The primary purpose of this paper is to find the determinants of first-day returns on the Stockholm Stock Exchange. Our research will cover the 1996 ? 2004 periods. Our secondary purpose is intended to find a profitable trading strategy with regard to future IPOs on the Stockholm Stock Exchange. By using regression analysis, focusing on company specific factors and the IPO process, we hope to find a function exhibiting statistical significance, determining future first-day returns from which construction of a profitable trading strategy will be possible.

Poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) are a group of environmental contaminants that have gained increasing attention due to their potential to bioaccumulate, environmental persistence and potential toxicity. PFASs have been found in surface water, sediment, air, soil, sludge and ice caps globally, as well as in wildlife and humans. Furthermore, PFASs have also been detected in drinking water, leading to raised concerns for human health, since drinking water is one of the most significant sources of PFASs for the general population. Conventional water treatment techniques have shown to be ineffective removing PFASs, highlighting the importance for further research to develop efficient removal techniques. The aim of this study was to investigate the removal efficiency of PFASs in water using two treatment techniques; granular activated carbon (GAC), type Filtrasorb 400®, and anion exchange (AE), type Purolite A-600. Additionally, the effect of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) on removal efficiency was studied.

This study was made as a part of a feasibility study on a polishing wetland at Rimbo wastewater plant (wwp) in Norrtälje municipality. The wwp had to decrease the nitrogen discharge to reach the limit 15 mg tot-N/l. The nitrogen in the outlet was mainly in the form of nitrate, hence the wetland mainly ought to support denitrification. The proposed area for the wetland was situated right next to the wwp and was already in the municipalitys posession. One aim of this study was to examine what spieces of plants needed to achieve highest possible denitrification.

In times of increased flooding, enhanced by climate change, polluted stormwater poses an increased threat to the environment through contaminated water entering waterways. Bioretention utilizes natural processes in soil and vegetation to treat pollutants and combat this threat. Biochar produced through pyrolysis, has a high cation exchange capacity (CEC) and could therefore increase treatment in bioretention systems. This research applies a literature review, interview, and a model to explore the benefits and disadvantages of biochar in order to specify a soil-mix through an understanding of the production process and preferred application rate. High purification through CEC, increased water holding capacity, and carbon sequestration being the benefits discussed.

Syfte: Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka om det finns ett samband mellan redovisad nedskrivning av goodwill och börsvärdet hos företag noterade vid London Stock Exchange mellan 2009 och 2012.Inledning: EU införde 2005 en ny standard för koncernredovisning. Syftet med den nya redovisningsstandarden, IFRS 3, är att öka relevansen, pålitligheten och jämförbarheten i den finansiella rapporteringen. Detta medförde bland annat att posten goodwill inte längre får skrivas av enligt plan, utan årligen ska testas för eventuell nedskrivning.Metod: För att fylla studiens syfte har vi använt oss av en kvantitativ undersökning, där relevant data har samlats in via marknadsdata och analysverktyget Bloomberg. Studien genomfördes på de största företagen registrerade på London Stock Exchange med undantag för de företag som inte hade den data som krävdes för att vara relevanta för studiens syfte. Svaren analyserades genom multipel regressionsanalys samt deskriptiv statistik framställda i statistikverktyget Minitab.Slutsats: Undersökningen visade att det finns ett statistiskt signifikant negativt samband mellan nedskrivning av goodwill och börsvärde.

Syftet med denna studie är att skapa en ökad förståelse för hur Kinas aktiemarknad ser ut, genom att i huvudsak analysera landets största börs Shanghai Stock Exchange. En analys av marknaden har gjorts där vi studerat asymmetrisk information på Kinas aktiemarknad och studerat ifall det påverkar marknadseffektiviteten..

This thesis studies the way valuation of investment properties is conducted in accordance with IAS 40 and how reliable these valuations are. This has been conducted by studying ten Swedish real estate companies listed on the NASDAQ OMX, during the period 2005-2008. The study shows that all companies use valuation models to determine the fair value of investment properties. Two different types of models have been identified. Companies that use the cash flow model show inconsistencies in time horizon, and how they determine the horizon value.

This is a work that look at the factors that affect future monthly costs when buying a house in Sweden and which options are the most financially favorable over a 30 year period. The work also examines whether it is economically beneficial to invest in a low-energy house regardless of geographic location in Sweden, and discuss about whether a calculation template can help individuals to choose more environmentally friendly options. The work has been limited so that a certain number of predetermined factors and its measurable values have been developed with the help of a literature study. The factors chosen are building type, climate, heating systems, loan interest rates, energy prices, energy price increases, inflation rates and down payment. These are then combined into 72 different calculation cases which get put in a calculation model made in excel.

Over the past few years the Swedish forestry industry has become increasing interested in direct seeding. Although, in practice, this interest has been restricted to pine seed, the knowledge and techniques that have been developed for pine seeding can readily be transferred to spruce. Direct seeding is a method that is of interest to the forestry industry since it can lead to lower regeneration costs, denser stands and better root development than the more conventional planting method. This study evaluated experiments that focused on direct seeding of spruce in the northern Sweden. Skogforsk set-up the experiments in Gideå and Sävar in 2003.

Declining union memberships are a fact in both Sweden and Finland. At the same time, the autonomous labour market parties and the high membership rates are the most significant factors for the two countries compared to Europe and the rest of the world. These two factors have in turn been developed and strengthened since the beginning of the twentieth century. By autonomous labour market parties I refer to the fact that the labour market parties themselves through collective bargaining are agreeing on the labour market conditions, without interference from the government.This paper is therefore taking it's stance in the question of what happens with the autonomous labour market parties when the membership rates are in decline. With this in mind, this paper describes the judicial development, the collective agreement and labour market structures, the legal consequences of collective agreements and the opportunities of industrial and sympathy action in both Sweden and Finland. The two countries' systems of labour law have caught some negative attention, hence two of the most discussed cases of recent years are given some attention as well. The collective judicial conditions are very similar in both Sweden and Finland regarding the labour market main actors' collaboration, the collective agreement structures and legal consequences and the opportunities of industrial and sympathy action.

The main purpose of this Master Thesis has been to evaluate whether active fund management is profitable on Emerging Markets. The material used to examine this consists of 106 actively managed funds, with varying length during the period 1988-2006 and who uses MSCI Emerging Markets (MSCI EM) as benchmark index. The thesis has been written under the supervision of the Asset Management Department of Länsförsäkringar AB (LFAB) and the Department of Production Economics, Linköping Institute of Technology. Apart from the main purpose, the methodology used is also meant to form a template for in-depth or similar studies, preferably by the assigner of this survey, LFAB.The results shows that the median manager underperforms the MSCI EM throughout the whole period, which leads to the conclusion is that active management on Emerging Markets is not profitable. A grouping of the funds based on tracking error still shows that a majority of the managers in all of the groups underperforms against the benchmark.

Near Field Communication (NFC) is a short range wireless communication technology that enables data exchange between devices. NFC is used in many different areas, from subway tickets to authentication systems. This paper presents possible security threats to Near Field Communication and documented attacks that have been used to target various NFC protocols. Weaknesses in different NFC protocols will be presented and suggestions on how to counter certain weaknesses will be discussed. This survey will be valuable for companies interested in protecting their data when using or planning to use NFC systems..

The general consensus is that the gap between the Swedish variable mortgage rate and the repo rate has increased over the last years. Although the Riksbank in recent times has cut its base rate, many banks have chosen either to leave the interest rate on variable mortgages unchanged, or they did reduce it but by less points than the reduction in the repo rate. The linear relationship between the repo rate and the variable mortgage rate has changed over the last decade and the mortgage margins these days are relatively high. This can somewhat be explained by the new rules introduced in the bank sector requiring banks to increase liquidity and equity. Since mortgage loans play an important role in banks? lending business it is of interest to gain knowledge in whether a repo rate reduction latterly has generated a limited affect on the banks lending rates..

The mental constructions of other places are based on impressions from everything that surrounds us in our everyday life, e.g. pictures, videos, texts and narratives. The tourism industry is especially influential when it comes to creating the image of before ?unknown places?. Furthermore, it has a tendency to embellish and idealize people and places located in what is commonly known as the Third World.

Saab Component Maintenance in Linköping, Sweden, offers maintenance, repair andoverhaul (MRO) services for civilian and military aircraft components. Lately, thedepartment has struggled with slow throughput rates, despite various counteractingattempts. Studies show, that large parts of the delays derive from the logisticsdepartment where goods arrive and dispatch. Therefore, Saab wants to carry out anextensive analysis of the department in order to further investigate what is causing itsslow throughput rates.The thesis begins with extensive mapping over Component Maintenances whole valuestream to find out how departments interact with each other and which roleindividual departments have in the total supply chain. Out of 13 000 different partnumbers, components were divided into five product families.