The main intention with this thesis is to investigate the relationship between Dividends and investments. We hypothesize that firms may be forced to cut back on investments if Dividends are not curtailed in times of poor annual earnings. According to contemporary theories, we argue that firms may be reluctant to cut back on Dividends even when annual earnings decline and the level of investments will consequently be determined by the financial mobility of companies. The survey is carried out by means of a quantitative analysis, which includes all firms quoted on the exchange of Stockholm from 1980 through 2000. On the contrary of previous research, we conclude that even firms with high Dividends can be forced to curtail investments if payouts to shareholders are maintained or increased when companies are faced with a decline in annual earnings..

This paper investigates the relationship between Dividends and institutional and foreign ownership in Swedish firms. We use a dataset which covers the Swedish stock market over the period 1999-2009. The institutional ownership is defined as mutual funds, pension funds and insurance companies and these are analysed separately. The study confirms the expected positive relationship between the level of institutional investors in a firm and the size of Dividends. We also confirm? the expected negative relationship between foreign investors and the size of Dividends paid by Swedish firms.

AbstractThe purpose of this thesis has been to investigate if the Swedish legislation concerning taxation of Dividends to foreign investment funds is in violation to EU law. Furthermore, the thesis will analyze if the Fondskatteutredningens suggestions to changes in the current legislation is appropriate to the purpose it tries to obtain.Today there is a difference in the taxation of Dividends paid to Swedish investment funds and foreign investment funds. Dividends paid to foreign investment funds is being taxed in accordance with the Coupon Tax Act (1970:624), in which no deduction of the tax is possible. Swedish investment funds on the other hand have the possibility to deduct as much of the received Dividends that they have given in Dividends to its shareholders.The difference in the taxation between investment funds because of origin has been reviewed by both Swedish court and by the European Court of Justice. It has in these cases been up to the courts to review if a difference in taxation of Dividends could constitute a violation of the free movement.

This thesis will through the use of various approaches determine the key drivers for dividend payouts for A-listed Swedish firm. The time frame reaches from 1997 to 2003 an the thesis covers 48 companies..

According to Swedish tax legislation, investment funds are taxed differently depending on if the are Swedish or foreign. The difference between the investment funds lies within the taxation of received Dividends and the opportunity to shift the liability of tax of received Dividends on to the funds shareholders. This measure is only available to Swedish funds. The question in this thesis is whether this difference is discriminatory against foreign investors and therefore constitutes a forbidden restriction against the free movement of capital stated in article 63 EUF Treaty.The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has given several preliminary rulings on this type of legislation and its compatibility with the principle of free movement of capital. It is not compatible with the free movement according to the court.

According to Swedish tax legislation, investment funds are taxed differently depending on if the are Swedish or foreign. The difference between the investment funds lies within the taxation of received Dividends and the opportunity to shift the liability of tax of received Dividends on to the funds shareholders. This measure is only available to Swedish funds. The question in this thesis is whether this difference is discriminatory against foreign investors and therefore constitutes a forbidden restriction against the free movement of capital stated in article 63 EUF Treaty.The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has given several preliminary rulings on this type of legislation and its compatibility with the principle of free movement of capital. It is not compatible with the free movement according to the court.

AbstractThis bachelor thesis deals with the close company rules in chapter 56-57 within the Swedish income tax law (IL). The purpose of this thesis is to analyse the outsider rule in 57:5 IL. If a shareholder or a family member works or have worked actively within the company within the fiscal year or the last five fiscal years then the partner has qualified shares and is to be taxed according to the special closed company rules.If an outsider, directly or indirectly, is a significant shareholder within the company, and directly or indirectly, are entitled to Dividends then an active partner only has qualified shares if there is special reasons. When making the assessment regard must be made to conditions under the fiscal year or the last five fiscal years. There is special reason not to apply the rule if there are agreements regarding how the profit should be split or cross-ownerships between companies.If a taxpayer can show that an outsider own 30 percent of the closed company and has a right to Dividends and there is no special reason to why the rule should not be applied then the outsider rule is applicable.

This paper studies the option market?s implied dividend as a predictor of future equity market returns. We introduce this variable in the simple total return framework and discuss some complications of using it as a proxy for the expected dividend. We construct some regressions using the price-dividend ratio and the implied dividend growth, and test them on six years worth of data on the EURO STOXX 50-index. The main result is that implied dividend growth exhibits some forecastability over two-year horizons, but that the dataset is too short to draw any definitive conclusions about long-horizon forecastability.

The aim with this study is to investigate the market reactions to announcements of special Dividends and redemptions in Sweden and thus if these announcements can signal information. This study is an event study, where the event is the day of the announcement of a suggestion regarding issuance of special Dividends or redemptions. The abnormal returns were estimated for two samples with the market adjusted returns model, one including special dividend announcing firms and the other redemption announcing firms. The signalling hypothesis and the hypothesis of a tax induced clientele effect are the most important hypotheses for this study. The efficient market hypothesis is another theoretical base that may explain the market reactions to the studied announcements, especially the pre-announcement activities that may occur.

Background: Theoretical, it?s been questioned why Dividends exists in companies based upon the fact that there is a separation between ownership and control. According to the agency theoretical perception, Dividends is used as a manner to unify the interest of this separation, which in turn lower the agency cost, and increase the efficiency of companies.Purpose: The aim of this master thesis is to scrutinize and analyse the association between Swedish firms? owner structure and owner types and their inclination to dividend.Method: We attack the problem with a hypothetical-deductive research method by using the existence of a universal theory, the agency theory. From our theoretical framework we propose a set of hypotheses.

Background: A debated subject in today?s society is CEO compensation. Companies which give the CEO compensation mean that it motivates them to maximize the company?s return. The compensations are based on various types of variables, such as financial measures and financial ratio.

The Swedish business cycle is in a strong position at the moment, leading to great results and larger profits. This strong business posture has encouraged companies to increase both their liquidity and revenue. Now there is a dilemma, what actions should or could a respectable business take on these newfound liquid assets.The purpose of this paper is to deliver a clear picture of what options there are for such companies listed on the Swedish stock-market, and how the market wants them to act. To these means we have studied the basic theories linked to this subject and reviewed the cause and effects that motivates them. We have also conducted interviews with the people representing the market through their line of business.In the theory we found several options on what companies in similar situations tend to do.

Sammanfattning Uppsatsens titel: Informationshypotesen - Ger förändringar av utdelningar någon information om framtida vinster? Seminariedatum: 2008-02-04 Ämne/Kurs: NEKK01 ? Examensarbete kandidatnivå 15hp Författare: Stefan Setterlund Handledare: Erik Norrman Fem nyckelord: The information content of Dividends, informationshypotesen, utdelningar, effektiva marknader, vinster. Syfte: Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka hypotesen om att aktieutdelningar innehåller någon information om framtida vinster. Metod: Undersökningen genomförs med hjälp av en regressionsanalys med årliga data på bland annat utdelningar och vinster för 46 svenska börsbolag mellan åren 1990-2006. Vinstförändringar är den beroende variabeln och utdelningsförändringar är en av de förklarande.

Question:"Does the market possess perfect information as the efficient market hypothesis says?""Is there any significant relationship between the abnormal stock return on the ex ? day and the dividend?" Purpose: The purpose of this study is to enlighten and find understanding about stock return versus dividend on the ex ? day and try to figure out if abnormal returns occur on the portfolio during Dividends.Methodology:The study was based in a quantitative nature and was derived with an event study and a hypothesis testing. The authors investigated the thirty most traded shares on the Stockholm stock exchange during a period of five years (2005 ? 2009). They were analyzed during a total of nine days; the estimation window was set to sixty days.

The swedish rule concerning the treatment of employee stock-options have changed and the new wording of the rule will be applicable for the first time in 2010. The previous wording of the rule stated that the employee shall be taxed for the stock-option when moving abroad, even if the option is not exercised. The Swedish Skatteverket and Regeringsrätten have found that this rule is in conflict with the free movement of persons within the European Union. The new wording of the rule states that the employee shall be taxed when the option is excercised, no matter where the employee is situated. A state`s right of taxation of a stock-option determines wheter and to what extent the employee stock-otion derives from that state..