Earlier models that measured de facto harmonization of international accounting mainly used indices and other related statistical models. Those approaches do not account for the relative importance of individual balance sheet items or expense items being harmonized. This paper therefore proposes a different approach using Runsten?s (1998) permanent measurement bias model. That way it is possible to quantify the harmonization process by accounting for differences among companies.

The high debt levels experienced in European Countries have lead to academic interest in the deficit bias -the tendency for governments to run budget deficits and accumulate debt. In part one of this thesis a surveyof the economic literature on the origins and solutions to the deficit bias are conducted. The proposedinstitutional solution to the deficit bias in the form of Fiscal Policy Councils (FPC) are outlined and existingEuropean FPCs presented. Based on the works of Calmfors and Wren-Lewis (2011) the EuropeanCommission (EC) is defined as an FPC. Based on this survey, two hypothesis are formulated: (1) theforecasts of future macro-economic events and fiscal performance will differ between the national FPCs andthe national government.

This study aims to measure the effect of accounting conservatism and to identify thebusiness activities causing firms to undervalue owners? equity. To estimateaccounting conservatism, we have followed the hypothesis that no firm over time cangenerate a return greater than its cost of equity, i.e. CAPM. Thus, if a firm in factgenerates an excess return over time, we assume that the excess return is an estimateof accounting conservatism within that firm.The hypothesis originates from the corporate valuation model ?Economic ValueAdded®? which tries to adjust for accounting bias.

Vilken grundläggande idé utgår vi ifrån när vi talar om förnuft och rationalitet och vilka konsekvenser får detta för synen på individen, individen i samhället samt individen i datasystemet? Uppsaten belyser problematik rörande den icke-situerade individen, vilken inte är en individ utan snarare en skenbar produkt utav homogena värderingar. .

Syftet med studien var att undersöka huruvida utsattheten för ?sunk cost-effect? och förankringseffekten ökade vid intuitivt processande jämfört med analytiskt processande. Deltagarna i studien var 78 studedenter vid psykologiska institutionen vid Göteborgs Universitet. Datainsamlingen gjordes genom en pappersenkät. En 2 × 2 - vägs ANOVA avseende bias och process gjordes för både ?sunk cost effect? och förankringseffekten i en mellanindividdesign.

Since January 2005 new rules have been introduced from the International Financial Reporting Standards for accounting of Business Combinations. Goodwill, which is the difference between the purchase price and the value of the net assets in an acquired firm, should no longer be amortized but should instead be treated as an object for yearly impairment tests. Nevertheless, there are many companies making the tests but not impairing goodwill. The theoretical frame of reference looks at goodwill from its two parts; true goodwill and false goodwill. False goodwill is defined as a measurement bias and constitutes a certain percentage of the operating net assets.

The aim of this qualitative study was to investigate the participants experiences of a parent support group and the effect of their participation on their parental role from a learning perspective. As the parent support group takes place as a group activity, the focus was on the individual learning processes which, in turn, are influenced by both the group itself as well as the leaders of the group. The empirical data was collected from a focus group interview with four mothers, and analyzed using empowerment and coping theories. Based on the participants´ narratives, the result showed that the parent support group had a great social and pedagogic effect on the participants. As a result of the received knowledge in the group from both leaders as well as from other participants, they felt less stressed and more confident in their parental role.

The purpose of this Master Thesis was to study the reader in the informal reading group. To fulfil our purpose we have used the following questions: how did the reader become a reader and what does her reading look like, why do people choose to participate in a reading group, how may the group influence the individual member in her reading and interpretation of a book, does the reading group have a therapeutic function, how does the informant find the group dynamics and different roles in the reading group, and finally how does the informant experience the discussion in the reading group. We have used two studies about reading groups, one by Elizabeth Long and one by Jenny Hartley. Our theory is divided into reading and group psychology. We have interviewed seven women belonging to different reading groups.

Människor tenderar att attribuera framgångar till sig själva och misslyckanden till externa källor, fenomenet kallas för Self-serving bias. Hur individer attribuerar kan enligt forskning påverkas av bland annat graden av självkontroll samt självkänsla. Enligt forskning kan intentioner eller beteendemål aktiveras automatiskt och omedvetet av en utlösande signal, så kallad priming, och därmed aktivt guida en persons självreglering. Denna studie har genom ett experiment, med 56 högskolestudenter, undersökt om priming av självkontroll och självförtroende kan påverka hur en individ attribuerar vid framgång och misslyckande. Resultatet visade ingen signifikant skillnad mellan priminggrupperna.

Actor-observer bias är tendensen där människan som aktörer tillskriver sitt beteende till yttre omständigheter medan observatörer tenderar till att tillskriva aktörens beteende till personliga faktorer. Syftet med denna studie var att få en klarare bild av hur människor i sin roll som aktör eller observatör attribuerar ett riskabelt bilkörningsbeteende. Deltagarna bestod av 101 svenska studenter från en högskola i Mellansverige varav 77 stycken var kvinnor och 24 stycken var män. Deltagarna fick svara på en enkät angående actor-observer bias och riskfullt bilkörningsbeteende. Resultaten visade att andras beteende förklaras mer av personliga egenskaper än då personen själv kör riskfullt medan yttre omständigheter inte gav skillnad för vare sig andra eller en själv.

At first glance, the group CEO's (koncernchefens) legal position looks easy. It is the CEO?s responsibility to lead and make decisions on matters which affect the entire group, all while defending the company?s best interests. However, when one looks closely at how the Companies Act (Aktiebolagslagen) regulates how a company should organize itself, as well as the options available to manage the group, one rea-lizes that simply appointing a group CEO does not necessarily make the company compatible with the Companies Act. A group CEO threatens to reduce both the Board and CEO's legal administrative districts which are not in accordance with legal and commercial principles.In order to introduce a group CEO it requires a detailed investigation of the group's legal relationships.

AbstractEssay in Political Science, D-level, spring 2010. ?Do the American mass media serve foreign policy interests? ? A scrutiny of two American newspapers? coverage of the coup d?état in Honduras in the summer of 2009?, Author: David Scott. Tutor: Anders Broman The bias of the American mass media has been widely discussed among scholars. Not only has this phenomenon caught the attention of political scientists, but also academics from other scientific fields.

This study focuses on an analysis of three text books in English, Prime Time, Second Time, and Third Time, written for Swedish pupils between grade seven and nine. The main focus of the study is to investigate to what extent the books may be considered to follow the steering principles of the Swedish education system. The theoretical backbone of the essay is centred on the construction and maintenance of stereotypes, and is written from a social constructivist point of view. In this context, I also reason around power relations and norms in the Western society ? arguments which I, in the main analysis, apply to the books in question.

In today's society there is a trend in progress that it is positive and effective to have working groups or teams in organizations. But is it really all good? This essay explores this question through the concept "group weariness". Group weariness is defined as a negative attitude towards working in groups based on previous experiences of the working form. The aim of this study is to explore the concept of group weariness through a quantitative study.

This paper aims to investigate the systematic risk exposure of Swedish hedge funds using a modified Fung & Hsieh (2004) asset-based style factor model. The results show that the average Swedish equity hedge fund and fund of funds had a significant positive exposure to the equity market portfolio and the spread between small cap and large cap stocks (SMB) during the sample period. This is consistent with our a priori expectations and previous international studies. We do not find the expected systematic fixed-income related risk exposure for the fixed-income hedge funds and fund of funds in the sample. The empirical material used in this study is taken from a publicly available fund database maintained by the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority (Finansinspektionen).