Common wisdom dictates that because payment of dividends decreases funds available for investment, a high payout ratio is to be associated with low earnings growth. This notion has been challenged in recent years by empirical research that has found a positive relationship between payout ratio and future earnings growth, both on the aggregated market level and the company level in different countries. This study investigated the aforementioned relationship on the Swedish market by statistically analyzing future earnings growth as a function of payout ratio on a large sample of publicly listed companies over the period 1980 to 2011. The results are in line with those found in previous research and indicate that companies with high dividend payout ratio tend to experience strong future earnings growth. The results are robust to the presence of mean reversion, the use of an alternative accounting measure of earnings, non-symmetrical earnings growth cycles and alternative practices for dealing with outliers..

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.

The purpose of the study was to examine if intrinsic motivation and work commitment to the organization differs between permanent doctors and hired doctors. The total of 63 doctors who participated in the study made an internet-based survey with 21 questions taken from the Basic Need Satisfaction at Work Scale and 3 questions from the section ?work commitment? in QPS Nordic. The main results of the study showed that permanent doctors perceived a higher level of intrinsic motivation on all the three needs autonomy, competence and relatedness. Furthermore the result showed a tendency that permanent doctors perceived a higher level of work commitment to the organization then hired doctors..

Purpose/Aim: This essay explores the framing and representation of pensioners in Swedish press during the period of 2002-2008. The aim was to investigate what meaning news give elderly people on the manifest level, and also what meaning the media texts construct on the latent level.Material/Method: For this paper I have investigated framing of pensioners using quantitative analysis of 100 news articles, followed by a qualitative hermeneutic analysis applied on the most frequent frames discovered in the quantitative study.Main results: Four frames were identified concerning pensioners: crime victims, heroes in daily dues, economically advantaged and economically disadvantaged. The dualistic result in the economy frame was investigated in the qualitative research. The study revealed that pensioners as a group may have good economic standards, although there are individual differences. Three stereotypes were discovered in the articles: ?kind granny?, ?fragile and miserable? and ?look what I can do?..

Instrumental conditioning, the use of reinforcement and punishment, is used when training horses and these procedures may have different consequences regarding animal welfare. The aim of this study was to investigate what kind of reinforcers that are used in training horses and when these reinforcers are used. This study has its focus on positive reinforcement and its advantages and disadvantages. Interviews of five A-level and B -level equestrian coaches about their training methods were conducted to complement the literature search and give a greater understanding to why certain methods are used or not in training horses. The results show that negative reinforcement seems to be the foundation of training horses whereas positive reinforcement is used but not to the same extent.

This thesis concerns how the power quality in the grid is affected by the connection of wind power plants. As things are at present, Fortum Distribution AB has a number of wind turbines and wind parks connected to the own grid. As the pressure on building and connecting additional wind power is increasing, so is also the interest of how the already existing wind power generation affects the power quality in the nearby distribution grids. The study is performed by direction of Fortum Distribution AB and is limited to the 10 kV/40 kV-grid in Bohuslän, Sweden. The methods for calculation of power quality are compared to the results of a number of measurements.

The aim of this study is to contribute to a better understanding of the syllable as an alternative to the phoneme at the basic reading and writing. This report is based on a qualitative analysis of Håkanstorp school´s approach to the basic reading and writing in class. Their approach to reading and writing is controversial, as it is based on the syllable instead of the phoneme, as usual in the traditional reading and writing. The education result, I have found, is that the syllable leads to a very clear and structured working procedure, which ultimately leads to class teachers being able to work from a diagnostic approach. This structure, with many parts of the course helps educators to clearly follow what level students are at.

Syftet i detta examensarbete var att finna förändringar i ungdomars val i Östersund inför gymnasievalet under fyra decennier utifrån samhällets och skolans förändring under denna period. Vad som påverkat deras val, och vad som styr deras val. Det har skett en viss förändringsattityd inför gymnasievalet. Ungdomar idag är väl medvetna om sitt livslånga lärande, de väljer utifrån sig själva. Från början har ungdomarnas val inför gymnasiet påverkats utifrån vilken samhällsklass de kommit ifrån och resultatet har då blivit det klassiska mönstret, de ungdomar från de högre samhällsklasserna väljer högre utbildning medan ungdomar från de lägre samhällsklasserna väljer den kortare varianten av utbildning.

Store windows, as many earlier research studies indicate, is an important factor of the store atmosphere to attract customers into the store. In this study we have narrowed it down and chosen to focus on how different contexts of the store windows will effect customers' evaluation. The purpose is to find out how the context of high creativity and low creativity combined with different time aspect in store windows will affect store image, attitude, entering decisions and purchase intention toward the store. The results are based on a quantitative study where we did an experiment and a field study. The result shows that higher level of creativity is better than lower level of creativity in certain aspects.

In efforts to strengthen local economies, business development programs are often a way in which governmental organizations and state affiliates try to facilitate innovation and successful entrepreneurship. There is a mutual interest from both the public and private sector that these funds are put to good use. Extensive research has been conducted with the focus of the general effect of public support programs. However, not much research has been done on what external factors affect the situation for receiving businesses. This study attempts to examine whether one specific such factor, the level of maturity on the markets that the recipients operate in, has a discernible effect on the needs for different types of entrepreneurial support.

Currently, the whole globe is faced with serious problems which negatively affect people around the world: increased pollution, excessive waste, and weather pattern changes. ?Left? and ?right? wing political parties alike have embraced ?green? politics and for many of these parties, environmental issues have become a top priority that is very much reflected in their manifestos. This study examines the environmental goals of two of Sweden?s largest political parties and how these ambitions are reflected at a local level.

AimThe specific questions in the theoretic part were:What is contained in the terms "balance and balance skill" and how can this skill be measured?The specific questions in the empirical part were:How does balance skill in different age categories of children correlate with biological and physiological parameters such as age, gender, body height, weight and level of physical activity?MethodsLiterature search based on books and scientific papers related to the questions posed above. Selection was made at libraries and on?line through "Pubmed". Specific search words were used.

AbstractHomework is often debated in the media today. The question is about the meaning of homework and whether the students benefit from it or if homework is just a remain from an old educational system.The research made on the subject disagrees on what positive/negative effects the homework has on the students.For my essay I chose to find out what attitude junior-level teachers have towards homework. Why give students homework? How do you work with home assignments?My research is based on interviews with six junior-level teachers that either have or do teach in the lower grades (1-3).The result I reached was the all of the teachers used homework in their education.The purpose of the home assignments is partly to give the students the possibility to rehearse and fortify their knowledge, especially when it comes to learning how to read.Another purpose of the homework is that it helps to maintain a good connection between the home and school. It is also a good way for the parents to get an insight and be a part of their children?s work.The conclusion of the research that I made is that if homework should exist in the educational system they ought to be well prepared by the responsible teacher..

According to the Water Framework Directive of the European Union, macrophytes should be used as indicators in the ecological and environmental monitoring of lakes. In the member state Sweden the Environmental Protection Agency has elaborated assessment criteria for determining lake status based on macrophytes. The main focus of this thesis is to evaluate the efficiency of the assessment criteria for macrophytes. In addition the concordance between the ecological status classes of the four quality factors included was analysed.The assessment criteria for macrophytes are based on the total phosphorus preference of the respective species. The focus is thus mainly on the nutrient level of the investigated lakes and the environmental problem monitored is eutrophication.

The aim of the study is to examine a book used as level-based teaching material, Denmagiska kulan (Wänblad, 2011), to analyse the progression within and between thedifferent levels, A, B and C, intended for use in grade 1. The material is designed so thatpupils at different levels in their reading development can share the same literature.Another aim is to study the connection between illustrations and text. This literaturestudy is based on both a qualitative and a quantitative method of analysis. Thequalitative method applies a readability analysis with the focus on the graphic form andthe language of the text. The quantitative method measures the LIX (readability index)of the texts.