In May 2004 the European Union enlarged from 15 to 25 member states and it was the biggest enlargement since the foundation. Two years earlier Poland, as one of the new member states, finished four years of accession negotiations with the EU.This study focus on the case of Poland and how the accession negotiations with EU were conducted. According to the theoretical framework of asymmetric negotiations Poland was said to be a weak party and the EU was considered a strong party in the enlargement negotiations.The aim of the thesis is to examine Poland's negotiation performance and determine what Polish failure and success in the accession negotiations depends on. The research contains a illustration of the motives for enlargement, the negotiation process and structure, attitudes and behaviour and finally results of negotiations in specific areas.The study concludes that Poland's negotiation performance was influenced by the Polish negotiation team's unpleasant attitude, confused organizational structure, lack of coalition partners and the strong will to become a member state, in both positive and negative ways. Finally, Poland was most successful in negotiations that concerned specific issues which were of great importance for Poland but less prioritized by the EU..

There is a change happening in the Swedish market of commerce. Studies indicate that the trend of the last decades; that external shopping centres are more attractive than centres of commerce, is about to turn. It is predicted that the centre of commerce will be the most attractive in the future.No matter how the market will develop, it is important for merchants to take account of their customers by understanding their behaviour and preferences concerning what constitute an attractive marketplace. A marketplace is attractive in terms of the characteristics that creates its offer, these characteristics are called "determinants of attractiveness." This paper is based on a field study of 200 consumers in Norrtälje regarding why they are choosing to shop in the centre of Norrtälje. The purpose is to answer the question "What creates an attractive centre of commerce " in terms of a) the determinants of attractiveness and b) each determinants' influence on customer satisfaction.

This thesis deals with the concept of soft balancing, traditionally defined as the diplomatic means of restraining a dominant state's ability to exercise its military power. As the dominant power in today's unipolar system, the United States, and other states? behaviour towards it, is the focus of analysis. The aim of this thesis is to explore the possibilities of developing the concept of soft balancing so as to include strategies to restrain also the political and economic capabilities of a dominant power. The thesis also considers the possibilities of soft balancing that small states ? to a large extent overlooked in existing theories on the subject - can possess.As a state with policies that aim to reduce the U.S.

Denna uppsats tar upp en viktig aspekt vid granskning av fonder, nämligen vad fonder jämförs mot, om de jämförs mot ett index inklusive eller exklusive utdelning. Detta är ett viktigt område som bland annat har uppmärksammats i media. Det har förekommit att vissa fonder gav missvisande information då de inkluderar utdelning medan dess jämförelseindex exkluderar utdelning. Således är syftet med denna uppsats att undersöka hur omfattande fenomenet är bland storbankerna i Sverige. Samt om det finns ett samband mellan att fonder redovisar en bättre kursutveckling än dess index om denna exkluderar utdelning.Studien avser att granska aktiefonder hos storbankerna, Handelsbanken, SEB och Nordea.

Background: Society of today is characterised by greater dynamics and a constant demand for innovation and fresh ideas. This development is often named "the new economy" or "the knowledge society". Independent of how one chooses to name this society, most individuals seem to agree upon the fact that knowledge grows more and more important. New competencies, such as new knowledge and new forms of organising, will be demanded for corporations to be successful in the future. In recent years it has become more common with corporations based on projects.

Purpose: The aim of this thesis is to examine how word of mouth and buzz marketing affects Uppsala´s businessstudents attitudes towards Red Bull. To solve this purpose we intend to answer some underlying questions.Theory: We have used relevant theories within word of mouth, buzz marketing and consumer behaviour. Our thesis will bring up the essential parts within these three different theories that we believe are relevant to our purpose.Method: In this thesis we have used both quantitative and qualitative methods such as interviews and questionnaires. The questionnaires will be handed out at Economicum at Uppsala University.Empirical study: This part is based on our questionnaires handed out to business students at Economicum, but also on our interviews made with employees working for Red Bull.Conclusion: Our empirical study has given us a clear picture of how Red Bull works and use marketing tools to promote their product. Through our questionnaires we have also found out what attitudes consumers has against the brand and the product.

The economic analysis of building contracts is an unexplored field within Law and Economics. This paper makes an attempt to cast some light over the subject and encourage to more research within the field. The main purpose has been to describe why the actual price in a public construction project often turns out to be higher than the contract price and offer a way of handle that risk. In the paper a model is set up that shows an optimal contract given expectations on actual price and gaps in contracts. Cost increases for the buyer can mainly be explained by two situations.

Transportation of pigs might be a welfare problem. Stress during and after transportation can negatively affect the meat quality or cause carcass damages, which leads to major economic losses every year. The transportation chain can be divided into several stages; loading, transport and unloading. This literature review focuses on unloading of pigs from a transport. When arriving at an abattoir pigs can be fatigued and need to be as smoothly unloaded as possible.

Using a symbolic interactionistic analytical approach, this essay aims to study the socialisation of young women?s sexuality in treatment institutions for young women. Through qualitative interviews with staff members at said institutions, concerning their views on young female sexuality, and how they discuss sexuality with the young women in the institutions, my aim was to identify the socialisation of young women?s sexuality. I have also investigated how the staff experiences their own sex as an important factor in conversations about sexuality with young women, as well as the possible effect sexually mixed or sexually segregated institutions exert upon conversations about sexuality.

The tourism industry in Sweden has expanded in recent years and the increasing industry has meant that customers are in need of a reseller for their trips abroad. Today there are three types of retailers available. These are : Traditional travel agencies , tour operators and online travel agencies.Online Travel agencies are the most modern online option for customers. Their existence has made it easier for the customer and reservation can be made anytime and anywhere. The competition has intensified between the three retailers and the traditional alternatives must find new ways to survive.

IKBT är en effektiv behandling för olika typer av problematik och terapeutstöd är en viktig faktor för behandlingens framgång. Det finns dock lite kunskap om vad terapeutstödet består av och vad i det som bidrar till behandlingens effektivitet. Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka vad terapeuter gör vid iKBT för depression och om detta har ett samband med behandlingsutfall. Data bestod av 644 e-postmeddelanden skickade från 5 terapeuter till 42 klienter vid en återfallspreventionsbehandling för egentlig depression. Kvalitativ innehållsanalys resulterade i 10 beteendekategorier.

Animal-assisted therapy had its large breakthrough in the 1960-ties when a psychiatrist named Boris Levinson discovered the great advantages of involving animals in the treatment of patients. Therapy with animals involves that animals are used in a systematic way, in a person's process of treatment. The most distinguished companion animal used within this area is the dog, but horses, cats, rabbits, birds, dolphins and the most common farm animals are used in animal-assisted therapy. Most animals that are to be used for this specific purpose need to be trained in order to maintain their physical and mental health, but also to minimize the risks for the people that are involved. Most studies within this research area are focused on the positive effects on the patients and less on the effects on the animals.

Over a long period of time, there has been a rich debate in the academic and financial world if active management can generate an excess return. Many experts say that the current active management strategies is nothing more than a money grab that produces large gains, for banks and investment firms, through high management fees while producing no excess value for the individuals buying their service. In short, an effective market makes it almost impossible for fund managers to produce value for their clients in the long run.No argument has only one side though, other experts say that active management has a role to play because not all investors are rational. This irrationality can lead to mispricing on financial assets in the marketplace and in turn lead to an ineffective market where active management can fill a much needed role. The purpose of this study is therefore to see if active management strategies can create a higher risk adjusted return, taking management fees into consideration, during times of high volatility when the uncertainty is at its peak.

There are widespread discussions about the use of retouched models in media, ranging from bloggers to legal decision-makers. Research shows that there are negative psychological effects on especially females being exposed to idealized, retouched model images. The purpose of this paper is to explore the effects of using retouched models in advertising from a marketing perspective, based on attitudes, perceived quality and purchase intentions.Based on theories about attractiveness, halo-effects and social comparison, an experimental study was done, investigating the different responses on above mentioned parameters to advertisements showing either retouched model images or non-retouched model images. Initially it was also tested if the retouched models were seen as more attractive than the non-retouched models. The results showed almost no differences between the reactions to the advertisements with retouched models compared to the advertisements with non-retouched models, when all respondent groups were analyzed together.

The purpose of this study is to examine some factors that make a human grouse hunter to prolong and increase its hunting effort. The theory of optimal foraging is used for explaining their behavior.The data of this study is collected from a web-based inquiry from 2007 answered by grouse hunters in Sweden. The method that has been used is mainly bivariate statistics and logistic regression analysis.Key findings shows that an experienced grouse hunter has more than 5 times the chance of prolonging hunting effort when grouse density is high, compared to a beginner grouse hunter. On the same time experienced grouse hunters also stop hunting in advance when grouse density is low to a larger extent than inexperienced hunters. Other factors of importance for prolonging the hunting effort for a day are age and the travel distance to the hunting area.