Syftet med uppsatsen var att undersöka huruvida den riskjusterade avkastningen från en traditionellt förvaltad lång indexportfölj kunde ha varit högre om portföljen hade förvaltats enligt en Equity Market Neutral-strategi. Vidare ämnar undersökningen att testa huruvida de skapade portföljerna uppvisar låg korrelation, dvs marknadsneutralitet, med underliggande marknad som är förenligt med strategin. För detta ändamål används Svenska Handelsbankens Månatliga Modellportfölj mellan åren 1998-2003. Vidare är syftet att utifrån analysen av undersökningens resultat kunna dra slutsatser om det kan finnas information i traditionella långa indexportföljer, liknande Handelsbankens Modellportfölj, som kan öka den riskjusterade avkastningen men som inte utnyttjas och som skulle kunna tas till vara via implementeringen av en Equity Market Neutral strategi. Undersökningen visade att portföljerna uppvisade såväl högre absolut- som riskjusterad avkastning jämfört med modellportföljen, och låg korrelationen gentemot marknaden sett över hela den undersökta perioden.

This study is an examination of how conditions for formal and informal music education look like in two townships in South Africa. The purpose of this examination based on different actors' experiences is to find out whether the children in South Africa receive some form of music education and if so, how they think it can help the children in the surveyed areas. The information was gathered both through qualitative, semi-structured interviews with a music teacher, music therapist, creative music facilitator, students, and people who have worked for Sida and partly through unstructured observations. The results show that children in the surveyed townships do not receive any formal music education through the school but they sometimes can get music education through a NGO project (Non Government Organization) which usually runs by an enthusiast and is funded by various aid agencies. My examination also showed that for the children in the surveyed areas music education can be an alternative from being on the streets, giving a positive group experience, the ability to express themselves, fend off young people from drugs and criminality and bring together various grouping.

The Private Equity industry has over the past years been booming and major external environmental changes have made the industry transform rapidly. Increased competition between Private Equity firms is one of the reasons why the industry has been and is being forced to focus more on addition of value through increased operational management. Consequently, the focus of value addition is by some said to be transferred away from deal making and financial skills, and into active operative management. This case study investigates how the portfolio management, and more specifically the measuring and management of performance, is carried out in a number of leading Swedish Private Equity funds with investments in the biotech sector. The biotech sector is characterized by extensive research and development, and many biotech companies often lack income and other measurable financial parameters in the initial phase.

Social work as an traditional aid is an area that provides welfare services financed from public funds, which is one of the methods of microloans. Microloans have since the mid-1970s has become an increasingly common tool in the fight against poverty. Instead of purely assistance is now offered microloans from more banks and other institutions, as well as NGOs (non governmental organization). This paper aims to study whether and how microcredit can contribute to the empowerment of women in Bangladesh and India. This study is based on a qualitative text analysis, and has hence been based on a number of reports and articles. The paper examines, from a radical feminist perspective how microcredit can fight and eliminate poverty, and how empowerment can help women in developing countries to become independent and liberated. The introduction of micro-loan is considered to have positive effects on women's empowerment in the short term. But it is, however, the longer term effects that are considered to have the greatest positive impact on society's unequal structures.

The purpose of this thesis is to find out the reasons and perhaps some answers to the problem as we see it, the sickness benefit expiration of those who experience this. By this said we have also taken into account the different laws and adjustments in the long-term sickness benefit, but also major reformation of the security net in the Swedish society. The efficiency of the law on passive long-term sickness absence was added in July 2008, but was later in January 2010 supplemented. The purpose of this law wasn?t only to reduce the long-term sickness absence but also to reduce exclusion.

The main purpose with this master's thesis was to develop a survey with the intention to examine what expectations the JM AB:s customer had on a future garden and also to discuss if the lawn has a symbolic meaning in gardens. The lion's share of the thesis is based on a survey, aimed at people in the company's customer database. The intention was to examine what expectations they had on their future garden and if their expectations were met when they later bought a house from the company. The work also consists of interviews and visits to areas with newly built homes. I interpreted the result from my surveys as the lawn on its own being is a strong symbol for a garden and also signals a social status of the owner. To the company the pre made lawn on a role is a way of saving time and easily achieve what the customer request. The company wants to create a concept of a "preset-garden" that meets the company's vision as well as the expectations of the customer.

The process of European Integration and creation of the single market revealed many questions and boundaries on the development and improvement of the European Social Policy. Pension?s sustainability has become the priority issue especially during the EU enlargement processes. Different policy instruments and institutions available to governments of Member States in realization of social objectives resulted in a growing diversity of pension polices which produced different combinations of public and private provisions - ?private-public hybrids? , with the state exercising different degrees of influence in their development.

This essay is a normative analysis concerning the question of whether the government should be allowed to use taxes to finance the state. What kind of ethical problems arise when the government use taxation? If it is possible to justify taxation, despite potential moral issues, then what should the government do with the funds they have collected? What kinds of government functions are morally justified? Is it merely the kinds of functions that are supposed to uphold negative human rights; or should the government provide health care, education and even culture for the citizens? This analysis aims to answer those questions and also formulate a principle about what the government should be occupied with, if anything at all. In order to achieve this I mainly use the terms freedom and justice to analyse ethical problems. The ideas of John Rawls and Robert Nozick are essential in this project.My answer is that taxation is justified as long as the purpose is to maintain the most fundamental human rights and also under other special circumstances such as if an individual cannot find a way to finance basic education or necessary health care.

Objective: For a long-term and viable economic development to take place in a country it needs to promote creativity and innovation in enterprises. The study applies the process model to study the process of innovation in innovative companies in Sweden. The study also applies the technology commercialization model to indicate the ability of companies to commercialize the technology to the market.Main purpose: The purpose of this work is to study how companies in Sweden proceed with an idea generation and if they manage to commercialize these ideas.Method: This study used a qualitative approach. Multiple case studies & interviews.Conclusion: The innovative ideas in innovative SME:s in Sweden is emerged from randomly events and from systematic developments. Consumer chock is the trigger who draws focus on the idea.

Due to deficiency in dementia care, the government has commissioned the National Board of Health and Welfare to develop national guidelines for health care services to people with dementia and support for their relatives. It has been allocated stimulus funds that may be applied for to work on improvements in dementia care. In August 2010 these guidelines formed the basis for a decision made that collaboration would take place between the county and the municipalities regarding dementia care in Halland, named Anna's path. The aim of this study is to investigate, analyse and describe how our respondents in the project Anna?s path are planning and preparing for the implementation of the registry of quality BPSD - Behavioural and Psychological Symptoms of Dementia.

Allmänhetens uppfattning är att desto fler valmöjligheter det finns desto bättre är det. Men är det verkligen så i alla olika valsituationer vi ställs inför? (Iyengar & Lepper 2000)   Utifrån tidigare forskning testar vår uppsats om människors valmöjligheter, ett experiment där vi ser hur människor gör sina val på den svenska fondmarknaden. De fick välja mellan ett mindre (limited) urval eller ett större (extensive) urval av fonder.  Utgångspunkten i uppsatsen är två olika forskningsartiklar från Iyengar & Lepper (2000) samt Iyengar & Jiang (2003) där de testar hur människor gör sina val när de får olika stora utbud att välja bland. I deras forskning kommer de fram till att även om människor tycker att det är roligare att ha många valmöjligheter så blir det oftare val gjorda eller saker köpta om de har mindre saker att välja bland.

AbstractInterest in the subject appeared from real events. We seemed to discern a trend in society. Wehave noted that the amount of social enterprises to a greater extent is formed in Sweden.Companies like GodEl, Postkodslotteriet and DEM Collective are typical illustrations ofcompanies included in the category of social enterprise. It seemed as socially profiledcompanies is the new generation companies. The purpose of this essay is to make aninventory of possible competitive advantages that arise from social branding.

Crowdfunding is described as a facilitator for creative entrepreneurs in their gathering of funds for projects. This bachelor?s thesis  aims at finding differences in communication components found between successful and unsuccessful crowdfunding campaigns on one of the most popular platforms, Kickstarter. Through a quantitative content analysis and a rhetorical analysis of literary topoi this study suggests that there are apparent differences in usage of titles, text, visual expressions, rewards and in themes of preparation, humility as well as quality. The findings we present conclude that a campaign with a title consisting of eight words and one punctuation are more likely to succeed than other.

Among farmers in Sweden hedging of product prices is a relatively new way of thinking. A deregulated market and a more volatile price picture are consequences of the free market and the movements towards globalization. The effects of globalization are largely a demand- and supply driven market. These factors give the farmers incentives to stay informed and to act on their own in order to manage their price risk exposure.The overall purpose with this study is to analyze the farmers? attitudes and awareness of price hedging and to examine what type of decision processes that characterize hedging decisions.The study covers the period 2006 until 2008 and the crops oil seeds, barley (malt), milling wheat, feed wheat, oats and feed oats.

Bakgrund: Den finansiella marknaden och dess tjänster har blivit alltmer komplexa under åren. Utbudet av olika produkter som exempelvis olika typer av fonder och aktier har blivit allt större. Det finns idag många olika handelsplattformar för aktier och fonder. Samtidigt som utbudet av komplexa produkter ökar, läggs mer ansvar på individen i exempelvis hantering av premiepension. Det förutsätter att konsumenten är väl informerad och tar rätt beslut.