This paper describes and develops a trade off model of optimal capital structure by Bradley et al. (1984). The model is then tested to examine how changes in corporate tax rates affect the optimal capital structure of firms. Based on theoretical implications of the model, four hypotheses are derived stating that firms? optimal debt-to-value ratio is (1) negatively related to financial distress costs, (2) negatively related to non-debt tax shields, (3) negatively related to firm volatility and (4) positively related to the corporate tax rate.

With the globalization, companies in the West chose to shift production to developing countries to cut down costs. This had a major impact when child labor and very poor working conditions in these factories were discovered and led many companies to take responsibility for their suppliers and the employees by adopting voluntary so-called Codes of Conduct.There is a subtle balance to enforce improvement of working conditions for employees at suppliers´ factories and to keep costs down. On the one hand, companies would like to conduct extensive audits at their suppliers to ensure code of conduct compliance and thus protect their legitimacy. On the other hand, audits are expensive so companies would like to minimize audits to keep costs down. Companies thus have to strike a delicate balance in relation to how many and what suppliers they choose to audit.

The paper evaluates two housing proposals with Space syntax as method. The proposals are very different in a topological sense but are in a configural sense almost the same. This effect is because both proposals connect themselves to the existing configural structure of the city in the same way. Neither of them takes advantages of the most integrated streets in the existing structure and use them to concentrate pedestrian and car flows to the streets or points which are intended to be the most urban areas. The knowledge of Space syntax and this evaluation puts focus on the pour understanding among architects and planners of what effect urban design proposals will have..

Purpose/aim: To investigate individual experiences of how a new communication technology, e-mail, influences a) the structure of the internal communication ? does it for example make networking any easier? ? and b) the form of the persons everyday language.Material/method: A theoretical framework gathered through a literature study and empirical data gathered through interviews with two persons.Main results: Differences and similarities exist between the experiences studied in this paper. The most unexpected result is that the system of e-mail does not seem to be able to create new channels of communication. If anything, it reinforces the structure that already exist. An aspect of decisive importance is the original rules and norms concerning internal communication within the organization..

As a forest owner you always have to consider hazards and uncertainty when planning your forestry actions. The aim with this report is to test my hypothesis that there is an overall difference between men and women when it comes to perception, estimation and management of hazards/risks in forestry. I will look into if there are differences in how men and women estimate risks in production forestry from an economical point of view. The aim is also to look into if there are differences between male and female private forest owners, in how they perceive and manage hazards in connection with a possible climate change. To fulfil this aim, an inquiry survey was undertaken in three different areas of Sweden, two areas in the south and one in the north. But in this report I have evaluated the three areas as a whole.

SummaryThe purpose of this thesis is to examine what effect the IFRS 2 has on earnings, equity, financial strength and return on equity for listed Swedish companies with active stock option plans. The purpose is further to investigate the companies? attitudes towards IFRS 2 and to find out if companies tend to deviate from stock option plans due to the changed accounting rules. We also want to examine the view of IFRS 2 from an auditor?s perspective.We have used a deductive approach and a mix of quantitative and qualitative research methods with a view to get a completely clear picture within the field of study.

This report is a degree paper made for the Engineering program in Technical Chemistry at the School of Engineering, Jönköping University.The intention of the project which is described, is to answer whether HV71 might become environmentally certified according to the criteria of "miljödiplomering". The project also included an investigation of which further steps and measures must be undertaken by the enterprise in order to achieve the certificate. The final part was to implement the necessary requirements for the certification.The report starts with a short background where the origin and function of environmental management is briefly explained.The report continues with how the practical work with the environmental certification was done according to requirements of Jönköping municipality. Motivations behind each part of the process are given as well as explanations of how each part of the process was carried out.The final result of the project was that HV71 took the measures needed to live up to the required demands. After a revision made by Miljöstrategen i Jönköping AB, HV71 passed the demands and became thereby an environmentally certified business..

At Volvo Cars Torslanda's paint shop there is a requirement to in a fast and effective way get an overview of the plants capacity. Therefore a capacity template was constructed as a tool for the engineers at Volvo several years ago. This template has during the years become complicated and outdated. Thus this thesis work will resort as a new capacity template, built from scratch. The new template has been built up based on requirements from Volvo and the concept of OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness).

This report investigates a possible solution to the problem with adapting wave powerplants to work in countries with tidal water. The wire connecting the buoy at the surface with the generator at the bottom needs to adjust to the varying water depth. Our solution to this problem is to attach the wire to a jack which is then placed inside the buoy. The jack is then powered by an electric engine. The report discuss what forces the buoy will be exposed to and then the structural integrity of the design is evaluated through simulations.

Millions of people are using search engines every day when they are trying to find information on the Internet. The purpose of this report is to find out how people formulate search queries. The result in this report is based on an empirical study which is based on a search log from the Swedish search engine Seek.se.One of the results in this thesis is that nearly all search queries are based on keywords..

Media has the power to influences society. Some call them the third power of a state. Through amongst others, the agenda setting theory and the framing theory, this report seeks to understand how media describes the swine influenza and how it uses its power to influence people to vaccinate. As this report will show, there is no doubt that media has had an impact on the Swedish population of which 60 per cent followed through with the vaccination. Media used an information discourse and attempted to present its articles in an impartial manner and used governmental authorities and experts to support its arguments.

The purpose of this thesis is to analyze the design and function of an engine production management?s control system and its intended function, and to contrast it with the present management control systems in use on an operational level. Interviews conducted with employees from all levels of the engine production are the main source of this study?s empirical foundation. Information has also been gathered from relevant written material such as annual reports, internal documents etc.

This report is the result of several interviews of employees within the field of pedagogy. The background behind this report is my period as a trainee in one of the daily activities in Malmo. In daily activities the employers gets training, education and guidance in Marte meo, which is funded by public finances. The method, which this study focuses upon is called Marte meo. It is a method of communicating and developing the means for the participants to evolve their skills in communicating and increase self esteem.

This report is a bachelor thesis presented at the department of Computer Science andEngineering at Chalmers University of Technology. The aim for the project is to find a simplemethod to measure and display physical quantities in a three dimensional room.The report describes a method to construct a system for measuring differentphysical quantities via sensors. The system must be built in a modular and expandable way tobe adaptable to different tasks.The system explained in the report consists of two parts;A physical scanner with moveable probes for carrying sensors and a microcontroller forcontrolling the probes and communicating with the next part.An application written in Java for storing the measured values and presenting them in a lucidperspective.It is possible to construct the scanner with different designs and circuitry, with multiplexers andflip-flops, to ensure that an unspecified number of probes can be added to the system and thatthey can be operated simultaneously.The Java application is written in a modular way, using a design pattern that separates eachindividual part of the application. It contains exceptions and interfaces that ensure a safe andexpandable application..

Event marketing has during the last decade become a wide spread marketing method. This is because the marketing clutter has increased heavily during the past years and brands are looking for new ways to reach their target audience. The previously well accepted marketing measurement "satisfaction" has shown tendencies no longer to be sufficient for success in today's competitive marketplace. Therefore, the research has somewhat moved to the measurement "brand love" to explain differences in strategic consumer behavior. That is the background to why this report examines and answers the question if a brand through event marketing can enhance brand love.