Abstract During the last 15 years, the former ?really existing socialist? economies have undertaken an extensive transition process. In this paper the development, measured as GDP growth, is analyzed using variables for economic policy. The analysis is both theoretical, taking as starting point current positions in academia, and econometrical with the linear regression model. We show that while economic policy variables of inflation, economic freedom and institutional quality affect economic growth, the results are not only the ones predicted by the theory.

The purpose of this research is to examine some historical aspects of Robert Putnam?s thesisabout voluntary associations and social capital. According to a micro perspective theory ofsocial capital the trust and reciprocity required and created by associations is important toexplain the disparity between institutional performance and socioeconomic development ofsocieties. The social patterns governing this therefore set a precedent for the future. Using themutual sickness benefit societies in Sweden as variable for voluntary associations around1884, the essay discusses the possible links between social capital, associations and long termeconomic development.

Uppsats för avläggande av högskoleexamen iKulturvård, Trädgårdens hantverk och design, 10 hp2011.

Uppsats för avläggande av högskoleexamen i Kulturvård, Trädgårdens hantverk och design. 10 hp.

The purpose of our essay is to study the institutional-, demographic and accounting theoretical factors that influence an organisations actuarial commitment.The research was performed through a web based survey, with complimentary telephone interviews, directed to companies listed on Stockholm Stock Exchange A- and O-list on the 30 of November, 2003.Our data was analysed with a Median test, Kolomogorov-Smirnov test, T-test and a Mann-Whitney test. The purpose of the Mann-Whitney test was the low number of respondents that took part in the research. The Kolomogorov-Smirnov test was done to determine whether the population variances was equal or not. The data showed that organisations with a majority of female employees assume a lower salary increase, and a higher average age than other companies with a male majority. Only 2 of 11 hypothesis can be accepted as temporary truths but several other visible relations are indicated in our research, but can not be statistically proved.We think that the major problem with our is the time it was performed.

Much attention has been directed to Charity Foundations and how they use the donations given to them. Donators and external organisations put pressure on and evaluate the performance of Charity Foundations. The purpose of this thesis is to increase the understanding of how Charity Foundations handle the pressure from external parties through a qualitative case study of one Swedish Charity Foundation. The most important external factors have been identified and the accountability relationships between each party and the Charity Foundation have been examined. The empirical material was collected through semi-structured interviews and from written sources.

I denna uppsats undersöks designmönster. Tidigare, erkända designmönsterbibliotek har använts som grund för att ta fram en ny designmönstermall. Sedan har sex designmönster identifierats och skapats från sociala medier med hjälp av mönsteridentifikation, dessa är: gilla-knapp, hashtag, dela, kommentera, lägga upp bilder och nyhetsflöde. Vidare har intervjuer med sju respondenter från olika Stockholmbaserade webbyråer genomförts för att undersöka huruvida de identifierade mönstren från sociala medier påverkar deras webbdesign. Centralt för undersökningen var dessutom att ta reda på om webbyråer idag överhuvudtaget använder sig av designmönster när de bygger en webbplats.

Consumers today leave a fragment of information when they pay with their debit and credit cards. The aim of our work is to investigate ways to design a concept of a system in which digitally stored information that today is fragmented among several different holders, can be assembled into a system and made available to consumers. In our study of how a system for financial flow of information should be designed, we intend to study the present situation and the attempts made to alter it into a more informative reality. We intend to investigate the flow of information when a consumer pays by card, and the possible solutions regarding the design and transportation of digital receipts. A majority of the information of our digital consumption is today handled digitally.

Permaculture is a design system that aims at developing sustainable human settlements and self-maintained agriculture; it may also be used for community planning. The design system of permaculture aims at mimicking a natural ecosystem; this gives the advantage to make use of all the connections and mechanisms that exist in such a system.The purpose of this bachelor thesis was to compile and spread scientific information regarding five different themes within the areas of ecology, environmental science and permaculture. This was achieved through cooperation with the permaculture inspired Ecovillage Suberbyn in southern Gotland. Information about the central parts of a permaculture ecovillage was used as material for a series of signposts that will be located around the ecovillage Suderbyn. The five selected themes were: An overview of permaculture, The forest garden, The pond, Composting and The use of human excrement and urine..

The competition in sports equipment and sports fashion today is fierce. And as e-commerce grows, the competing players has to remain accessible and usable regard-less of the device their customers visit the website on. Stadium is Swedens biggest player on the market and puts a lot of effort on their online activity. Something Stadium found interesting was the possibility of introducing elements that would increase the conversion rates directly into the product menu. This study explores the possibility to find a responsive solution for the product menu at Stadiums? e-commerce website which could contribute to increased conversion rates.The study is built upon an experiment and the foundations of the experiment is based upon a market analysis of used design patterns for product navigation in the domain of sport resellers.

Denna rapport behandlar examensarbetet ?kompletterande design till befintlig lekplats?. Det är den avslutande delen på högskoleingenjörsprogrammet Industriell design och har utförts vid Institutionen för arbetsvetenskap vid Luleå tekniska universitet under höstterminen 2008. Uppgiften har varit att ge förslag till förändringar som kan göras vid en befintlig lekplats på Skurholmens förskola i Luleå. Under arbetet har hänsyn tagits till barns ergonomi och säkerhet.

A new visual identity for the ski store Alpingaraget in Stockholm has been proposed as the result of this thesis. Theproposal includes a new logotype, various printed matters, design planning of the store, interior design, signs and otherapplications.The theory section is within the field of graphic profiling and with some focus on profiling in stores.A clear visual identity is important for a company because what the company communicates internally and externallyshould be kept as consistent as possible. This is especially important nowadays when more and more similar products andstores are available. This means that the visual identity becomes part of the competition with other products and stores.The base elements in a visual identity are logotype, colors and typograpy. Using these elements according to rules andtemplates makes a consistent visual profile..

Farmers are constantly facing changes, and the exposure to risk requires monitoring these changes. Financial risks, institutional risks, market risks and production risks are the different risk categories that the farmers face. Production risks stems from factors the farmer cannot affect or is beyond his control. The crop?s output is the basis for the primary income of agricultural operations, which is why it is important for farmer to manage their production risk. A tool to reduce the consequences of production risks is crop insurance.

The Saami, a Nordic indigenous people scattered over four countries, has for centuries been regarded as parts of the national populations of the countries in which they live. During the 19th century saami demands for greater influence resulted en several changes, among them the founding of a Swedish Saami Council in 1993. The council became a popularly elected, representative institution with an agenda of its own, but also a public authority answerable to the government. The decision to attribute the council this twofold role was unusual and, from a certain point of view, even controversial: it makes it difficult to determine the location of the power to act in saami-related issues and the legitimacy to do so.This essay is about how the twofold role came into existence, what it leads to and how the seemingly contradictive duality is managed. It has an institutional approach with theories concerning institutions and etnicity as well as institutional change and handling of complicated and ambiguous demands.

The purpose of this thesis has been to build a parameterized model of a prototype motor in the program Solidworks, to use in future optimization of aspects of effectiveness and weight. The result were two models. The first model were one minor part of the whole design in 2D, to be able to optimize and study the minor part with a faster loss simulation. The second model was the whole design in 3D. The whole model were done with the three programs Solidworks, Comsol and Matlab.