AbstractLarge states are not as interdependent as small countries are. Due to the extent of the home market, producers in large countries can sell the greater part of their products at home. Accordingly large countries become less dependent of other states. Large states are consequently in a better position to promote their self- interests internationally than smaller states are. Applying this reasoning on a large state such as France I come to conclude that she probably exerts this policy of self- interest in an area like free trade.

Slovenia and Latvia are two examples of countries which have gone through a successful democratic transition. They were both under authoritarian rule and command economy up until their declarations of independence in the early 90s. Today they have a functional market economy and political pluralism. I have examined transition theories highlighted by Jonas Linde and Joakim Ekman and from these theories sought the explanations to what lies behind the successful transitions of these two countries. The transition in Slovenia was affected by liberalization from within the ruling communist party which then controlled much of the transition process. A relatively large civil society and the fact that Slovenia was not involved in the Balkan War also contributed to the short process.

Shanghai Waigaoqiao Free Trade Zone är geografiskt utmärkt placerad vid bedrivande av handel och utgör idag en internationell hub. Området har också tillgång till en god infrastruktur som ständigt förbättras. Waigaoqiao erbjuder sakkunniga konsulter och har ett starkt styrelsestöd. I framtiden då Free Trade Zones inte kommer att vara det enda valet för svenska företag som vill etablera sig i Kina, utan att behöva ingå joint ventures eller liknande avtal, kommer Waigaoqiaos handelsbefrämjande miljö att vara avgörande vid ett etableringsval i just det området. De skattefördelar och tullfördelar som idag existerar i Waigaoqiao kommer att försvinna när Kinas WTO-avtal i sin helhet träder i kraft.

There are over 100 banks in Sweden. Yet, most people tend to choose one of the top four banks and stay with them. Times are changing, however, and the growth of online-based self service solutions has increased the importance of attracting and retaining customers at an early age. SEB and Swedbank have addressed this issue by introducing bank bundles. Since most banks offer similar services, the packaging and framing of the bundles have become increasingly important.

The subject of this essay in archaeology is the economy at the mining village of Saladuringthe 16th and early 17th century. The silvermine in Sala was once the foremost producer of silver in Sweden, and the mine as well as the mining village had had a long and rich history. This history can be seen in historical documents as well as in archaeological findings. The lure of silver attracted many different people to the mining village. This in turn madetrade an important part of the mining village.

How does the recent wave of preferential trading arrangements affect, the incentives for further trade liberalization of member states, and the possibility of obtaining global free trade? And are there any differences in this aspect between custom unions and other forms of preferential trading arrangements? These questions are well debated and have divided international trade researchers into two camps, one in favour for preferential trading arrangements and the other side against them. I have used well acknowledged researchers in the area of international trade theory to make a literature study of the above mentioned key elements in the debate. When comparing the two sides I have focused mainly on their differences, assumptions and results. I have come to the conclusion that there is nothing to be alarmed by of the wave of regionalism that?s occurring in the world today, but caution should be applied and more research in this area is necessary before any certain conclusions can be drawn.

Abstrakt The yield curve as a forecasting tool for inflation has been thoroughly investigated. However, most of these studies considered only the major economies, such as the U.S. economy or the major European economies and not a small open economy such as the Swedish. The Swedish economy should be much more affected by the world economy then the bigger economies. The purpose with this study is then to investigate whether the Swedish yield curve, or the Swedish interest rate, can be used as forecasting tools for the Swedish inflation.

The EU has for a long time had a special relationship with its former colonies in Africa Caribbean and the Pacific, called the ACP?countries. This relationship is about to change radically with the new partnership agreement signed in June 2000 in Cotonou. This essay aims to study the EU ?ACP Partnership Agreement from the perspectives of two different theories: The liberalist, free-trade policy theory and the nationalist/regionalist, protectionist theory.

This study describes how a larger investment by a private company in the northern interior can affect a municipality?s economy. The mobility to the municipality is expected to increase and some of the direct and indirect effects that this investment can implicate on their economy are discussed. The method for this study is qualitative. Interviews have been made with the initiative owner of the company LHG Learning Center and with civil servants in the municipality of Lycksele. The conclusions drawn in this study are that the establishment of LHG Learning Centers in Lycksele will include both opportunities and risks for the municipality?s future.

The purpose of this study was to examine some teachers thought about the educational indoor environment in free preschool. With free preschool this study means a Swedish specially adapted to parents/adults and their children and for a typical type of children who are 0-5 years old. Questions to the study were:? How do some teachers in free preschool perceive that they are adapting the preschool indoors environment to children and learning?? How do some teachers in free preschool perceive that they are adapting the preschool indoors environment to children and learning to attract children to the pedagogical environment?In this study I used qualitative methods and interviewed five teachers and preschool indoor environment is observed. I applied the socio cultural perspective to my study.

With a background in the 17th century?s English political events, but also the ideological scene of that time, the purpose of this essay is to analyze two concepts, freedom and happiness, in Thomas Hobbes?s political writings. Hobbes is well known for his political works, mostly for Leviathan, where his thoughts about government and religion are exposed. But what does he say about freedom? And what about happiness? The study shows that Hobbes?s political thought is quite original from this aspect too.

This paper examines a long run macroeconomic dilemma. This dilemma states that given a real appreciation, i.e. a continuous increase in the real exchange rate, an economy has two options open with respect to inflation and nominal exchange rate. Either the economy chooses a fixed exchange rate- regime but has to allow for a rising inflation. Or the economy can choose an inflation targeting- regime, but then has to allow for an appreciating nominal exchange rate.

As a vocalist, Casey Moir wants more than to just express what is written on the page or that which the harmony allows. She wants to discover every aspect of her voice to see how she can express her musicality on a deeper, more personal level. Some of the questions that helped Casey start her journey are: Why is musical expression so important to her? Why improvise freely? What sounds can her voice make? Can she utilise these sounds in her music and how?.

This thesis examines the ideological implications of an emerging shift in human rights-issues regarding information. As Intellectual Property becomes increasingly important to the economy of developed nations previously commonly owned or unprotected information runs a real risk of becoming privatized. The World Trade Organization and its binding agreements GATS and TRIPS are subjected to a critical ideology-analysis, with special efforts to elucidate possible effects on the public service realm and its commitment as provider of free information as a human right. The result suggests that not only does a threat to information as such a right exist, but that its ideological basis however seemingly rooted in a liberal/neoliberal context actually in its express views on information deviates from liberal/neoliberal theory in many ways, and that there are theoretical inconsistencies in that same ideology..

Free Space Optics (FSO) has received a great deal of attention lately both in the military and civilian information society due to its potentially high capacity, rapid deployment, portability and high security from deception and jamming. The main issue is that severe weather can have a detrimental impact on the performance, which may result in an inadequate availability. This report contains a feasibility study for an all-optical free-space link intended for short-range communication (200-500 m). Laboratory tests have been performed to evaluate the link design. Field tests were made to investigate availability and error performance under the influence of different weather conditions.