The thesis aims to examine the occurrence of Earnings Management (EM) preceding Seasoned Equity Offerings (SEOs) on the Swedish capital market. EM refers to activities and adjustments carried out by managers. The underlying purpose of these actions is to adjust net income. The procedure is typically done by borrowing income from future periods. Evidence of EM around SEOs has been documented on capital markets around the world, and the effects on firms' post-offering performance are severe.

The purpose of this study was to investigate and compare how and why consumers of different ethnic backgrounds value and prioritize product attributes among food in certain ways. We expected to find culturally bound attitude differences and our aim was to relate those to, and challenge, present knowledge of information structures. Consequently, we also aimed to use this new knowledge of attribute attitudes in connection to assortment variety theory, as attributes constitute important motives to how consumers perceive variety. A theoretical framework was constructed to suit our purpose and function as an analytical tool, consisting of Culture perspectives, Information structures (product attributes), and Assortment variety. In this thesis we focused on attitudes and consumer perspectives and excluded actual behaviour and the retailing perspective.

The world is increasingly coalescing, ecologically, economically and culturally. Many problems can no longer be solved within the own state borders and the limitation of the territorial state is obvious. Jürgen Habermas means that a world domestic politic without a world government is what this progress need. Therefore it is important that national interests become less central and the solidarity between people is given priority in international relations. The focus of this thesis is therefore a critical discourse analysis of the current position of the internationalisation of Swedish security and defence policy.

AbstractPurpose/Aim: My study aims to analyse, using Pierre Bourdieu´s theory, whether the social background plays a significant part in the attitudes and use of Apples mp3-player iPod. The study also aims to determine whether it is possible to group the focus groups used in my study and iPod into Bourdieu´s model.Material/Method: The reference material used in this paper is mainly gathered from books concerning Pierre Bourdieu´s theories. I have also had four focus groups of two different characters, to study their attitudes towards Apples mp3-player iPod. I have then applied the results of the focus groups to Bourdieu´s theories and models concerning habitus, social fields, capital and lifestyles, and studied whether there are any divergences in attitudes between the groups.Main results: My findings are that the focus groups as well as iPod can be put into Bourdieu´s model. According to the responses from the people in the focus groups, the attitude and usage of iPod do not mirror people?s social class or background, which goes against Bourdieu´s? theory.

Venture capital investerar via fonder i nya, små och medelstora onoterade företag under en tidsbestämd period. Genom ett aktivt ägarengagemang tillför de kompetens, nätverk, ägarstyrning och kreditabilitet. Därigenom skapar de tillväxt inom portföljbolaget samt förutsättningar för en positiv avkastning via exit. Inom dagens svenska ekonomi har det blivit allt vanligare att innovativa unga företag med utvecklingspotential finansieras via venture capital. I december 2008 visade Konjunkturinstitutet en rapport om konjunkturläget som skvallrade om fördjupad internationell finanskris med svagare BNP-tillväxt, ökad arbetslöshet och bekräftade att Sverige nu gick in i en lågkonjunktur.

Entreprenörer på den svenska riskapitamarknaden har länge hävdat att det är problem för företag i tidig fas att locka till sig kapital från investerare. Detta brukar benämnas the eguity gap. På senare tid har problemet också försökt förklaras utifrån brister hos efterfrågan av kapitalet, dvs entreprenörerna. Med detta menas då att entreprenörerna och deras projekt inte är investment ready. Vi har haft för avsikt att utreda vad investerarna anser om den svenska riskkapitalmarknaden för sådinvesteringar och vilka de vanligaste bristerna i de investeringsförslag, som inkommer till Venture Capital-företag och Affärsänglar, är.

Several previous studies have in different ways tried to explain how new social movements are affected by the different sets of political and social contexts within different states and societies. This essay asks the question how much the institutional aspects within the theory of Political Opportunity Structures (POS) have determined how the rather successful animal rights movements in the Netherlands and Great Britain have mobilized and acted to gain progress. Since the Netherlands and Great Britain contains different kinds of political and institutional contexts, these two states are found to be suitable for a comparative analysis of the theory's durability. A qualitative portrayal of both state's institutional political opportunity structures are presented. Then the mobilization, progress, and actions of the political party ?Party for the Animals? in the Netherlands, and a wide group of animal rights organisations in Great Britain are determined.

AbstractAs a result of globalisation, there are indications that national cultural differences between countries are becoming increasingly vague. Research shows that industries develop similarities, as a result of the integration between corporations that has followed the internationalisation. The aim of this study was thus to investigate whether different countries in the same industry can develop similar perceptions regarding what is considered effective leadership. The study also aimed to investigate whether these perceptions can influence how leadership is exercised. The leader qualities that were identified were categorised based on the leadership attributes that were formulated in Project GLOBE.

In this essay I examine the causal relationship between confidence in institutions and growth in Sweden 1989-2002. By examining the causal relationship between these two variables, valuable indicators of the causal relationship between trust and growth can be obtained. The institutions which are used in this essay are chosen according to the theory on institutions for public administration building trust and social capital. The chosen institutions are primary schooling, the police and medical service. A Granger causality model is used to measure the causal relation and the results from the tests show that there is no causal relationship between growth and confidence in institutions.

The bachelor's thesis is to examine the explanatory factors affecting the choice of capital structure in real estate companies. The analysis is based on data collected from the main financial reporting from 2007; all listed real estate companies listed on Swedish, Norwegian, Danish and Finnish stock market. Based on previous research and theories, we have defined five independent variables that are linked to the debt ratio, which are: profitability, growth, firm size, cost of debt and operational risk. The statistical tests have resulted in that we can say with certainty that profitable firms tend to have a lower debt to equity ratio. We can also say with certainty that property companies with high interest costs have a high level of indebtedness..

In this paper the effect of capital structure on profitability has been investigated among Swedish companies. The essay intends to examine how the relationship between debt and profitability appear among Swedish companies and if the relationship differs between industries. The purpose is to find out how debt affects the profitability of Swedish companies.A quantitative approach has been applied. The selection was made among companies listed on Nasdaq OMX Stockholm, which resulted in a sample of 207 companies. Several regression analyzes has been formed, based on the independent variable debt-ratio and the dependent variables profit margin, pre-tax profit margin, operating margin, return on assets and return on equity.

Regional European Offices with the purpose to represent regions and municipalities in the EU-system have had a substantial expansion over the last years. One example is the North Sweden European Office for the counties of Norrbotten and Västerbotten, consisting of seven different headmen who are representing both the private sector as well as the public system. This diverse leadership representation makes North Sweden a very good example on a so called Quango, organisations that stand under simultaneous influence from both public and private sectors. These Quangos opens up new possibilities to solve public problems, but they also bring together two different working models which is not always easy to handle for a Quango. According to earlier surveys some characteristic Quango problems within North Sweden exist, for example the ability to prioritize and thereby be as effective as possible.

This study deals with the road freight sector's capital structure and how leases, loans and equity affect the ratios. The study is based on a ten-year period between 2000-2010 in Sweden. Investments in finance is a complex and interesting subject to study, there are many factors that can affect how the company best choose their investments when they have many great business investment the decisions plays a greater role. The aim is to find an optimal capital structure from a financial investment point of view. The purpose will be answered by the following research question: Are there significant differences between leases, loans and equity financed fleet of factors, profitability, tax, turnover, age, and cyclicality. The study will also examine how debt is related to profit margin, DuPont and the tax, all through a regression analysis. Then were plausible economic theories for the study.

This study aims to scrutinize the four major banks in Sweden on how their profit havedeveloped over a time span of 15 years, whether stricter regulations have had anyimpact on financial key ratios and if there is any correlation between the banksprofitability and their risk taking. The period covered is the years 2000-2014. Thefigures are annually and the four major banks are; Handelsbanken, Nordea,Skandiviska Enskilda Banken (SEB) and Swedbank.The findings are that financial key ratios that include net income are pro-cycle whereSwedbank has the biggest volatility over the period and that the three other banks areless, but clear pro-cycle. There are also indications that stricter rules have madeimpact on the volatility of the profitability even though the period covered is notenough to ensure this claim. Nordea has had the lowest and most stable capital ratiothroughout the period and the other three banks lowered their debt-to-equity ratiosignificantly after the financial crisis in 2008.

The aim of this bachelor thesis has been to examine and develop our own understanding about how young people in Sweden (16-29 years of age), take part in cultural activities. As librarians it is important to know what kind of activities and interests this particular group has. With Pierre Bourdieu?s theoretical framework towards habitus and capital we are interested to see if there is a connection between one?s cultural use and background, if different access to capital with or within groups has an affect or not. With both statistics and interviews with people within our target, we believe this data has been sufficient enough to conduct a good and valid study.