information spread to the zoo visitors. This does however not seem to be the case for marine mammals such as bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops sp.) and killer whales (Oricnus orca) since these species are not threatened in the wild and neither of them are listed as threatened in IUCN's Red List. Bottlenose dolphins and killer whales are entirely aquatic carnivores and are distributed in all coastal and pelagic waters from the Arctic ice in the north to the Antarctic ice in the south.

The purpose of our essay is to study the institutional-, demographic and accounting theoretical factors that influence an organisations actuarial commitment.The research was performed through a web based survey, with complimentary telephone interviews, directed to companies listed on Stockholm Stock Exchange A- and O-list on the 30 of November, 2003.Our data was analysed with a Median test, Kolomogorov-Smirnov test, T-test and a Mann-Whitney test. The purpose of the Mann-Whitney test was the low number of respondents that took part in the research. The Kolomogorov-Smirnov test was done to determine whether the population variances was equal or not. The data showed that organisations with a majority of female employees assume a lower salary increase, and a higher average age than other companies with a male majority. Only 2 of 11 hypothesis can be accepted as temporary truths but several other visible relations are indicated in our research, but can not be statistically proved.We think that the major problem with our is the time it was performed.