Prior research on the ability of financial ratios to predict bankruptcies has shown a significant difference between the companies that went into bankruptcy and those that survived. This paper investigates whether there is a difference in the prediction ability of financial ratios during the last financial crisis compared to relatively normal macroeconomic environments in which most previous studies have been conducted. We use univariate analysis to compare companies that went into bankruptcy during 2010 and 2011 with companies that remained active. Our dataset consists of 51 failed companies that are matched with 102 companies that remained active. All companies were Swedish limited companies with more than 50 employees and the comparison is made with 26 financial ratios.

The aim of this study is to investigate the components of religion and spirituality in the specific context of "Fryshuset" ? a multicultural and glocal arena. Against the backdrop of contemporary researchers such as Heelas and Woodhead and their hypothesis about the "spiritual revolution" and a "new spirituality", as well as the postmodern discussion about "the return of God", this study discusses how religious change can be understood in the context of Fryshuset.The theoretical point of departure is taken in a hermeneutical method where Fleck´s theory about "thought-collective" and Gidden´s theory about the "duality of structure" are used in order to understand and describe the dialectical relationship between individual and social structure.The method used in this study is qualitative. The interviews are made of six individuals representing different social projects at Fryshuset.By analyzing the material from the field study through theories on religious change, three areas are identified:"The subjective turn"Religion and spiritualityA Cosmopolitan interpretation of life The result of this study is that the religiosity among the interviewed can be described through Taylor?s understanding of the "subjective turn".

The representative democracy has become weakened during the last decades. At the same time the United Nations declared at the Rio de Janeiro meeting in 1992 that environmental problems can best be solved by involvement of all concerned citizens in decision-making. The main purpose of this study has been to examine if citizens panels is a possible way to involve citizens in environmental decision-making and what the outcomes can be. Furthermore the study has investigated what the participation has contributed to environmental politics and how representative the results have been. This has been carried out by investigating the Piteåpanel in the municipality of Piteå by conducting interviews.The result of the study shows that the involvement of the citizens in the decision-making influenced the environmental politics of the municipality.

The aim of this paper is to research and discuss the role the cultural politics play for the Swedish employment office (Arbetsförmedlingen) and the meaning culture politics have within the labour market policy. A research has shown that Arbetsförmedlingen evaluates unemployed cultural workers differently than regular registered jobseekers. From an instrumental perspective on political implementation this can be considered as an anomali. Arbetsförmedlingen?s mandate derives from the government and its authority is a tool for carrying out state policy.

The aim of this master's thesis is to describe the role of language and culture as ethnical identification factors and illustrate how these have been used as political weapons by the Serb regime in Kosovo during the last decade. The thesis discusses the concept of ethnicity, the relations between the politics of identity, nationalism, ethnic mobilization and the importance of language and culture. Kosovo has historically been characterized by severe ethnic antagonism between Serbs and Albanians. Different languages, cultures and religions beside political processes led to ethnic cleavages that paved the way for ethnocentrism, ethnonationalism, chauvinism, ethnic cleansing and civil war. Since 1989, the Serbian authorities have intervened in all important spheres of life, in an attempt to Serbianize Kosovo.

The aim of this study is to clarify the Swedish government?s purpose of participating in theEuropean Union Emission Trading Scheme. Taking as its departure point state-centricinternational political economy this study presents three plausible hypotheses on what thepurpose might be. Either it is to promote consumers interests, or to promote the Swedishnational climate goal ?Reduced impact on climate?, or to promote the profit of Swedishcompanies.

During the 19-century a global warming has been observed, which includes increases in global air and ocean temperatures, widespread melting of ice and snow, and rising global sea level. There is a clear connection between emissions of greenhouse gases caused by the human and the increase in temperature. Climatic changes caused by global warming can be stopped trough decreased emission of fossil fuels, for example by an increased use of biogas. Biogas is a renewable energy source which is produced through anaerobic (oxygen free) digestion of organic material. The gas is a mixture of methane (CH4) and carbon dioxide (CO2) and can be among others used as fuel in vehicles.

This essay concerns the notion of how immigration politics, defined as a political discursive structure that explains and justifies how and why the movement of people into a state's territory is restricted and controlled, has come to present its purpose not as solidarity with the 'immigrants' wanting to enter the state but as a protective measure for the state's citizens. By using discourse theory combined with theories from the International Relations field I attempt to explain why and how such a discourse positions 'immigrants' as a threat to the state.First, I concentrate on why an immigration politics discourse would position 'immigrants' as a threat. I argue that in order for people to construct their identity, the 'outside' what they "are not" has to be repressed. In the same way, the state has to dislocate the "outside" and create threats to uphold its supremacy. These boundaries are set to create a feeling of predictability and security, and ultimately they are a way of making peoples' "world" coherent.

Ett förslag på design av gränssnittet på förstasidan av ett intranet är utformat med tanke på användbarhet med utgångspunkt från attityder och motivation.Arbetet är utfört hos Familjen Dafgård AB i Källby, ett företag inom livsmedelsbranschen.Två gränssnitt är designade, ett efter minimalistiska principer med ett fåtal rubriker innehållande både global och lokal information i en djupare struktur för att stimulera till en action-oriented approach och att locka till sig nya, ovana användare. Det andra med utgångspunkt från informativa startsidor eller en maximalistisk design med rubriker i flera nivåer för global information samt ikoner för lokal information.Gränssnitten är utvärderade med tanke på användbarhet med hjälp av REAL metoden, Relevans, Effektivitet, Attityd och Lärbarhet. Som komplement till denna metod som utvärderar på detaljnivå används en definition kallad användbarhet i kontext. Denna hanterar användarvänlighet, användarkompetens, användaracceptans och informa-tionsbehov på en mer global nivå.Utvärderingen baseras på en kvalitativ ansats med intervjuer och observationer av sex försökspersoner som har fått pröva de två versionerna av gränssnittet. Fyra ovana och två vana internetanvändare.Resultatet visar att av de två versionerna är den maximalistiska startsidan är att föredra.

Lots of choices are to be made by a company who enters a new market with a new businessidea. Common questions that show up when a company is making it´s businessplan are how to target the market and how to use marketing as a tool to reach a specific customer or segment. It is difficult to know wether to target the market in different ways and what processes that can be used in the choice how to select the most potential and profitable customer. Another important question is how a company can positioning themself in a way so the customer will get a positive understanding of the company and what different positive abilities to mention in a possible businessproposal. This study is made on a small company in Sweden called AYEN Technology.

BackgroundPolitics in some ways has always been about communication and marketing. In Sweden some people believe that communication and meaningful relations with the voters are of no value, instead it is the political content that is of importance. Media evolution has changed the conditions of political marketing; this has meant that the choices of the right communication channels in political marketing have become more important today than ever. Political competition in Sweden has become more even in recent years, this has called for political communication and marketing to be more planed and well thought out. Political parties have therefore begun to spend millions on marketing themselves.

Every single child has the right to a childhood as well as a future. The labor regulations within the international conventions exist in order to make sure that these rights are looked after, but the ratification of the conventions is just the beginning. In order to receive the results which are set by the conventions, it is crucial that the implementation is successful. The politics of the country have to change and improve in order to achieve compatible laws, but also the population has to be given the opportunity to obtain education and knowledge about their human rights. Children who are forced to work at a young age, often under inhuman conditions, are not only deprived of their childhood but also of the chance to develop into an independent individual at the same time as this interferes with their education.

Many companies with expansion plans may eventually need to take a decision whether tomove parts of the organization abroad or not. One example is how Swedish companies? placesits production in Asia where labor is cheaper, but at the same time wants to use Swedishengineers. The communication possibilities today makes it no longer necessary to travelacross the world to have a meeting, and questions can be answered in a matter of minutes.This means that a company that is spread out over the world still can communicate betweentheir employees.When participants in a project are spread out over the world, and can?t meet in person, it iseasy for problems to appear.

The purpose of this study is to examine political crimes in and women?s political activity in 18th century Sweden. The cases of political crimes which has been used range from 1700- 1789 and they form an outline of the patterns of political crime in this century. These cases contain different types of political crimes, but most common ar defamation of the royal family, defamatory writings, rumor-spreading and treason. To study women?s political activity, seven cases ranging from 1749 to 1758 have been more closely studied.

The aim of this dissertation is to examine and compare William Easterly?s and PGU?s (Shared Responsibility: Sweden's Policy for Global Development) different views on development and international development cooperation. The methodological approach chosen in this study is an analysis of ideas based on the following questions:1. Which principles should be applied to development and international development cooperation?2.