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 increasing holdings by institutional investors have raised concerns about the institutions passive investment strategies and the implications for corporate governance. A way for investors to address moral hazard and opportunistic behaviour of management is to demand conservatism in accounting practices. This paper analyses the relation between institutional ownership and accounting conservatism in the Swedish market by studying firms on the Nasdaq OMX Stockholm over a three-year period. Furthermore, the study investigates whether ownership by institutions with high probability of monitoring managers leads to higher conservatism in financial reporting. To measure accounting conservatism this study uses the asymmetric timeliness measure developed by Basu (1997).

I Sverige pågår idag en samhällsdebatt angående huruvida private equity?industrin bidrar till den ekonomiska utvecklingen genom att skapa långsiktigt starka och lönsamma bolag eller om de förstör värde genom nedskärningar och bolagsuppdelningar. Med private equity menas riskkapitalbolag som investerar i onoterade företag, så kallade portföljbolag, med avsikten att tillföra värde inför en avyttring några år senare, vanligen 3-5 år. Syftet med denna studie är att studera värdeutvecklingen på ett antal av dessa svenska portföljbolag, från riskkapitalbolagens avyttring till och med två år efter försäljningen. I studien har nyckeltal med fokus på lönsamhet, tillväxt och kapitalstruktur tagits fram för portföljbolagen.

Sammanfattning Utvecklingen och utbredningen av Leveraged buyouts förvärv har ökat i Sverige de senaste 5-15 åren, detta kan vara ett resultat av ett mer flöde på kapital och intresse av att investera. Dessutom har förmodligen den allt mer mogna private equity marknad tillsammans med det ökande behovet av effektivisering av bolagen bidragit till att allt fler förvärv sker med belånat kapital. Vi har i denna kvalitativa uppsats intervjuat tre private equity företag med syfte att försöka klargöra vilka investeringskriterier som ligger till grund för en leveraged buyout-transaktion, samt vilka branscher som lockar dessa private equity företagen. I slutsatsen har det framkommit att PE-företagen gör investeringar i mogna företag utan några preferenser på specifika branscher. Vidare har vi funnit att de två viktigaste faktorer som PE-företagen tar i beaktning vid investeringar är stabila kassaflöden och kompetent företagsledning i målbolagen..

Syfte: Syftet med uppsatsen är att genom empirisk undersökning besvara frågan vilken mätbar effekt sponsring har på varumärkets värde, Brand Equity. Genom att besvara den frågan är också syftet att utveckla en modell som visar vilka faktorer samt vilka delar i varumärket som påverkas av sponsring.Metod: Vi har valt att genomföra detta arbete genom att använda fallstudier. Dessa har vi genomfört med hjälp av kvalitativa intervjuer med representanter för Gevalia, Läkerol och Länsförsäkringar Gävleborg, vilka samtliga sponsrar Brynäs. Vi har bearbetat intervjuerna för att sedan analysera dem mot vår teoretiska referensram. Vi har valt att dela upp analyserna efter huvudområden som rör sponsring och varumärke.Resultat & slutsats: Vi har utvecklat en modell som visar sponsringens effekter på Brand Equity, men dessa är dock inga tydliga mätbara effekter då vi inte kunnat uttyda några genom studien.

Titel: Private equity-ägande och dess ekonomiska konsekvenser hos portföljbolagBakgrund: Det finns omstridda resultat inom den akademiska världen när det gäller vilka ekonomiska konsekvenser private equity-ägande leder till. Olika studier har kommit fram till att private equity-ägda portföljbolag både över- och underpresterar gentemot jämförbara företag. Skillnaderna i studiernas resultat tycks påverkas av vilken marknad som studien är utförd på. Detta då studier som är gjorda på marknader med spridd ägarkoncentration tenderar att visa på att private equity-ägande leder till positiva ekonomiska konsekvenser och tvärtom på marknader med koncentrerat ägande. Tidigare studier har också valt att fokusera på att studera private equity-ägda portföljbolag under högkonjunktur eller under både hög- och lågkonjunktur, det finns således till vår kännedom ingen tidigare studie som isolerar sin studie till att endast inkludera lågkonjunktur, vilket understryker relevansen av denna studie.Syfte: Syftet med denna uppsats är att genom en empirisk analys avgöra om och vilka ekonomiska konsekvenser PE-ägande får hos portföljbolag under en lågkonjunktur på den svenska marknaden som präglas av hög ägarkoncentration.Metod: Denna studie har en deduktiv ansats där fokus ligger på teorier som berör private equity-bolags applicering av strategiska och organisatoriska förändringar hos portföljbolag.

This paper replicates a test performed by Burgstahler and Dichev (1997), which identifies a kink in the frequency distribution of earnings for companies listed on American stock exchanges. Their claim, that the kink is evidence of earnings management, has however been dismissed as a methodical consequence. To address this concern, this paper not only replicates the test in general, but also performs tests on a split sample, where founding family-owned companies are separated from the others, since earlier research has shown that founding family ownership is correlated with less earnings management. The results are in line with the findings of Burgstahler and Dichev, with a significant kink in the frequency distribution in the general test. The findings also show that the significance of the kink increases in the non-family-owned sample, while it disappears in the family-owned sample.

The new Swedish Companies Act allows Swedish companies to issue two instruments that were previously prohibited: mandatory convertibles and participating debentures. The aim of the thesis is to conduct a cross sectional study of Swedish corporate hybrid securities, especially in the light of the new Companies Act. The cross sectional study also includes areas such as credit rating, accounting and tax. The thesis concludes that it is possible, under Swedish law, to issue corporate hybrid securities that qualify for both high equity credit and tax deductible interest payments. The use of certain hybrid provisions are, however, restrained by Swedish company law.

The purpose of this study is to create an understanding for marketing directors? viewabout how event marketing effect the company?s brand equity in four separatebusinesses. Our question formulation the study aims to answer is:How does event marketing effect the brand equity in international companies?We have chosen to perform a qualitative study with a semi structured research interviewto find out how event marketing as a marketing method, can be applied from theperspective of a marketing director in relation to our theoretical reference frame.To create structure and increase the understanding of our thesis, we will describe thebasics in brand and sponsorship theory, which will fall in to the marketing method ofevent marketing. Further we will describe the brand equity model that we will latermodify for our purpose.

 This thesis aims to through certain parts of the brand equity investigate the trust of consumers for a brand that recently experienced a product-harm crisis. It also wants to investigate why this trust exist, if it does. Structured interviews were carried out at 60 respondents in Uppsala. The results show that the respondents have positive associations with ICA, they think that ICA maintains a high quality on their products and services and that 50% more often choose to do their grocery shopping at ICA. The conclusion of the study is that ICA has a strong brand equity resulting in brand trust from consumers, which is founded in the brand reliability and brand intentions of the company. .

Abstract Master Thesis in Business Administration, School of Business and Economics at the Linnaeus University, 2013 Authors: William Funseth and Tobias Åkesson Supervisor: Magnus Willesson Examiner: Sven-Olof Yrjö Collin Title: The liquidity route to more informed investment decisions - A study on the relationship between concentration of ownership and liquidity on Nasdaq OMX. Background and problem: Previous studies have shown that liquidity can explain differences in returns in corporate shares, the company's cost of capital and the valuation of the company. Based on the effects of liquidity we developed a research question concerning how concentration of ownership effects liquidity of corporate shares the studies conducted for companies listed on Nasdaq OMX during a period with major changes on the stock market and is also investigating weather other company-specific differences can explain differences in liquidity. Purpose: The study's purpose is to study the relationship between ownership concentration and liquidity, and whether other factors might explain differences in liquidity. Method: The study is conducted with a quantitative method and it?s based on data collected from 2006-2011 for companies listed on Nasdaq OMX.

The purpose of this report is to study when and why legal persons have been allowed to acquire agricultural properties. The ownership of agricultural property is governed by the Land Acquisition Act. The reason for this is because they want to limit legal person owner-ship of agricultural properties. It is believed that a large proportion of pri-vate ownership is healthy and stimulating for the Swedish countryside. There are some exceptions in which legal persons may be able to acquire. This is a review over decisions taken by the authorities. In this report I have studied purchases made between 2008 and 2010.

High brand equity is a great asset for companies that operate their business in a free and competitive market. Brand equity can arise from both product-related and non-product related attributes and may be viewed from many different perspectives. This study examines which different attributes that contribute to enhance brand equity from customers point of view at the Swedish market for agricultural machinery. The study have been developed using a comprehensive literature search in order to investigate the field regarding brand equity and brand image. The literature review results in one product specific and one non-product specific approach in order to examine factors that contribute to enhanced brand equity. This takes the form as one survey-based approach regarding the non-product related attributes which is examined by interpreting the extra value added by different attributes.

Master Thesis in Business Administration, School of Business Administration, Linaeus University, Finance 4FE03E, Spring 2011Authors: Benni Hansson, Axel SandquistTutor: Christopher von KochExaminer: Sven-Olof CollinTitle: Compensation as a means of monitoring or recruiting ? a study on ownership structure in Swedish listed companies.Keywords: CEO compensation, compensation structure, ownership structure, ownership types, ownership concentration, agency theory, resource dependence theory, managerial theoryBackground: There has been extensive research on CEO compensation, however not a lot on Swedish listed firms. Many studies have an agency theoretical perception on CEO compensation. In accordance with this, compensation is used as a means to solve monitoring and incentives problems.Purpose: The aim of this study is to examine the role of CEO compensation, by studying ownership structure.Method: To examine the role of CEO compensation we use a multi-theory approach, based on agency theory, resource dependence theory and managerial theory. The companies examined are Swedish listed firms the in years 2005 to 2009.

 This thesis aims to through certain parts of the brand equity investigate the trust of consumers for a brand that recently experienced a product-harm crisis. It also wants to investigate why this trust exist, if it does. Structured interviews were carried out at 60 respondents in Uppsala. The results show that the respondents have positive associations with ICA, they think that ICA maintains a high quality on their products and services and that 50% more often choose to do their grocery shopping at ICA. The conclusion of the study is that ICA has a strong brand equity resulting in brand trust from consumers, which is founded in the brand reliability and brand intentions of the company. .