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 purpose of this study is to make a close and critical scrutiny of the EU Lisbon Strategy and the assumption of `sustainable growth´. A basic question is to clarify what is meant by `sustainability´ in the economic and the environmental dimension respectively, and also, to analyse the meaning of `sustainable growth´. Secondly, I try to investigate the relationship between the economical and environmental dimensions of the strategy. Are the goals of the dimensions compatible and mutually supporting or are they conflicting? By illuminating these issues the study moves towards a final set of questions: What are the arguments that encourage or counteract the Lisbon assumption of `sustainable growth´? Is the European Union approaching `sustainable growth´ looking at different economical and ecological indicators? What are the prospects for the Lisbon Strategy as a way towards global `sustainable development´?.

Många ekonomiskt intresserade människor tror fortfarande att de finansiella marknaderna är effektiva såsom Fama:s (1970) hypotes om effektiva marknader förutspår. Insikten om att insatta nationalekonomer idag har en helt annan uppfattning och att forskningen mer och mer visar på en annan bild, har dock svårt att spridas.I denna uppsats ges en grundlig beskrivning av var forskningen står idag. Dessutom görs en empirisk momentumstudie på den svenska aktiemarknaden, vilket visar sig bli ännu ett bevis på att marknaderna inte alltid är så effektiva som det påstås. Resultatet bekräftar att man genom att köpa tidigare vinnare kan tjäna riskjusterad överavkastning på de finansiella marknaderna..

Antidumpning är ett aktuellt ämne som ökat i omfattning under senare tid och som sedermera påverkar handelsflödet mellan länder i världen. I denna uppsats skildras EU:s antidumpningspolitik, från anmälan om dumpning till slutgiltiga åtgärder, problem och tänkbara effekter. Vidare kartläggs EU:s antidumpningsåtgärder mot asiatiska cykelproducenter samt vilka effekter dessa resulterar i. De länder som ingår i undersökningen är Kina, Taiwan, Vietnam, Indonesien, Malaysia och Thailand. Resultatet överensstämmer med de antaganden om importminskning, handelsomfördelning och prisökningar som tidigare forskning kommit fram till även om de inte är generellt applicerbara på alla länder i undersökningen då stora variationer förekommer..

In this essay I examine the causal relationship between confidence in institutions and growth in Sweden 1989-2002. By examining the causal relationship between these two variables, valuable indicators of the causal relationship between trust and growth can be obtained. The institutions which are used in this essay are chosen according to the theory on institutions for public administration building trust and social capital. The chosen institutions are primary schooling, the police and medical service. A Granger causality model is used to measure the causal relation and the results from the tests show that there is no causal relationship between growth and confidence in institutions.

This literature review summarizes available data on infection with the parasitic roundworm, Ascaridia galli, as a cause of disease in poultry, including the consequences of a conversion to alternative production systems. Ascaridia galli has a direct life cycle with resistant eggs that survive and are easily spread in the environment, especially in systems with bedding materials where the faecal contact is high. The infection is usually subclinical but depending on the infection dose, the symptoms range from weight loss and diarrhea to mortality. Factors such as the feed composition and genetic variation among different hybrids clearly affect the establishment rate of the infection. Ascaridia galli will probably become an increasing problem, with a shift from the traditional battery cages to alternative systems where the risk of re-infection is high.

This thesis gives an introduction to securitization in general and the tranching of collateralized debt obligations in particular. It does this by using a firm-value model to simulate the underlying portfolio via monte-carlo simulations.The simulations in turn give a loss-distribution from which the various tranchings of the CDO?s are derived. To get an understanding of the influence of different variables involved in the tranching the simulations are repeated several times where the portfolio variables are changed to generate different tranchings. This to give a understanding of the influence different variables have on the tranching and consequently risks involved in CDO?s in particular but also general risks and problems of securitizations..

One of the aims of this report has been to make an inventory of the building trade market to see which document handling systems that are available. The secondary aim was to document the users´ demands on the systems and other demands such as quality assurance. After this, the document handling systems Byggnet and Lotus Notes, which are rather complex systems, have been analysed. Finally a recommendation has been made. In the inventory of the marketthe internet has been used because it is there the latest information can be found.

The aim of this thesis is to investigate the correlation between the price of electric power and investments within the Swedish basic industry. Using regression analysis, the authors test for correlation between the electricity prices and the basic industry, defined as the pulp and paper industry, the mining industry, the steel and metal industry and the basic chemical industry. Moreover, five variables found in the literature on investment decisions are being used as a means of comparison. The results suggest that the electricity price affects the investment decisions within the basic chemical industry as well as the steel and metal industry. On a more abstract level, this thesis contributes to the understanding of one of the properties of the Swedish GDP..

Optionshandeln har ökat markant på senare år och detta beror på att investerare vill sprida sina risker. Är optionerna korrekt prissatta eller kan det finnas arbitragemöjligheter? De flesta av investerarna använder sig idag av Black & Scholes formel då de prissätter optioner. I Black & Scholes formel är volatiliteten för aktien okänd och måste uppskattas. I denna uppsats vill jag undersöka om likviditeten har någon effekt vid uppskattning av volatiliteten.

Mothers of small children often work part-time in Sweden. Since old age pensions are based on lifetime income, part-time work leads to lower pensions, as long as there is no compensation from non-actuarial benefits such as minimum pensions. In this paper, I investigate whether different components of the Swedish pension system provide incentives for part-time work among women. The analysis is performed through a simulation of future pensions for 9 typical women in a certain cohort. For three levels of education, I compare pensions of women with different labor market participation rates in different growth scenarios.

Frågeställningen som denna uppsats är avsedd att besvara är ifall offentlig sektor är tillväxthämmande för en stat, samt om en inkomstgaranti för individerna i en stat är tillväxthämmande. Denna frågeställning besvaras genom konstruerandet av en tillväxtmodell. Det nya elementet, som huvudsakligen är avsett för att klargöra effekterna av de studerade fenomenen, är införlivandet av en variabel som representerar interaktionsfrekvensen hos agenterna i ekonomin. Interaktionsfrekvensen är i sin tur ett resultat av dekommunikationsmedel som står agenterna till buds och hur mycket marknaden är reglerad. Den primära slutsatsen att dra från modellens dynamik är att en offentlig sektor har en negativinverkan på en stats ekonomiska tillväxt, om än validiteten i slutsatsen begränsas på grund av arbetets teoretiska karaktär..

Problems with the current energy system, which partially relies on non-renewable fuels, are increasingly recognized. Emissions of greenhouse gases from fossil fuels may speed up global warming, which in turn leads to a number of negative consequences. Nuclear energy is risky and relies on consumption of a scarce resource. This leads to a demand of renewable energy that is also economically feasible. One possible renewable source of energy is solar energy.

Systems development methods mirror different organizational perspectives, and not all methods are formalised, but what they have in common is the purpose of structuring and supporting systems development processes. Which method would be the most suitable may be determined by the systems development context at hand, because every systems development context is unique. Information is a valuable asset in today?s organizations, and it needs to be protected against both internal and external security threats. In our essay we aspired to find and present suggestions as to how systems developers can include security in the very design based on formalised systems development methods to create systems that are better prepared to meet the security challenges of today.

Increased resource efficiency in an energy system could result in large economic and environmental benefits. Tekniska verken i Linköping AB (Tekniska verken) is responsible for the district heating network in Linköping. Their vision is to create the world?s most resource efficient region. An important step towards this vision is more efficient usage of produced heat, something which could be achieved through integration of a seasonal heat storage in the energy system.