The purpose of this thesis is to get a better understanding of consumers? perception and knowledge of Fair Trade and Fair Trade products in Sweden. Literature was reviewed before the empirical research was conducted. A quantitative method, in form of a questionnaire survey, has been used. We have entered different areas related to our topic.

This thesis aims to examine problems that occur when determining the Fair Value of investment properties. It also takes into consideration the reliability and relevance of the reported Fair Values on behalf of the key stakeholders. The study has been conducted by interviewing representatives at real estate and external valuation companies. The study shows that there is a need for assessments in the valuation process and that real estate companies have room for their own interpretations. The conclusion is that determining Fair Value is an estimate, not a fact.

Uppsatsen sammanfattar nationalekonomiska teorier kring fair trade och, för teorierna, relevant empiri. Störst vikt läggs vid fair trades prismekanism och vilka effekter samt bieffekter den innebär. Teorikapitlet består i princip av fyra delar; Premiens konsekvenser i effektivitetshänseende. Rational choice, om incitamenten att delta i fair trade. Därefter en handelsteoretisk jämförelse mellan fri handel och fair trade i heckscher-Ohlinmodllen.

Fair trade har vuxit fram med en otrolig fart de sista åren och frågan är hur detpåverkar producenterna, om det existerar något sådant som rättvis handel och ommarknaden kan fortsätta växa? För att diskutera dessa frågor presenterasnationalekonomiska modeller, argument för och emot fair trade samt ett antalfallstudier i ämnet. De modeller som tas upp är H-O modellen tillsammans medStolper-Samuelsson teoremet. De visar att fair trades framgång beror påefterfrågeelasticiteten av produkten i fråga.Fair trade har en speciell marknadsstruktur och där olika typer av spelaresamverkar. Det finns en konflikt mellan de som anser att fair trades ?rätta? värdeförstörs av att livsmedelsbutiker och stora multiföretag börjar sälja fair tradeprodukter och de som anser att fair trade bör kunna nå människor genom så mångakanaler som möjligt.

This thesis aims to investigate the information effects of Fair Value accounting in Nordic real estate companies. As a consequence of the mandatory IFRS adoption in the European Union in 2005, listed Nordic companies are allowed to recognize investment property at Fair Value in accordance with IAS 40. Theory suggests that Fair Value accounting should lower information asymmetry. Therefore, this study aims to examine correlation between Fair Value accounting of investment property and information asymmetry on the stock market. To investigate this, we use bid-ask spread as a proxy for information asymmetry and examine Nordic real estate companies before and after the implementation of IFRS.

Trade is the driving force for economic development. A greater equity in international trade can improve the livelihoods and the well being of producers in developing countries. The small-scale farmers have limited resources and have difficulties to get access to the international market. As a result of this, the Fair Trade movement has been developed and has now formed a trading partnership between the producer and the consumer. This study analyses if the Fair Trade movement can be a way for the workers in developing countries to achieve more justice in their production manner in the international trade of cut flowers and continue to be an important competitor of these products, but with better livelihood conditions. My method has been to do a comprehensive literature study of the Fair Trade movement, in which I describe the certification process, and the market of Fair Trade in Sweden.

Background: Sweden?s membership in the EU affected the Swedish accounting regulation. Three EU-directives was implemented in the Swedish accounting regulation. This also meant that the concept "true and fair view" was introduced in the new "Årsredovisningslagen". The concept is not clearly defined and therefore the interpretation may differ amongst accountants.

The ongoing harmonization process aims to incorporate IFRS regulations into the Swedish accounting. As a consequence investment property?s starting from 2005 may be valued using the Fair Value method, in accordance to IAS 40. This involves major changes for listed property enterprises that from now on can value a large extent of their assets to Fair Value. All parties don?t appreciate this progress, opponents to Fair Value have expressed great concern that Fair Value don?t work in practice.

A recent development in the field of accounting has been an increasing use of Fair Values in financial reporting. In 2005, this development was reinforced in Sweden by the adoption of the International Financial Reporting Standards. The aim of this thesis is to discuss the problems related to the use of Fair Values, through a case study of the Swedish investment bank Carnegie. In May 2007, Carnegie announced that the result had been overly stated by 630 MSEK, due to the valuation of derivatives within the trading department. The empirical material consists of documents produced in the legal process between Carnegie and the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority.

This essay examines the process of Fair Value accounting of financial assets in a Swedish commercial bank, in contrast to the theoretical approach stated by IASB. The theoretical background contains a review of the academic standpoint on Fair Value accounting and historical cost accounting, a detailed description of Fair Value accounting according to current and future IASB regulation and on the American FAS 157 regulation. The empirical case study describes the process of valuing and classifying financial assets into level 1 and level 2 of the Fair Value hierarchy. The analysis describes how the legal requirements for classification are interpreted and applied in practice when valuing bonds and derivatives. The authors provide an explanation as to why the majority of financial assets are valued mark to model rather than mark to market as well as a suggestion on how the share of market valued assets can be increased..

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is about facing responsibilities towards a company?s employees, customers, stakeholders, suppliers and the environment. As customers and consumers came to seek companies that were dealing with CSR a rapid wave of ?forced? implementations of social responsibility began. Fair Travel Tanzania, which has CSR as the foundation of the company, says that they are transparent about what they do and how they give back to the locals, could it be a problem with this? And how do they actually give back to the locals? Is it possible to measure the impact of CSR activities within the company? And if so, how?.

Syftet med denna uppsats var att undersöka och analysera de redovisningsansvarigas åsikter angående fair-value redovisning av finansiella instrument och de principiella förändringar som detta innebär. Studien baseras på en teoretisk diskussion med hjälp av utvald litteratur och artiklar från olika tidskrifter. Vår analys baseras på en enkätundersökning. Genom att jämföra de diskussioner vi fört kring fair-value med resultatet från våra enkäter, har vi gjort en analys av de redovisningsansvarigas åsikter. P.g.a en låg svarsfrekvens, ca 13 %, kunde vi inte uttala oss generellt.

Uppsatsen studerar den svenska musikbranschens behov av ett allmänt upphovsrättsligt undantag, hur väl den amerikanska principen Fair Use Doctrine lämpar sig som utgångspunkt för ett sådant undantag och vilka anpassningar principen och de svenska upphovsrättsliga undantagen skulle behöva vid en implementering. Förändringar i tekniska förutsättningar har resulterat i större risk för upphovsrättsliga intrång och ett behov av en mer flexibel upphovsrätt. Samtidigt har lagstiftarens åtgärder resulterat i en svåröverskådlig lagstiftning. Uppsatsen bedömer att det finns ett behov av ett allmänt upphovsrättsligt undantag likt Fair Use Doctrine i svensk upphovsrätt och att principen är lämplig såsom utgångspunkt för utformandet av undantaget. Som ett resultat skulle ett allmänt upphovsrättsligt undantag bistå med den flexibilitet som behövs, men även om många upphovsrättsliga principer som utformats i svensk praxis kan lämnas orörda behöver både principen och den svenska undantagskatalogen anpassas innan ett allmänt upphovsrättsligt undantag likt Fair Use Doctrine implementeras i svensk upphovsrätt.

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.

In recent years there have been major changes in the accounting field and the question of what is fair and accurate reporting is always a relevant issue. Defining the concept of true and fair view and to find an accurate synonym is difficult, still it may be considered that there is an implied meaning of the concept in the business of accounting. In 2004 BFN started the development of K2, a simplified regulatory framework for small companies. The purpose of K2 is to facilitate the accounting and reduce the administrative burden for these companies. In Sweden, 95 percent of all companies belong to the category of small companies and are allowed to use the new and simplified regulations, K2.