Does goodwill affect the cost of capital? Goodwill is an asset which is characterized by much uncertainty regarding both what it is and how much it is really worth. Based on economic theory about information risk and principal-agent problems as well as theory regarding the cost of capital we test for the hypothesis that debt and equity investors perceive goodwill as something risky and hence demand compensation for taking on this extra risk. The proxies used for the cost of capital are cost of debt, beta and the EP-ratio. On a general level we find that increasing the level of goodwill seems to result in higher cost of capital as represented by the three proxies.

This is a qualitative case study that aims to examine the small entrepreneur?s choice of financing solutions and their thoughts on various forms of financing. The authors have chosen to specifically examine entrepreneurs who do not have experience that stretches more than three years in entrepreneurship and the restaurant business. The study used three different companies in the restaurant business in Stockholm and semi-structured interviews were conducted with all owners of the company, corresponding to a total of six respondents. The study's findings show the relationship of entrepreneurs who believe that the experience of the industry and entrepreneurship is valuable also are more prone to giving away some ownership in exchange for a certain expertise and funding..

This paper describes and develops a trade off model of optimal capital structure by Bradley et al. (1984). The model is then tested to examine how changes in corporate tax rates affect the optimal capital structure of firms. Based on theoretical implications of the model, four hypotheses are derived stating that firms? optimal debt-to-value ratio is (1) negatively related to financial distress costs, (2) negatively related to non-debt tax shields, (3) negatively related to firm volatility and (4) positively related to the corporate tax rate.

The recent turbulence in the financial markets has contributed to the banks becoming more restrictive to lend to real estate financing. Deleveraging in Europe's banking sector has also contributed to banks reducing their leverage and increasing capital adequacy to meet the new requirements. Loan-to-value ratios in real estate loans have fallen while banks' interest margins have increased, which has made property investors to look for alternative sources of funding in the capital markets. The two most interesting forms of financing for real estate right now is bonds and preferred shares as they fit property companies that generate stable and predictable cash flows. A bond is an interest-bearing debenture certifying that the purchaser has lent money to the company that issued the bond.

This thesis investigates the 200 year old phenomena of savings banks and if they increase the economic growth (GDP) in the local region they act in. That is being done by testing three hypotheses; the savings banks increase the attractiveness of the region they act in; the savings banks increase the entrepreneurship in the region they act in; and the savings banks increase the economic growth in region they act in. This quantitative cross-sectional study with data from the year 2010, finds that the savings banks increase the attractiveness of the local region, most likely through the efforts and financials they put into different local projects. A positive result is also found for increased entrepreneurship in the regions that have a local savings bank. The result is explained by the savings banks relationship lending, which increase the likeliness for a company to get the credit they need to start and develop.

In order for companies to be competetive on the market, there?s a need of capital. If a company is in a need of capital to make major investments and isn?t able to prioritize internal funding, the priority will be external financing with safe securities; loans. How companies should prioritize the allocation between equity and debt, which together form value, leads us to the subject of capital structure.

This paper examines how debt cancellation, given under the HIPC-initiative, has affected corruption over the period 2000-2006. The examination is foremost interesting due to earlier research showing that high corruption leads to unequal distribution of economic resources. This, combined with the objective of the HIPC initiative to reduce poverty, indicates that combating corruption must be successful in order to fulfill the goals of the initiative. A linear regression shows that countries that have benefited from the HIPC-initiative indeed have a lower corruption than other countries. A panel-data analysis shows on the other hand that no effect on corruption due to debt cancellation or reforms undertaken in the program can be confirmed..

Med företagets kapitalstruktur avses den mix av eget kapital och skulder som används för att finansiera företagets tillgångar. En faktor som anses påverka valet av kapitalstruktur är den typ av tillgångar som företaget har. En hög andel immateriella tillgångar är förknippade med en lägre skuldsättningsgrad. Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka om det finns ett samband mellan andelen bokförda immateriella tillgångar och skuldsättningsgraden hos svenska börsnoterade företag i IT-branschen. Ett delsyfte är undersöka om det finns något samband mellan affärsrisken samt företagens storlek och skuldsättningsgraden.

The purpose of the study is to highlight the issue of student loans securitization, and assure the importance and benefits that could be realized by performing such a transaction. The methodology is a case study for The National Board of Student Aid. It is a qualitative study, mainly using interviews, literature and scientific articles. By using this information we construct a securitization transaction structure ?CSN 2006-1?, and conduct a cost/benefit analysis.

Previous research regarding the European debt crisis has mostly focused on the purely economic aspects of the crisis. However, there is a strong ?Protestant-Catholic? dimension in Europe, where historically Protestant countries are more prosperous than their Catholic and Orthodox counterparts. This has especially been a fact since early 2010, when several countries within the European Union had their credit ratings downgraded. Is this phenomenon merely a coincidence? Or could the roots of the recent troubles in Europe have a basis in historic religions? To tackle this question, Max Webers ?s 110 year old study The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism is brought back into light and used as a tool for analysis of the crisis.The results show that not only are Protestant countries in general more prosperous, but they also have lower corruption and their citizens have a higher level of trust towards the government.

Through certain exceptions in the Swedish regulation on credit agreements for consumers, a new form of instrument for credits has arisen on the national market. The instrument, which is most commonly known as easy credits and was first seen on the Swedish market for consumer credits in 2006, has developed to become part of a vast problem with excessive debt incursion. In order to counteract this development and to harmonise the internal market within the EU, directive 2008/48 EC on credit agreements for consumers was introduced in 2008. In Sweden, the implementation of the directive has led to a proposition for a new regulation on credit agreements for consumers (SFS 2009/10:242 Ny konsumentkreditlag) coming into effect on the 1 January 2011. The proposition puts up stricter rules on creditors granting consumer credits in their course of business, and revokes the former exemption on information and practices preliminary to the conclusion of the credit agreement for minor credits.

On Nasdaq OMX Nordic Stockholm there has been a large increase in issues of preferred stocks since the financial crisis 2008. Aiming to explain whether preferred stocks have most of their characteristics relating to debt or equity, we answer four sub questions. Do all preferred stocks share the same features, or do they differ from each other? Our population is similar in characteristics, except for the preferred stock of Swedbank which is convertible and deviates when it comes to participation in dividends - instead of convertible the others are limited and redeemable. Further, the second sub question treats preferred stock in relation to the common stock quantitatively, in market data.

Sponsoring is today a more common form for corporation in the trade of culture. This has led to a situation, in which companies and institutions of culture, must be more versed in sponsorship. In this essay, we aim at understand and give an account for how the corporation, in a sponsorship relationship might work.A sponsorship relationship also means that a lot of knowledge is needed in other doctrines. The law aspect is one of these, which we also will concern in this essay, another aspect is the integrity of the culture.The main purpose with this essay is to find information, which might work recommendingly, for organizations that works with sponsorship. Mainly we will considerate sponsorship as a source for the financing of culture.In this essay we have discovered that sponsoring has become increasingly important for financing cultural activities, and a good corporation demands a great deal of commitment from both parties.

Denna uppsats beskriver arbetet med att utveckla ett inkassohanteringsprogram. Arbetet är utfört åt inkassobyrån Exactor International Debt Collection från Mariestad. Bakgrunden till projektet är att Exactor behöver en programvara för att hålla ordning på de inkassoärenden som de har. En programvara som passar deras sätt att arbeta.I programmet finns det möjlighet för användaren att registrera ärenden som var och en innehåller en klient, en eller flera betalningsskyldiga (gäldenärer) och en eller flera fakturor. Vidare finns det möjlighet att söka och redigera de olika delarna i ett ärende.Uppsatsen beskriver hur programmet är konstruerat och hur det fungerar.

År 1996 presenterade IMF och Världsbanken det så kallade HIPC-initiativet. Initiativet har inneburit omfattande skuldavskrivningar för HIPC-länderna. Uppsatsens syfte är att undersöka om HIPC-initiativet är ett effektivt verktyg för att gynna ekonomisk tillväxt. Med hjälp av teorier så som "debt overhang" och "crowding-out" samt empiriska studier från diverse ekonomiska forskare så visar uppsatsen på ett samband mellan höga skulder och låg ekonomisk tillväxt. Vid vilken skuldnivå detta inträffar och vilka orsakerna är råder det dock delade meningar om.