Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine whether hedge funds generate higher risk-adjusted returns than traditional managed funds in Sweden.Methodology: This study was based on quantitative data about the funds historical returns. The funds historical returns were taken from the database Morningstar and the risk-free rate from the Swedish central bank. Random samples of 36 funds have been divided into three portfolios in the form of a hedge fund portfolio, stock portfolio and mix fund portfolio.Result & Conclusion: The study concluded that the stock portfolio has shown the highest average yield for the study period where all portfolios below market index. Hedge fund portfolio has achieved the highest risk-adjusted return calculated by the portfolios Sharpe Ratio. Of all hedge strategies, arbitrage had the highest average return and risk-adjusted returns..

Throughout this thesis three main factors have been identified that can be out of significance for transfer pricing in multinational companies if the proposal for Home State Taxation is adopted. These factors are rules for calculation of the tax base, rules for dividing costs over periods and the tax rate. The formula for sharing profits will also become a factor that can have an impact on the European companies'incentives for transfer pricing interacting with above-mentioned factors. The effects of transfer pricing aiming at reducing the total amount of the taxation burden for a group of companies will be strongly reduced in the future if the proposal is adopted. Incentives for transfer pricing will loose importance, though not disappear altogether.

En förutsättning för att undvika depression och istället uppleva posttraumatiskt växande (PTG), efter att ha upplevt belastande livshändelser, kan vara känslan av sammanhang (KASAM). Denna studie syftar till att undersöka om det finns en skillnad mellan belastande livshändelser avseende negativa utfallet depression samt undersöka om en stark KASAM kan vara avgörande för att individen istället utvecklar PTG. I studien undersöks 150 studerande vid Örebro universitet. Av resultatet framgår det att studenterna med högt värde av belastande livshändelser är mer deprimerade än studenterna med lågt värde, oberoende av KASAM. Dock hittades ingen signifikant skillnad mellan belastande livshändelser och KASAM avseende PTG.Huruvida belastande händelser utvecklar en positiv eller negativ förändring hos individen kan istället avgöras av personens tolkning, hantering av situationen..

Respiratory infections are one of the major causes of disease in sheep throughout the world. In the beginning of 2008 the Swedish National Veterinary Institute and the Swedish Animal Health Service together started a project about respiratory infections in Swedish sheep. This study is an initial part of that project and the aim of this study was to investigate different sampling possibilities with focus on nasal swabs. This study is composed partly of a literature review on causative agents of respiratory infections in sheep and existing sampling methods, and partly of an experimental study comprising 56 sheep. These sheep were sampled with both an ordinary nasal swab and a guarded nasal swab. Before the start of this study there was to our knowledge no described method for sampling sheep with a guarded swab.

This Masters' thesis is a study on the information behaviour of hospital personnel at the University Hospital in Lund, Sweden. A questionnaire was distributed to 301 nurses and physicians working in the intensive care unit, the population was reduced to 244 persons. The response rate was 52%, i.e. 125 questionnaires were completed. Nurses constituted 68 % of the population.

The aim of this study is to increase the knowledge and understanding of the early process of socialization and its influence on the choices in life, with the example taken from the agricultural family. The question is considering how the process of socialization within an agricultural family has influenced on the choices in life of four women. A qualitative method with a hermeneutic, phenomenologic perspective is applied and four interviews have been done with women who all grew up in an agricultural family. The results have been analysed through social constructive-, psychodynamic-, attachment- and cognitive theory. The results indicate that socialization is a complex process.

The main objective of this study was to evaluate animal welfare situation in Ethiopia during slaughter and to investigate chain activities between animal markets and Kera abattoir in Addis Abeba. In total, 442 animals were observed within 52 groups of cattle; both ox and calves with different breeds. The study was divided into four different sets of data collection; behavioural observations, recording of slaughter process, observation during transport and interview. During the behavioural observations, an ethogram was used with 46 behaviours observed, categorised into 5 different groups. The data was calculated using Excel and SAS. The results indicated that a significant correlation (p-value.

The purpose of this project was to investigate if retention of polar compounds that are given to treat tuberculosis, diabetes, inflammatory bowel disease and childhood leukemia could be obtained with HILIC separation. By varying different parameters for different types of columns the compounds were analyzed with the aim of finding guidelines for future method optimizations. To perform these analyzes three different columns were tested ? ZIC-HILIC (silica-based with zwitterions), ZIC-pHILIC (polymer-based with zwitterions) and XBridge Amide (amide functions). The results were evaluated with selected quality measures.

Previous research has, by studying large listed firms, identified cost reductions and knowledge transference as the primary reasons for outsourcing.  Previous research has also indicated that Business Process Outsourcing is likely to increase in popularity and experience high annual growth going forward. This study aims to explore why mid-sized and large firms decide to in Jämtlands län, fully or partly, outsource their finance/accounting activities. Theories regarding transaction cost economics and resource based view composes the foundation of this study and the information used has been gathered through the use of semi-structured interviews.  The results shows, like the chosen theories and previous research indicates, that the outsourcing decision is primary based on expected cost reductions.

The unemployment rate in Sweden is increasing even though there are more and more municipal activation policies established. The activation policies aim is to decrease the unemployment but that is not yet happening. This problem has led us to go through with this study.The aim of this study was, from an organizational perspective, to examine and describe how the interaction works between the Municipal Employment Services, Employment Office and Social Services in a Swedish medium sized municipality. Special focus was upon the legitimacy of the Municipal Employment Services.  This study was based on nine semi-structured interviews with managers and employers within the organizations in this study.

In the era of urbanization and globalization, many small, rural and post-industrialcities struggle for growth. The competition for citizens and visitors is intense, andone commonly used strategy is to promote the city to a target audience. Placemarketing, however, is homogenized to a great extent. Marketing thus seems likea useless approach, yet almost every city does it.By using discourse analysis and institutional theory, this essay aims to explainwhy the city of Kramfors markets itself. There are several problems arising due tothe marketing of places, especially concerning the discrepancy between the city?simage and identity.

Studies have shown that air pollution, as well as bark fissure depth and sun exposure of a tree can have an effect on lichen growth as well as abundance of lichen species. The aim of this study was to find out the relative importance of these factors. 211 oaks in south eastern Sweden were surveyed for presence of 17 lichen species, as well as the total number of lichen species. Half of the trees were situated in urban areas and half in the countryside. For each tree the bark fissure depth was measured and the sun exposure of the trunk was estimated.

Fresh water has become more and more of a scarce commodity. Water scarcity isn't first and foremost a cause of drought and wasting, but a cause of inequality and mismanagement. This is not only a problem for developing countries, and there can also be variations within countries. The municipality of Gotland has a development program called Vision Gotland 2025, with goals for growth and sustainable development. The aim of this study is to examine whether the use and management of water resources on Gotland and Vision Gotland 2025 is conformed to the Water Framework Directive and the Ecosystem Approach in terms of sustainability.

In the West, travels are often regarded as a given. When tourism is studied it sometimes sounds as if all people have the opportunity to go on vacation when they want and wherever they want. That is not the reality for all. There are laws and regulations on visa requirement which makes it harder for nationals of certain countries to travel on holiday abroad. This essay examines the situation for residents of countries outside the EU and the Schengen Agreement.

Tidigare forskning har visat att selektiv uppmärksamhet (selective attention; SA) mot hotfulla stimuli kan predicera emotionella responser på stressfyllda händelser. Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka sambandet mellan sårbarhet för ångest i form av SA och fysiologiska samt självskattade stressreaktioner på en laboratoriestressor. Ett negativt samband mellan fysiologisk stressreaktion och SA samt ett positivt samband mellan självskattad stressreaktion och SA förväntades. Skillnaden i hudkonduktansreaktivitet (skin conductance reactivity; SCR) på subliminalt presenterade hotfulla och neutrala stimuli hos 41 försökspersoner utgjorde mått på SA i denna studie. Försökspersonerna utsattes senare för en laboratoriestressor samtidigt som hjärtfrekvensvariabilitet (heart rate variability; HRV) och hudkonduktansvariabilitet (skin conductance variability; SCV) registrerades.