Recent years there has been discussed how the critical situation in the housing market threatens the Stockholm region's growth. The thesis objective is to examine whether there is a scientific link between the lack of housing supply and growth. The thesis also intends to identify solutions for increased housing construction, for instance by examining the conditions for a greater regional perspective and influence on the region's housing supply. The thesis empirical study is based on semi-structured interviews with representatives from the Government, municipalities and the housing industry.In Sweden, research on the relationship between housing shortages and growth has not been conducted to that extent it can be said to exist scientific evidence regarding the growth threat. However, in Britain and the U.S, empirical studies show that a lack of housing supply has hindered growth through negative impact on countries' gross domestic product.

An old and well known problem in sawmilling is to determine which dimensions /products those are most profitable to produce. Existing optimization models maximize the value of the log. In other words, based upon the market prices of the dimensions the models calculate the best way to split the log. Yet there is a great uncertainty if the most well paid dimensions really are the most profitable to produce. The costs of the process from lumber to sawn products are hard to determine and are therefore often left out from the optimization process. In this study the economic contribution of different dimensions/products are analysed.

The Swedish immigration policy is a subject constantly under scrutiny, especially in the media. The Dublin treaty, which came into effect in 2003, has meant stricter regulations for the handling of asylum seekers, which in turn increases the requirements of the officials at the Swedish Migration Board. Consequently, the staff at the Swedish Migration Board is daily facing difficulties when deciding who is to stay or not. Therefore, it is interesting to investigate how these criteria in the Dublin Treaty, are used in the daily work of the officials. Emphasizing these problematic aspects of the Dublin Treaty, this study aims to answer the following two questions:- How has the Dublin Treaty been implemented in Swedish legislation by the officials at the Swedish Migration Board?- How do these officials work to implement this treaty?This case study is based on interviews with a number of officials working at the Swedish Migration Board.

This paper investigates whether the traditional accrual based trading strategy first documented by Sloan (1996) can be refined using fundamental analysis. Specifically, this is done by implementing the composite signal F_SCORE introduced by Piotroski (2000) to identify financially strong or weak firms. We find that by applying both investment models simultaneously, in a model we call P_KOMB, the mean market-adjusted return earned by an investor exploiting the accrual anomaly can be increased by 14.8% annually. This is achieved by taking a long position in strong firms (as defined by the composite signal) in the lowest accrual portfolio, while an offsetting short position is taken in weak firms in the highest accrual portfolio, repeated annually between 1997 and 2007. Consistent with prior studies, positive market-adjusted returns can be attained through assessment of accruals as well as key value drivers found in historical financial data.

Obesity and overweight are today classified as one of the largest epidemics in the Western world and is threaten a large part of the population. As a reaction to this a major health trend has emerged in recent decades. Every day consumers are exposed to information from the media about what is healthy or unhealthy to eat and the recommendations change frequently.There is great interest in healthy food on the Swedish food market, but still healthy foods only represents a small proportion of the total food sales. The essay examines the gap between the current and potential demand for healthy food and if it can be explained by any of the following factors: lack of information, price, taste or cognitive behavioral.To study these questions a quantitative method have been used and 213 questionnaires were collected. The intention is to draw general conclusions about the entire population.

The purpose of this essay was to find an understanding of what factors whichaffect refugee reception in two municipalities in the southern part of Sweden, themunicipality of Vellinge and the municipality of Landskrona. Three interviewswere made with three local politicians and these interviews were then analysedusing postcolonial theory. With the help of Matthew J. Gibney we identified sevenfactors which aided us in the analysis these were: Integration history, Ethnicaffinity, Determining who is a refugee, The wealth of the municipality, Thehousing market, The labour market and The action of other municipalities.We found that these factors were all useful in creating an understanding ofrefugee reception in the two municipalities. However they affected themunicipalities differently.

Title: Globalization ? Meeting a new market Author: Anna Nubäck Supervisor: Anders Nilsson Institution: School of Management, Blekinge Tekniska Högskola Course: Master in business administration, 15 credits (FED006) Purpose: The purpose of this essay is partly to create an understanding of the decision to establish a branch in Japan and especially to look at if and how the Swedish company in this study has adjusted its corporate culture to suit the Japanese market. Method: Data is collected thru a number of semi constructed interviews. A first telephone interview was followed by an interview made face to face that was also followed up by interviews performed over telephone. E-mails have been used to clear and correct collected data.

Recently, the selections of ethical funds are increased; at the same time investors with social and moral preferences have increased in the capital market. There are currently debates on whether ethical funds perform better or worse than funds without ethical criteria. This also involves a vivid discussion on whether investors know about the consequences of investing in ethical funds. Therefore, this study involves theories about the rationality and decision theory, in addition to what mainly control the investment decisions. The study also discusses portfolio theory since this is one of the underlying theories behind fund management and its development.The purpose of this study is to explain if ethical limitations in the selection of securities affect risk and return in the fund portfolio.

Studies have shown that user participation is a good method when improving or developing a product. The method gives a company insight in what the customer wants and needs. It has also been shown that user participation benefits all parts included. For example, it creates a greater relationship with customers than most other methods do. Webportals is one of the most interactive systems online and it gives companies a unique chance to improve and maintain their relationship with customers.

Destination marketing looks different from that of traditional marketing, since the product, in this case the destination, consists of several different parts compared to a good. A destination is marketed as a process where the consumption takes place at the same time as the production. Destination marketing organizations, DMO?s, are responsible for the marketing of a destination. Since destinations consist of several parts such as the train trip to the destination, restaurant visits, shopping, hotel stays etc., it is difficult for the DMO?s to fully control how a tourist perceive the destination.

The purpose of this study is to examine the capital market reaction generated by layoff announcements. The study takes place in Sweden and tests 138 news concerning layoffs which are categorized according to a content analysis. They are divided as: positive or negative news. The layoffs are also divided into three subgroups with varying sizes: 0,98 percent or less, between 0,99 and 4,49 percent or 4,5 percent or larger. The study uses an event study method to measure the reaction of the capital market.

The single market is one of the underlying ideas of the European Union. Free movement of goods and efficient competition are central for the function of the union and are therefore carefully protected by the Treaty of Rome. Exclusive rights of trademarks in the EU can be seen as a method of dividing the common market, preventing the free movement of goods and to be anti-competitive. What comes out of this is that there is a conflict between exclusive rights of trademarks and the rules of both free movement of goods and competition. The aim of this work is to see in which kind of situations the exclusive rights of trademarks can be a part of this conflict but also to study how this problem is resolved by the European Court.

Every year the Swedish gambling monopoly serves as a significant source of income for the government. This income is later distributed by the government on various areas for the common good. The question is wheather the state is allowed to preserve this lucrativemarket for itself by any means necessary. Also is it enough to claim that the monopoly exists to protect the citizens, and thus escaping the conditions of EC-law, and its struggle to harmonize trade between the member states? This thesis describes the Swedish gambling monopoly and its relationship with EC-law.

This master thesis is written at the Royal Institute of Technology during the spring and summer of 2008.The assignment was to investigate what factors on a broadband market determine how well it performsin terms of how many people have access to broadband. These are the factors that determine whetheror not a country or market will be able to achieve a high broadband penetration. The purpose of thisthesis was to establish a better understanding for what a market should look like or how a strugglingone can be complemented in order to succeed.As a foundation for this investigation, a group of benchmark countries were chosen and evaluated. Inaddition to this, a group of, developing MENA2-countries were chosen and evaluated. Finally, interviewswere performed with some of Sweden?s leading internet service providers, the regulatory agency andinfrastructure company, Skanova.Among the benchmark countries were Sweden, France, Canada, South Korea and Japan.

Historically, men have always had a superior position over women, which has beenportrayed in all kinds of media representations. Visual communication is an importantpart of our daily life since the reality is reflected through images. The development ofthe Web has led to increased interaction opportunities, and new ways to communicate,mainly through pictures. Politicians have embraced this and use social media as a partof their daily work. They also use social media to portray themselves from a morepersonal angle, which has created a higher interest for their personal life.