This paper replicates a test performed by Burgstahler and Dichev (1997), which identifies a kink in the frequency distribution of earnings for companies listed on American stock exchanges. Their claim, that the kink is evidence of earnings management, has however been dismissed as a methodical consequence. To address this concern, this paper not only replicates the test in general, but also performs tests on a split sample, where founding family-owned companies are separated from the others, since earlier research has shown that founding family ownership is correlated with less earnings management. The results are in line with the findings of Burgstahler and Dichev, with a significant kink in the frequency distribution in the general test. The findings also show that the significance of the kink increases in the non-family-owned sample, while it disappears in the family-owned sample.

This report reflects an examination work performed for Getrag All Wheel Drive AB during the spring of 2005. Among the companies range of products there exists some concern regarding the amount of clamping force and friction on bolted joints caused by the assembly torque.The aim of this project has been to determine if there is a simple way in which to identify and then practically apply testing methods for clamping force and friction through utilization of existing testing equipment.Three separate methods of clamping force and friction determination have been tested in rear drive unit, RDU, at a 30 Nm assembly torque. A fourth and final method, screw elongation with ultrasound, has been used as reference. The methods are:?Torque-Tension test.?Screw elongation with micrometer.?Joint stiffness test.?Screw elongation with ultra sound for reference.The results from tests can be viewed in table below.MethodTorque-TensionMicrometerCs=318 kN/mm Assembled with torque wrenchMicrometerCs=318 kN/mm Assembled on lineUltra-soundCS=311 kN/mm Ultra- soundCS=318 kN/mm Joint stiffnessTheoreticalClamping force-21,8 kN17,6 kN17,3 kN17,6 kN17,1 kN17,3 kNFriction-0,110,1470,1530,1470,1520,149.

In order to get a better understanding of the interaction between employees and their technical work tools one needs to know what factors influence the interaction. The purpose of this study was to examine if there is a correlation between the personality traits Extraversion (E) and Neuroticism (N), tested with Eysenck Personality Inventory (EPI), and experience of the new Intranet among employees at The Swedish National Transport Administration (SNTA), and also to gather information of employees? opinions about the new Intranet. A survey, containing questions about the Intranet and a personality test (EPI), was posted on SNTA?s Intranet for eight workdays (N = 88, females = 53, males = 35).

University of VäxjöSchool of Social SciencesBachelor Thesis in Political ScienceTitle: ?Sverigedemokraternas valframgångar 2006 ? En ulv i fårakläder??Author: Emma Haraldsson and Åsa NeuschützTutor: Emil UddhammarThe aim of this study is to explain Sverigedemokraterna?s electoral success in 2006 and the essay assumes that some form of change has occurred. To study this change two hypotheses have been constructed. The first hypothesis concerns the change within Sverigedemokraterna and the second hypothesis concerns the change of the Swedish voters attitudes.Kirchheimers catch-all theory is used to explain the change in Sverigedemokraterna. The catch-all theory states that parties have to change their structure to maximise the number of votes.

The purpose with this thesis is to demonstrate that other factors than the existing set of rules could influence the Management Group?s decision in regards to depreciation of goodwill. We have explained the conflicts between the management group and the stakeholders by using the Agency Theory and the Stakeholder Model. We have used the Positive Accounting Theory to describe how the management group?s opportunistic behaviour decides which accounting method to use.

Context. Performance and resource usage is often an important factor for database driven services. Depending on the purpose of the application, choosing the wrong type of database may require unnecessary hardware upgrades or replacements. Objectives. This study investigates the differences in performance and resource usage between different SQL- and NoSQL-databases. The study is a comparison that focuses on how the databases perform in different applications.

This study, based on the socio-cultural theory of the book as a mediating tool, examines how four teachers say they work with the reader ABC-klubben. This is done with a focus on how they reason about choosing the level of readers for the pupils and about what compensation, if any, they make for pupils who read the simpler book and therefore miss the more difficult words and expressions. The result shows that all the teachers say that they take the pupils? motivation for and pleasure in reading as an important ground for the decision as to which reader a pupil should use, and that this decision is taken with a focus on the individual. When it comes to compensation for the pupils who read the simpler book, the teachers do not describe consistently focused work on this, but they describe a similar way of working whereby they nevertheless acquaint these pupils with the more difficult book and the harder words and expressions.

Introduction: We are facing an aging population, which means that the incidence of age related diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease, are expected to increase. In the current situation there is no cure for the disease, whereupon it is important to develop preventive strategies. Objective: To examine the association between Alzheimer's disease and physical activity. Method: A systematic literature search was done to identify the current state of knowledge from the year 2006 onwards. The reason for this limitation was that the SBU commissioned a systematic literature review in 2006, where the relationship between physical activity and Alzheimer's disease could not be determined.

Bakgrund: Med införandet av IFRS år 2005 tillkom en mängd nya standarder varav en utav dessa var IAS 36 p.134. En viss osäkerhet förelåg gällande tolkningen av upplysningskraven vid nedskrivningsprövningen av goodwill. Därtill finns risken att företagen utelämnar information baserat på subjektiva antaganden. Nu är det upp till bevis: Har företagen förbättrat sin upplysning i enlighet med IAS 36 p.134?Syfte: Syftet är att undersöka om företagen har förbättrat upplysningen i enlighet med IAS 36 p.134 sedan införandet av IFRS år 2005.

The following study examined whether similarities in motor speech deficits in Parkinson?s disease and in developmental stuttering could be observed. Furthermore, intelligibility was examined. Assessments of 16 people with Parkinson?s disease, 35 people with developmental stuttering and 49 matched controls were performed with the tests Dysartribedömningen and the Swedish Test of Intelligibility.

This report describes the design and construction of a prototype that automatically aims a microwave link towards a target. The link, that is located on a mobile aerial mast, is used by Saab Training Systems as a part of an infrastructure network. The report also discusses the development of a GUI that communicates with the control unit by Bluetooth.The control unit, called Pan/Tilt-controller, controls the position of the link by stepping motors. One motor controls the azimuth angle and the other one controls the elevation angle.By a GUI the operator enters the coordinates on its own position and the targets position. Hereafter a bearing is calculated and it will be sent up to the control unit.The control unit will sense its own direction by a magnetic sensor that works as an electronic compass.

In order to get a better understanding of the interaction between employees and their technical work tools one needs to know what factors influence the interaction. The purpose of this study was to examine if there is a correlation between the personality traits Extraversion (E) and Neuroticism (N), tested with Eysenck Personality Inventory (EPI), and experience of the new Intranet among employees at The Swedish National Transport Administration (SNTA), and also to gather information of employees? opinions about the new Intranet. A survey, containing questions about the Intranet and a personality test (EPI), was posted on SNTA?s Intranet for eight workdays (N = 88, females = 53, males = 35).

I got interested in this subject when I came in contact with Västtrafiks new paymentsystem myself during my visits in Gothenburg. I suspected problems with the informationmaterial regarding it and others seemed to share my opinion that the payment system wasdiffcult to understand. When I contacted Västtrafik and asked them about the paymentsystem they confirmed that some understanding diffculties had occurred. With thatconfirmation I decided to make it my project to look in to the matter.Some methods were used to identify the problems. The methods could again confirm thatthere were some problems with the payment system and that the information material wasa vital reason.

The purpose of this master thesis was to examine how the corporations quoted on the A-list on the Stockholm Stock Exchange were affected by the introduction of IFRS 3 Business Combinations. Their opinion about the accounting rule and the acquired goodwill in particular was focused as well. The authors wanted to see if there were any changes in ROE, return on equity, after the introduction of the new accounting standard.Data for this study was collected through interviews, questionnaires and annual reports. Interviews were held with corporate accounting managers of Assa Abloy, WM-data, Electrolux, Ericsson and SCA. Questionnaires were sent by e-mail to 50 companies and were answered by 30 of them.

This thesis aims to investigate if peer-groups based on industry classification perform as well as, or better than, peer-groups based on other measures that represent factors affecting the price-to-earnings multiple. In contrast with previous empirical studies, a solid theoretical approach is used in defining which factors, according to valuation theory, affect the P/E-ratio. The factors identified as explanatory are accounting measures, risk and growth. Furthermore, we have recognized several measures that represent these factors. These measures are tested for accuracy of prediction in terms of the P/E-ratio for peer-groups based on these measures relative to an industry classified peer-group.