This paper studies the option market?s implied dividend as a predictor of future equity market returns. We introduce this variable in the simple total return framework and discuss some complications of using it as a proxy for the expected dividend. We construct some regressions using the price-dividend ratio and the implied dividend growth, and test them on six years worth of data on the EURO STOXX 50-index. The main result is that implied dividend growth exhibits some forecastability over two-year horizons, but that the dataset is too short to draw any definitive conclusions about long-horizon forecastability.

Internet is the future and VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) is growing in use. Companies are starting to realise the benefits with VoIP. Skype is the number one soft phone on the market but it doesn't satisfy the needs of companies (e.g. transfer calls, redirects calls and so forth) and leaves therefore a gap. The purpose of this master thesis is to provide Objektor AB (thesis initiator) with tips on how to design a usable soft phone that they know is based on relevant human computer interaction research.The method used in the thesis has been iterative development.

As more and more book publishers are starting up in Sweden, despite of tough competition, this thesis aims to understand the necessary resources required by new publishing houses in order to create a long-term role on the national publishing market. This is a market characterized by a high level of cultural interests, where success is not always measured in economic profit. Four new publishing houses have been chosen, whose start-up phases and entry processes are described in order to determine what factors have been essential in creating a role. In addition, relevant actors such as other publishers, distributors, and retailers have been interviewed with the purpose of acquiring the complete picture of how the new publishers? can create a role within the industry.

The SMEs’ internationalization strategy—Foreign Market Entry Modes selection Title: 1st of June 2006 Date of the Seminar: Bus 809. Master thesis in international marketing Course: Han xiao Author: Ulf Elg, Associate professor, Lund University, Sweden Advisors: Ying Bin, Associate professor, Zhongnan University of Economics and Law, China. Guest researcher, Lund University, Sweden Internationalization, entry mode, SMEs, foreign market Keywords: The purpose of this study is to understand the internationalization process of the SMEs, and try to define the motives and internal factors impact their foreign market entry mode selection. Thesis purpose: This thesis is based on qualitative method using case study. The primary information sources are the interviews with key-persons in internationalization process of SMEs Methodology: The literature review in this study concerns areas of SMEs’ motives for internationalization, foreign market entry mode approaches and influence of internal & external factors.

This essay is about a debate concerning the magazine Axess, feminism and antifeminism - in relation to a issue of Axess called To a new feminism. The theoretical foundation of this essay is Pierre Bourdieu and his field theories. The battles taking place in this particular field concerns the positioning of feminism and antifeminism in the way we culturally interpret these in our society. The essay shows that the magazine Axess (at least in the first edition of 2012) links feminism with a very prominent symbolic capital in a culture context. This discussion can at times seem confusing, and this is probably due to the fact that Bourdieus symbolic capital can be a very abstract concept. The journalist and author Maria Sveland writes about the development of a culture moving towards accepting antifeminism (and also xenophobia). She expresses the opinion that this, to a high degree, is due to actors in the culture domain with a big amount of trust in the public eye has moved towards expressing anti-feministic (and xenophobic) views.

Lots of choices are to be made by a company who enters a new market with a new businessidea. Common questions that show up when a company is making it´s businessplan are how to target the market and how to use marketing as a tool to reach a specific customer or segment. It is difficult to know wether to target the market in different ways and what processes that can be used in the choice how to select the most potential and profitable customer. Another important question is how a company can positioning themself in a way so the customer will get a positive understanding of the company and what different positive abilities to mention in a possible businessproposal. This study is made on a small company in Sweden called AYEN Technology.

One of the areas in which current theory on entrepreneurship is ambiguous is in the explanation of how entrepreneurs act when entering a new market. One author that has attempted to contribute in this area is Saras D. Sarasvathy who has tried to explain the entrepreneurs reasoning through the theory of causation and effectuation. The former refers to a reasoning that takes the effect of an entrepreneurial action as given, while the latter looks upon the effects as uncertain, while only the means are given. With a foundation in this theory, Sarasvathy claims that when entrepreneurs enters a new market the level of environmental uncertainty is so high that reasoning based on causal relationships is rendered useless.

Research is a time-consuming endeavor which requires appropriate tools to manage often vast amounts of information. Militarization 2.0 is a research project aiming to explore Militarization in social media. The aim of this project is to design a user interface for supporting researchers in projects involving large amounts of data in qualitative studies. The project will follow the design process of the first version of the Militarization 2.0 research database interface. The design process involves user studies, interviews and design and testing of paper and digital prototypes.

This thesis explores the position of book blogs in the literary system through Robert Escarpit's socio-literary model of the book market. Simultaneously the thesis serves as a test for Escarpit's theory: by actively applying his theory and model to a very new and contemporary actor on the book market I hoped to reach or confirm new insights into the usefulness and validity of Escarpit's work for contemporary socio-literary studies.Three book blogs were selected for the analysis and interviews were carried out with the authors. The interview questions were formulated specifically for the purpose of extracting the kind of information necessary for an analysis using Escarpit?s theory. As a complement to the interviews, statistics on the type of books reviewed on the blogs were also compiled.

It is easy to see that oil has a big part in our economy, by looking at the repeated news from the media and at the stock market, where they follow the oil price very closely. Behavioral finance is about investors making small or big mistakes in the stock market. Behavioral finance describes the importance of understanding your own faults, as well as others investor?s faults. Behavioral finance emphases the importance of not assuming that the financial market is a flawless environment, but to understand the psychology behind investment decisions.

This field study examines how politically active radical feminists have reached their position in a group called Sällskapet. The aim of the study is to examine different paths, with the purpose to gain understanding of how to become a politically active radical feminist. Also, processes of social recognition on the field are examined; what is recognized and what taste preferences and behaviors gain a lower value? The different paths to the feminist position have been examined through a qualitative method consisting of a mixture of interviews and participant observations. The question if the position in Sällskapet requires specific experiences has been analyzed through Pierre Bourdieu?s theoretical framework, with a particular emphasis on the concept of habitus, symbolic- and cultural capital.

This study deals with the Swedish public library in our changeable time. New technology, an altered media situation with a growing digitalization, globalization and a society focusing on the individual and the market have put the public library in a new, indistinct position. It is described as facing an identity crisis. The aim of this thesis is to, by interviewing a group of young people ages 15-16, find out what the public library is for this user group and what it ought to be according to them. How do they value the services provided by the public library? Are there services they miss? The thesis also aims at relating the opinions of the young people to earlier research.

This paper examines women's positions in the music industry. By quantitativelyinvestigate ten major companies on the swedish music market, the authors have beenable to mapp positions that are dominated by women and as well as men. The essaydiscusses several theories of both gender in organizations and gender in society inorder to analyze the quantitative results.The aim of the paper is to highlight the current segregation of careers in the musicindustry as well as to lay a foundation for further research on why it is segregated.Clear graphs shows the gender distribution between women and men in business butalso the distribution of gender in occupations / positions in similar companies. In theanalysis the authors reflects on the results using relevant gender theories. In theconclusion, the authors explain the result generated by the analysis and illustrates theprevailing segregation that exists in the music industry.This paper has concluded that a seemingly even distribution between men andwomen in business organisations can sometimes be misleading.

The aim of this thesis is to identify and analyse the antagonism between conservation and development which occurs in historical towns.The base of the study is theories in destination development and cultural heritage tourism in historical towns as well as the consequences expressed in these theories concerning conservation and development. The standpoint was that an empiric study needed to complement the theory. This filed study took place in Dubrovnik in Croatia. The thesis identifies the antagonism between conservation and development based on the theoretical research. Moreover the study adds a perspective to the research through the identification of further dimensions of this antagonism.

The usage possibilities of mobile platforms and smart phones are increasing rapidly as they provide support for better processors, sensors and communications capabilities. This has for many companies resulted in an increased interest to explore the possibilities of mobile platforms and how they can be integrated in various business areas. As the usage of mobile platforms in industrial applications is a new area, it is difficult for companies to estimate their potential, and what contributions the different platforms can give.This master thesis investigates the possibilities and limitations for the consultant firm Combitech when integrating mobile platforms and handheld devices in industrial applications. This is accomplished through a comparison between the platforms and by considering the possible areas of use for the mobile platforms based on experiences from companies and research in the area.For a company with the intent to deliver services that use mobile platforms, it is important to be able to combine expertise and resources to effectively attract customers. The mobile platforms will, if applied right, give great possibilities in industrial applications as a cost-effective alternative for both hardware and software solutions for businesses, which provides an opportunity to sell services to both established and new clients.