Background: The global capital markets have enlarged investment opportunities and thus also the sources of funds for companies which increasingly face global markets for their services and products. Huge capital movements show that investors are constantly searching ways to minimise risk and maximise returns. In the light of the substantial growth of assets in institutional funds, an important question for international finance is the degree to which institutional investors have diversified their portfolios internationally. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine the international diversification of portfolio investments of institutional investors in Japan, the US and the UK and deepen into international diversification in portfolios of Japanese institutional investors. Demarcations: Institutional investors can use their power directly in companies or indirectly through capital markets.

Sustainability reports have during the last decade had a strong development. Both in terms of establishing a sustainability assurance, in its form, and get it assured together with standards, principles and regulations which organisations and accountants have utilized. The growth of sustainability reports and the choice of getting them assured have in particular favoured the accounting business. Due to this result, some critics have voiced that assuring a sustainability report gain accounting firms more than it gains the actual organisation. Other say that it is necessary in order to increase the credibility and the eligibility of the report, while it also has become a requirement from stakeholders.

The cost for forestry logistics in Sweden is about 25 percent of the total cost of getting the raw material to industry (Anon., 2010). There might be much to gain by taking a look at your supply chains on the logistic side in your company. In this report the logistic chains by Mellanskog for ENA Energi AB in Enköping has been looked in to. ENA Energis plant is a combined power and heating plant and about 99, 5 percent of their fuel consisted of bio energy in year 2009 (ENA Energi, 2011, länk A). The main purpose with this report is to look at three questions: 1. How does the supply chain look today? From forest to industry. 2.

During the period 2009-2013, investments in the Swedish national grid increase by a factor of ten compared to previous years. In order to fulfil their mission to manage the national grid in a safe, efficient and environmentally sound way, Svenska Kraftnät (Swedish National Grid) needs to take all these perspectives into account while planning new investments. To compare and relate perspectives of technology, economy and environment the same yard stick must be used. That yard stick is commonly money. A problem arises however as environmental issues are difficult to price.The purpose of this master?s degree project was to develop a tool for evaluation of environmental impact related to investments in the Swedish national grid.

Uppsatsen beskriver junk bonds ur företagets perspektiv. Den första, teoretiska delen inleds med en genomgång av obligationsupplåning i allmänhet, där viktiga begrepp beskrivs. Därefter beskrivs den i detta sammanhang viktiga kreditvärderingen, med särskild tonvikt på junk bond-relaterade förhållanden. En beskrivning av den svenska räntemarknaden följer och den i detta sammanhang växande europamarknaden poängteras. Härefter sker en teoretisk genomgång av junk bond-marknadens uppkomst och historik, dess användningsområde, dess för- och nackdelar som finansieringsmetod samt den kritik som i många stycken har riktats mot den.

People who invest capital in promising projects as a profession are called venture capitalists. They are constantly looking for new investment opportunities. Recently, media have observed a growing interest in forest land as capital investment. This is because several fund and investment company market the possibility of safe return through investment in woodland, both in Sweden and abroad. When an investment in forests is seen as an acceptable investment option, focus turns to nearby areas, namely agricultural land.

Evaluation of machinery costs is necessary for selecting appropriate farm machinery. Timeliness cost due to untimely operations is an important component of machinery costs. Timeliness costs can be high for crop sprayers, since pesticide application must be carried out within a short time interval. This Master thesis investigated the timeliness cost and the probability of a suitable workday for spraying. Timeliness factors were estimated for four different crops (oats, spring wheat, winter wheat and barley) using historical weed trial data.

The aim of my study is to answer the question whether there is a potential for services by working horses in the Swedish municipalities. The Swedish University for Agricultural Sciences (SLU) and Swedish Farmers Union (LRF) has started a cooperation called Climate School (Klimatskolan), with the purpose to increase knowledge in environmental and climate related issues in context of agriculture. This Master thesis is in the framework of the Climate School.Global warming is a problem that gets much attention today. Global warming and climate change are two subjects that are very much in focus on the political agenda. The municipalities of Sweden have a big responsibility concerning environmental work and to develop their own environmental thinking.

Specialarbete, 15 hpSvenska som andraspråk, SIS 133VT 2012 Handledare: Håkan Jansson.

This report provides a comparison between the products cellular concrete, foam concrete and LECA concrete. The questions to be answered during the work is how the cellular concrete stands up in cost terms to the existing competitors on the market, how the concrete products differ in design work, and in which situations the concrete varieties are preferred to use.Cellular concrete is a variant of ordinary concrete, with the difference that the ballast is exchanged from stone materials to expanded polystyrene beads (EPS). This substitution gives a product with higher insulation values but lower weight than ordinary concrete.The work was carried out by designing a survey which was sent to two hundred randomly chosen companies across Sweden, to see the building industry?s opinion of the product cellular concrete. The survey showed that cellular concrete was equals its competitors in terms of price, while the product was said to be more flexible, quicker and easier to cast.Then some of the companies, who participated in the survey, were interviewed to see more carefully, how the price, the workmanship and the time for casting and dehydration differed between the products.

Bakgrund: Det har visat sig att det i många fall kan vara svårt att jämföra kalkylinformation mellan likartade enheter trots att dessa använder sig av samma kalkyleringsmetoder, särskilt om enheterna i fråga är geografiskt placerade i regioner med olika kalkyleringstraditioner. Det är därför av intresse att undersöka hur kalkylinformationen kan skilja sig åt i dessa fall. Syfte: Syftet är att analysera försäljningsomkostnader med hänseende på deras urval och värdering i kalkyler. Genomförande: Vi har genomfört en casestudie med intervjuer med tre enhetschefer i den svenska divisionen samt med tre engelska chefer för motsvarande enheter i den brittiska divisionen inom en och samma globala koncern. Resultat: Vi finner i vår studie att kalkyltraditioner spelar en stor roll för vad kalkylinformationen visar, men att det även förekommer stora skillnader mellan enheter som har samma kalkyltradition.

Extended Producer Responsibility (ERP) is a form of product take-back regulation that requires the producers to manage their products at the end of life. By internalising the products? entire life cycle costs into the market price the ultimate objective of such regulations is to reduce the environmental burden from the products. This Master´s thesis seeks to examine if the total life cycle cost of a product actually is borne by the producer, and if not, predict who will then take this cost. This is done by analysing the market for take-back activities in three different categories of products; electrical and electronic equipment, cars and wind power stations.

An important task for Region Skåne is to allocate resources to the health care districts. From 1999 to 2002 Region Skåne used needs-based resource allocation as a model for allocating resources. In a needs-based resource allocation individuals with the same socioeconomic and demographic characteristics are assumed to have the same level of need and are therefore allocated the same amount of resources. During the period of needs-based resource allocation a matrix model was used as a method. In the matrix model individuals were divided into cells after each combination of the socioeconomic and demographic variables.

This thesis work is made by Torbjörn Johansson on Karlstad University for Uddeholms AB. The assignment in this thesis work was to investigate tough cutting in three different tool steels: Vanadis 4 Extra, Vancron 40 and Sverker 21. The research was to compare the wear of the tool after cutting in each one of the tool steel alloys. The research was also made to see if the tool cutting in Vancron 40 has a better wear than the tool cutting in Vanadis 4 Extra and also compare the results with Sverker 21. All three of these alloys are a part of Uddeholms AB:s range of products, and is used in applications like forming tools and knife tools. Vancron 40 is a powder steel with a very good combination of mechanical properties like ductility, adhesive strength and hardness.

Background: Sweden has, since 1983, had a statutory audit for all joint-stock companies. However, according to EG?s fourth corporation directive, member countries can decide on their own if this applies for small joint-stock companies. An investigation was launched in the fall of 2006 to form an opinion on the importance of the audit reporting by law and what an abolishment of this rule would mean for small joint-stock companies. Critics are claiming that the cost of audit for small companies is exceeding the cause in these micro companies.Audit is regulated by Swedish translation (RS) of International Standards on Auditing (ISA) and is to be applied in all companies comprised by the statutory audit.