Background: A large part of the daily political and economic debate in Sweden concerns the EU. One question that has been debated since the beginning of European integration is whether trade is created as a consequence of integration and, ifso, how great are the gains related to the increased trade. An equally important but maybe less debated question is whether Countries outside the union are affected by the increased European integration. Is increased European integration made at the cost of Countries outside the EU? Purpose: The purpose of this study is, by calculating trade creation and trade diversion, to evaluate if a number of developing Countries? trade with Sweden has decreased after Sweden?s membership in the European Union.

This bachelor thesis examines the relation between Countries? degree of economic freedom and their economic performance. Economic freedom as a concept is defined as the degree of market economy within a nation.The variable of measure that is used is the Frasier institute Economic freedom of the world index (EFI). The paper is built upon the Solow growth model and is extended by incorporation of additional variables; among which of course economic freedom. The study is performed through regression analysis, based on the neoclassical model both on rich Countries, poor Countries and on all investigated Countries.Two investigations are performed: i) the impact from economic freedom on Countries level of GDP per capita and ii) the impact from economic freedom on the growth rate in GDP per capita.The finding is that economic freedom can be seen as a relevant determinant of differences in GDP per capita growth rates between nations.

The aim of this thesis is to analyse the most common economic effects of Countries pursuing trade facilitation. Trade flows are constrained by non-tariff barriers and through trade facilitation these barriers can be decreased. We will study the effects of trade facilitation from a theoretical perspective and evaluate a number of empirical studies. Several different trade barriers will be identified as well as those regions and Countries that will gain the most from trade facilitation. We draw the conclusion thatlarge gains would prevail for all Countries and that the consumers, businesses and the state all benefit from trade facilitation.

This essay will try to explain and compare the different development steps which Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina have taken after the war. How could Countries with such similar backgrounds develop in such different ways? By analyzing and comparing the two Countries the purpose was to examine how these Countries which had so much in common could develop in so different ways. My two questions are: What similarities and differences are there between the development which Bosnia and Croatia have taken after the war? Why have Croatia succeeded and not Bosnia?My analysis showed that the main reason to the difference between these Countries was that Bosnia is divided; all ethnic groups in Bosnia only consider what's best for their own ethnic group and not what's best for the country. Croatia however has expelled the Serbs which made it easier for them to have a succesfull democratic development. .

The object of this essay was, first, to study what advantages parliamentary members in the participating Countries argue that their country gains when university students study abroad via ERASMUS, and, second, to study two factors that might affect what advantages that are emphasised by the parliamentary members in the participating Countries. To achieve this object, two research questions were posed regarding what advantages of the ERASMUS Programme are mentioned in the parliamentary debate in three Countries, United Kingdom, Sweden and Germany, and regarding whether the parliamentary debate is different between the Countries as concerns what advantages are emphasised. Subsequently another two research questions were studied, regarding whether the Countries? different positions in Europe and the existence of euroscepticism in these Countries affect what advantages of the ERASMUS Programme are emphasised in the parliamentary debate. The study was carried out using argumentation analysis, in which the arguments for participation in the ERASMUS Programme presented in the parliamentary debates were compiled and grouped together according to whether they refer to economic and professional advantages or to cultural and social advantages.

The purpose of this essay is to review the Swedish international development cooperation carried out by Sida to control whether the implementation of the international aid is compatible with the policy. There are a lot of different ways to implement the economic aid that are being used by the donors today. The Swedish method has since the 1960s mainly been focused on attempting to diminish the poverty in the world. In the latest time another goal has been added, that is a focus on supporting the civil rights. This essay will be concentrated to aim on what kind of Countries receiving aid from Sweden, and exactly why these Countries are being chosen.The main question of this essay is: What Countries are receiving the international developing aid, and how can this distribution be understood? To answer the main question there are two themes in the essay:? What kind of Countries is supposed to receive developing aid from Sweden according to the policy?? What kind of Countries is receiving the aid, and how can this be understood?This essay is mainly based on quantitative data obtained from Sida, together with index of corruption and poverty will the different types of Swedish cooperation Countries be described.The conclusions of this essay are that there are two objectives of the policy: to fight poverty, and to strengthen the civil rights.

In this essay I?m asking if the Scandinavian Countries Sweden, Denmark and Norway use a third world perspective on gender equality in their development aid politics. A third world perspective on gender equality is a perspective that considers the special experiences and priorities of women in the third world. My point of view is that third world perspectives represent women in the third world better than western perspectives.To determine if the Countries uses a third world perspective on gender equality or not I have examined the Countries aid policies with a third world theory. The material that I have used is policy documents on gender equality from the three Countries and my method is discourse analysis.My study shows that Sweden Denmark and Norway uses a third world perspective on gender equality to a certain extent.

The purpose of this essay is to review the Swedish international development cooperation carried out by Sida to control whether the implementation of the international aid is compatible with the policy. There are a lot of different ways to implement the economic aid that are being used by the donors today. The Swedish method has since the 1960s mainly been focused on attempting to diminish the poverty in the world. In the latest time another goal has been added, that is a focus on supporting the civil rights. This essay will be concentrated to aim on what kind of Countries receiving aid from Sweden, and exactly why these Countries are being chosen.The main question of this essay is: What Countries are receiving the international developing aid, and how can this distribution be understood? To answer the main question there are two themes in the essay:? What kind of Countries is supposed to receive developing aid from Sweden according to the policy?? What kind of Countries is receiving the aid, and how can this be understood?This essay is mainly based on quantitative data obtained from Sida, together with index of corruption and poverty will the different types of Swedish cooperation Countries be described.The conclusions of this essay are that there are two objectives of the policy: to fight poverty, and to strengthen the civil rights.

This thesis takes as its starting-point the different stands on the ever ongoing growth of multinational corporations (MNCs) and its consequences. Two opposing branches of theories, arguing that the establishment of MNCs in developing Countries is good respectively bad for these Countries, are tested for the aspect of state capacity. A quantitative method is then used to test if there exists such a relationship at all and if so, which of the two notions that are right.The presence of MNCs is measured as FDI of GDP while state capacity is defined as a combined index for three of ICRG's Political risk indicators. The two variables are analysed, mainly by cross tabulation, using an extensive dataset of 130 developing Countries measured for a period of 20 years.The outcome is though ambiguous: No solid correlation can be found, but Countries with a higher rate of FDI of GDP tend to have a slight worse rate of state capacity throughout the analysis. Thus the result points in favour of the notion that MNCs are bad for developing Countries? state capacity.

This thesis analyzes and discusses the role of institutions concerning Countries' abilities to create economic wealth. The Countries that we are analyzing are the former members of the Warsaw pact and former Yugoslavia. These Countries are referred to as transition Countries. In order to analyze the transition Countries institutional structure we are using Douglass C. North's theory regarding institutions and institutional building.

The aim of this paper is to analyze aid, grouped into sectors, and its effect on growth in developing Countries, to find out which type of aid has had the most positive effect on growth. We compiled a regression analysis based on panel data over 81 developing Countries from 1975-1999. In our first regression we considered and group Countries by institutional quality, in the other we considered and group Countries after regional differences. As a measure on institutional quality we used the KKZ-index. The principal aim of this paper was to find out what kind of aid is the most efficient in its influence on growth in LDC?s.

This thesis examines the power of developing Countries within the World Trade Organization (WTO). The research question is if there is a change in the power relations between developing Countries and developed Countries from the establishment of the WTO in 1995 and until mid 2006, and if so, why this change is taking place? The thesis has its theoretical starting-point within regime theory and views it from a critical theoretical perspective. A multidimensional why of dealing with the concept of power is being used to answer if there is a change in the power relations? The conclusion is that there is a small change in the power relations and that the developing Countries are gaining more, but limited power.

The primary purpose of this thesis is to investigate the operation of membership criteria, which are applied against Countries that wish to join the European Union (EU). More specifically, the importance of some criteria in comparison to others is considered. To answer this proposal, three questions are posed: What are the EU membership criteria? Are some criteria more important than other criteria? Does the EU treat candidate Countries differently in applying the membership criteria? Three Countries are used in this analysis, each country representing one recent enlargement round: Poland (2004), Romania (2007), and current candidate country Turkey. Both official documents, such as EU treaties, and unofficial documents such as statements from EU leaders are used to analyze the application of membership criteria.

AbstractEssay in political science, C-level, by Ellen Linde, spring semester 2007. Tutor: Susan Marton.?HIV and gender inequalities; a lethal combination? A study of the patriarchal dominance in the international discussion on HIV/AIDS?The purpose of this essay is to study to what extent a patriarchal discourse is present in the international discussion on how to best fight the spread of HIV/AIDS. To determine if a patriarchal discourse is present or not I have used a feminist theory on patriarchal dominance. I have concentrated on the United Nations resolutions about HIV/AIDS.

 In this essay the aim was to investigate how the EU is trying to function as a democracy promoter in three particular Countries, the so called candidate-Countries Croatia, Macedonia and Turkey. The aim was also to analyze if there exist any differences in how the EU functions in these Countries as a democracy promoter with a focus on how acts of democracy promotion is taken place. In order to fulfil the purpose of the essay two questions were addressed, how does the EU perform in promoting democracy in the three candidate-Countries Croatia, Macedonia and Turkey? And also, is it possible to identify any differences in how the EU functions as a democracy promoter in those three Countries?The method used to fulfil purpose and answering research-questions was qualitative text-analysis.  The results of the study were that the EU does perform in a number of ways to promote democracy in the three Countries. The main differences are that the EU is using primarily political tools in Croatia and Macedonia which are channelized top-down and economic tools in Turkey channelized mainly top-down to promote democracy.