During the recent financial crisis there has been an intense debate regarding small enterprise?s possibilities to borrow money. Statements from interest groups and results from surveys among Swedish non-financial companies indicate that their situation has worsened. Credit worthy enterprises that under normal circumstances would not have any problems getting financing are now facing financial difficulties. In contrast, an economic report from the Bank of Sweden concludes that Sweden does not suffer from a severe credit rationing due to the financial crisis.

The well-being of employees has become a key concept in the rhetoric of the company boards and business literature of today. There is however not much statistic evidence of a connection between economic results and the perceived working climate. This thesis sets out to investigate whether there is a positive correlation between economic results and working climate on a work group level. It also aims to study which specific working climate factors influence the results. In order to meet its purpose this thesis analyzes employee satisfaction questionnaire data and economic results from more than 300 work groups.

This report summarizes the development of a calculation program estimating the profitability of converting a peak-load oil-fired boiler to pellets. To convert an oil-fired boiler to pellets a new fuel handling system must be designed. Changes also have to be made to some other components. Since there are many different techniques for transportation, storage and treatment of the fuel only the most interesting techniques from Swecos experience and interest were included in the study.The capacity of the different parts in the system was dimensioned based on the power of the boiler after conversion. To estimate prices, installed power and dimensions manufacturers and distributers were contacted.

The purpose of this report is to investigate and compare the difference between stand-thinning machines and strip-road thinning machines, and how they affect the stand on behalf of future growth, theoretical economic result, wind impact, snow pressure and density of stand. The investigation is regarding the first commercial thinning of pine stands, after pre-commercial thinning that was well conducted. The investigation area was located near Katrineholm, Sweden. The measurements that were measured were strength of thinning and amounts of wind throws, snow-breaks and hauling damages. The results that emerged, was that thinning with strip-road machines had a significantly higher strength of thinning over all, as compared with the stand- thinning machines (45 percent versus 30 percent). Comparisons between wind-throws, snow-breaks and hauling damages of the stand could not establish any significant differences between the two methods that were investigated. Conclusions, over all, were that if forest owners want to have more timber volume left for second thinning and final cut of the stand, the forest owners should choose the method with stand-thinning machines. From the point of view of gentle treatment of the stand and ground damages the choice should be the same. However, the method with strip-road thinning machines is the most common and accessible method in Sweden. Most likely it is the most economical way to manage the stand for forest owners in present time. If the method with stand-thinning machines is becoming more common in Sweden, it is suggested for forest owners to consider the stand-thinning method as a candidate for treatment due to economic aspects..

Under våren 2008 tog riksdagen beslut om att fr.o.m. den 1 juli införa ett kommunalt vårdnadsbidrag. Bidraget uppgår till maximalt 3000 kronor och kan betalas ut till dem som inte utnyttjar kommunalt finansierad barnomsorg på heltid utan istället ordnar barnomsorgen på annat sätt, t.ex. genom att en förälder stannar hemma. Vårdnadsbidraget har av dess anhängare hyllats som en valfrihetsreform men har av kritikerna anklagats för att vara en kvinnofälla.

Title: The life is too soft to accord in to tariffs: an essay about youth and families with children who are recipients of economic support, their experience of their financial situation and the reception towards the social welfare.Author: Ana Becovic & Kerstin Olsson         Supervisor: Erik WesserInstitution: Humanvetenskapliga institutionen, Högskolan i KalmarType of Essay: Degree project, 15 ECTS                     Date: December 2008The aim for our study has been to examine how youth and families who are recipients of economic support on long term basis experience their contact with social welfare. The starting point for the question at issue has been the client's experience of their financial situation the reception and expectations towards the social welfare.In our B-level study we carried out qualitative interviews with social welfare officers to find out how they applied the "child perspective" in granting financial support and to what extent they felt that they succeeded in meeting the need of the client. The conclusion was that there is still room for improvement in this field and particularly a wish to focus more on the child's situation and development. The officers told us that they tried to pay closer attention to the child's situation through asking about the children and by visiting the families at home.They expressed awareness of the importance to a child's well being the financial situation of their family. They also expressed the need for the child to be able to take part in leisure time activities and having an active social life.In this study our research method is based on qualitative interviews.

Many studies have shown that unethical acting can affect the share price of the company negatively. However, this is not always the case. The aim of this thesis is therefore to examine what it is that can cause the share price to be affected negatively by unethical acting exposed in media. This qualitative study is primarily based on interviews with institutional investors, but also with economic journalists and investor relations managers. Our conclusion is that there are three main reasons why the share price can be affected by unethical acting, namely economic consequences, the management's behaviour and psychological factors.

Income support is granted to those who are not by themselves or in any other way able toachieve a decent standard of living. Assessment of entitlement to income support is based onan individual evaluation and equal treatment (Kjellbom, 2009). Administrators of economicaid should therefore not judge clients differently depending on, for example, gender. The aimof this study was to commence from a gender perspective in understanding howadministrators of economic aid think of equality and inequality between the sexes whenheterosexual couples apply for income support. Based on this objective we arrived at twomain formulations of questions; how administrators of economic aid deliberate aroundequality and inequality between sexes in connection to applications for financial support, aswell as which variables in organisations sustain or discourage inequalities between genders inaid management.

A growing problem in Swedish herbicide free agriculture, the Canadian thistle has been the object of several new trials, seeking methods for non-chemical weed control. The new trials have mainly confirmed earlier experiences; that the most successful methods of control are springtime ploughing, repeated cutting and competition from a stout crop. Row hoeing has also been proven effective. As opposed to earlier recommendations, half season fallow has shown to be a risky and often ineffective method of control. Trials regarding biological methods have shown that above others thistle rust (Puccinia punctiformis) may have the potential of controlling Canadian thistle the future. .

In the current situation in the housing market and in particular the inner city much attention is directed towards achieved prices per square meter in sales. The indicator is as a principle an appropriate measure of the housing market?s health and development, and can to some extent be used to make approximations of the general economic health status of municipalities and counties. It occurs occasionally that questions about whether prices are based on fundamentals at all times.The thesis questions that very issue, not from a macro accompanying financial perspective but rather from a microeconomic perspective, where each tenant ownership in the study is a micro-object. Are the observed prices per square meter rational relative to housing cooperative?s assets or is there a lack in the observed prices anchoring the respective association's finances.

Urban farming can be viewed in several contexts. The first part of this work brings up the beneficial effects of farming on our physical and mental health, knowledge as well as on social life in cities. The introduction of gardening in schools can contribute to an increased awareness on both agricultural practices and importance as well as ecological processes. It can also be used in teaching of other subjects. Farming can also contribute to improving the household economy, and the economy on a municipal or national level.

Direct marketing is an area within marketing that is growing rapidly. Many companies has realised the benefits of using direct marketing, such as receiving direct response from customers and gaining a better customer relation. The growth within direct marketing means that traditional mass marketing today face harder competition than ever. This thesis examines and look in to three well recognised Swedish companies use of direct marketing. Our main purpose is to establish how companies spend their marketing budget between direct marketing and traditional marketing activities.

To fence in pastures for sheep today is a major cost, especially because of the time required when using current methods. What takes most time is starting to fence off a new area, but to maintain a fence is also a continuous effort. The main function is to keep the sheep at the field.! !By interviewing and observing sheep farmers on how they work with fence today and what their problems was, I got a better understanding of the problem. Also looking at a number of other things like the context, statistics on sheep farming, laws and competition mapping gave a wider image. But the most important part in my research occurred when I talked to experts about sheep behavior.

In this thesis, I enquire into how the USA ? our world?s wealthiest and most powerful nation ?  and its federal government has dealt with two of its most severe natural disasters: the drought and dust storms that plagued the Great Plains during the 1930?s, i.e. the Dust Bowl, and Hurricane Katrina, which made landfall in late August 2005. I attempt to identify differences and similarities and analyze if and, in that case, how the hegemonic politico-economic paradigm affected the federal management of these crises. This comparison is made relevant by the fact that two differing paradigms were at play during these events. In the thirties, President Franklin D. Roosevelt launched his ?New Deal?, a series of counter cyclical measures in line with the Keynesian school of economics, as a response to the overwhelming economic depression as well as the raging drought.

Alzheimers sjukdom är den vanligaste av demenssjukdomar och omfattas av cirka 80 000 diagnosticerade fall i Sverige. Alzheimers sjukdom kallas ofta för ?de anhörigas sjukdom?, vilket syftar på att den drabbade i takt med insjuknandet förlorar insikten om sjukdomstillståndet samtidigt som det blir mer och mer uppenbart och även krävande för de anhöriga. Vårdbehovet för demenspatienter är stort och ökar i takt med sjukdomsgrad. En stor del av vården av dessa patienter utgörs av så kallad informell vård då patientens anhöriga, utan ersättning, fungerar som vårdproducenter.