Uppsatsen behandlar frågan om huruvida högre takt i produktivitetsutvecklingen påverkar sysselsättningsgraden negativt i en ekonomi då förbättringar i arbetsbesparande teknologi medför lägre efterfrågan på arbete. Frågeställningen har uppkommit med jämna mellanrum genom historien sedan den första industriella revolutionen utan att något långsiktigt samband kunnat bekräftas. Uppsatsens undersökning av 10 OECD länder mellan 1979 och 2003 finner inte heller stöd för ett sådant långsiktigt samband. Däremot finns starkt stöd för att produktivitetsutveckling har negativ inverkan på sysselsättningen på både kort och medelfristig sikt. Utifrån detta kan arbetstillfällen räddas på kort och medelfristig sikt men inte på lång sikt då de, inom tillverkningssektorn och även generellt, ser ut att minska oavsett takten i produktivitetsutvecklingen.

Companies of today are facing a development where it is more significant to focus on existing customers since the approach constitute a more cost reducing way, compared to finding new customers. During the last decades the marketing has therefore moved towards a relationship based marketing. Companies emphasize creating long-term relationships with customers, instead of consider the sale as a non-recurrent phenomenon. To engender customer loyalty has been an essential objective in the creation of long-term relationships.In this essay the authors have chosen to do a study which enlighten how companies in the ready-made apparel business produce added value to their brand and through this generate customer loyalty. Through a case study we analyze how Filippa K, Tiger of Sweden and Gant do to maintain value in their brand, in both a business- and customer perspective.

Tanken med denna uppsats är att jämföra Sveriges sjukvårdssystem med Danmarks och Norges och analysera om en liknande reform med ökad centralisering, som skett i Norge och som kommer att ske i Danmark, är ett alternativ för Sverige. Alla tre länderna har en historia med decentraliserad, offentligt tillhandahållen sjukvård och vikten läggs vid allas rätt till lika vård. Solidarisk finansiering med skatter är en självklarhet för dessa tre länder. Reformerna som skett i Norge och planeras i Danmark innebär att man går ifrån den traditionella modellen och mer ansvar och makt flyttas över på staten. De danska och norska motsvarigheterna till Sveriges landsting läggs ner och nya sjukvårdsregioner bildas.

Sedan 1996 är HIV/AIDS den främsta dödsorsaken i Botswana och skapar stora sociala och ekonomiska störningar i landet. Trots att sjukdomen i sig inte är ett ekonomiskt fenomen utgör den stora omfattningen ett allvarligt hot för landets ekonomiska utveckling de kommande årtiondena. Den ekonomiska utvecklingen i Botswana var fram till mitten på 1990-talet en av världens snabbaste. Från att ha varit ett av de tio fattigaste länderna i världen utvecklades landet till ett av Afrikas rikaste och klassas nu som ett medelinkomstland. Denna uppsats ska försöka reda ut vilka några av de makroekonomiska konsekvenserna är för ett land där en av fyra bär på den livshotande sjukdomen.

Uppsatsen, Bulgariens väg mot EU ? en studie om handel och specialisering ? , undersöker de ekonomiska effekter som Europaavtalet har medfört för Bulgariens del. Avtalet etablerade ett frihandelsområde mellan Bulgarien och EU och syftade till att förbereda landet för ett framtida EU-medlemskap. Vidare verkade Europaavtalet för ett främjande av handelsutbytet mellan de två parterna genom handelsliberalisering. Studiens primära syfte är att skildra Bulgariens utveckling under en tioårsperiod med avseende på handelsmönster och specialisering.

Consumers today seek added value to the ordinary products/services that companies are offering. Consumers must get their emotional need satisfied - a need for experiences worth remembering. At the same time, the consumers are engaged in ethics and morals. Companies use events frequently as a marketing approach to meet the customer?s demand of added value.

A more complex and turbulent world market puts pressure on flexibility and the ability to adjust its business to the market changes. The rapid and unpredictable change is hade to analyze and forecast which demands more short-term forecasting. The issue for this dissertation is based upon the demand of more flexible ways of doing business in the bank sector in Sweden, which is a turbulent and unpredictable market. Handelsbanken is a company that uses the so called Beyond budgeting concept and the dissertation is about this company?s ability to solve the economic governance without the traditional budgeting process.

This thesis investigates if a system for small scale electricity production located in anurban environment can be profitable. The work has been divided up into two parts,one extensive literature study and one case study. The purpose of the literature studywas to investigate the area, resulting in a choice of which technology to be studied indepth in a case study.In the case study a system containing small scale wind turbines and photovoltaicsmounted on Gränby Centrums roof was examined. From data containing wind power,wind direction and total irradiation, possible production from a system weresimulated. Three products of each technology were examined in the simulations.From the simulated production an economic analysis was carried out, this toinvestigate if a system is profitable.

This report will show the energy usage of Hotel Princess in Sandviken, Sweden. When the hotel changed owner an examination of the hotels heating, ventilation and sanitary systems were done. The report showed flaws in the ventilation system, and is why the new owner wanted a closer look at the energy use of the hotel. The original building was built in the 1930s and two major extensions have been built, one in the 1950s and the most recent in the 1980s. An assumption made is that the building parts were built to the restrictions during the time. Activities on the hotel include sleep over, conference, night club, massage and swimming in the hotels pool section.

Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka varför Afrika har haft så dålig tillväxt de senaste sexton åren jämfört med resten av världen. Paneldata från 41 afrikanska länder mellan åren 1989 och 2004 används för att undersöka åtta variablers påverkan på den ekonomiska tillväxten. Variablerna som ska granskas är sparande, humankapital, inflation, inflation i kvadrat, bistånd, öppenhet, jämställdhet och aids. Fokus ligger på aids och jämställdhet, eftersom de inte varit föremål för tidigare empirisk forskning i samma utsträckning som de andra variablerna. Regressioner gjordes dels över ett treårsintervall och dels över ett femårsintervall för att undersöka hur variablerna påverkar tillväxten för olika tidsperioder.

Our thesis focus on how retirees perceive Tv4s news casts of economy news where we focused on five different aspects: What is the relationship between the news cast and the viewer and how does the viewer express their understanding of the news cast and the way it is constructed? What are the viewers attitude towards the news content and how do they find the news cast useful for them personally?We choosed retirees as our target group due to their vulnerable economic position in today?s society and TV as an important medium for them due to the digital divide. The study was performed with twelve qualitative interviews and one group interview where six retirees took part.We discovered a big interest for economic news in the target group. The majority had a sympathetic view of the news cast they saw but they also expressed skepticism toward the economy segment and/or news castings. The majority expressed a lack of trust for the journalists and the experts brought in to share observations and make announcements, and the financial business overall.

The current situation for Swedish grain farmers facing a situation with decreasing profitability makes it necessary for the farmers to find ways of increasing the margins in their grain growing. Decreasing profitabilities along with Lantmännens closing of grain elevators contribute to the necessity for farmers to invest in grain storing and drying at the farm. By investing in capacity for drying and storage of grain on the farm it is possible to recieve a higher price on the grain sold due to the possibility to sell when the price is higher compared to the harvesting season. An investment in grain drying and storage with a relatively low investment cost that recently has appeared on the Swedish market is the grain stir drying system. This study contains a comparison of an investment in a grain stir drying system where the grain is dried and stored in the same silo and a conventional drying and storage system.

The Innovation- and Design Engineer program at Karlstad university is a three year long engineer education. In the last phase a final piece is to be done and in this case Boda Borg in Skellefteå is the company in need of product development. Boda Borg is a company in the experience industry and they are located in nine cities from Gällivare in the north of Sweden to Karlskrona in the south. Boda Borg is a franchise company where every facility is their own. As a visitor you will experience physical challenges as well as intellectual in adventure rooms which are serial linked.

The Oresund Region, consisting of the Swedish county of Scania and the Danish islands of Sealand, Lolland, Falster and Bornholm, is widely recognised as a successful example of European cross-border co-operation. The purpose of this region building project is to form a cross-border fully integrated functional region in order to accomplish a high level of economic growth and employment.This thesis argues, by the means of discourse analysis, that the project can be viewed as a kind of post-politics, defined as a politics that under a neoliberal hegemonic consensus strives to manipulate citizens (and to redefine them as consumers and investors) into better economic performance.This manipulation is carried out by extensive discourse production aimed at convincing people that the Oresund Region exists, that it is a successful region, and that the people who inhabit it are also successful. The deliberate vagueness and contradictory character of the Oresund discourse is investigated and explained as a discursive strategy to incorporate as many views and desires as possible..

A possible way to reduce pollution and slow down the process of global warming is to increase the usage of renewable energy sources. One of these renewable energy sources is solar power. With the aid of solar panels and solar cells the energy from the sun can be transformed into both heating and electricity. The requirement to use the sun in this fashion is a suitable surface, for example a big roof, an angle between 40-60 degrees and that the surface should be exposed to the south. Almost every farm meets these requirements.