On Nasdaq OMX Nordic Stockholm there has been a large increase in issues of preferred stocks since the financial crisis 2008. Aiming to explain whether preferred stocks have most of their characteristics relating to debt or equity, we answer four sub questions. Do all preferred stocks share the same features, or do they differ from each other? Our population is similar in characteristics, except for the preferred stock of Swedbank which is convertible and deviates when it comes to participation in dividends - instead of convertible the others are limited and redeemable. Further, the second sub question treats preferred stock in relation to the common stock quantitatively, in market data.

The main purpose of this thesis is to analyze why or why not Swedish municipalities implement the gender equality policy ? ?right to work fulltime?. In order to understand this institutional change, the analysis is based on a theoretical framework consisting of two fields: political representation and feminist institutionalism. The study is divided into two empirical inquiries. The first part is based on a quantitative survey that describes the casual relationship between two independent variables; women´s political representation and party ideology, and the dependent variable; political decision about ?right to work fulltime?.

American bison (Bison bison bison) is a new species in Sweden and was introduced in the year 2000. In this study the result of an interview and a field investigation is presented. The aim was to investigate the health and parasite status in Swedish bison herds. The most common reason to begin with bison breeding was meat production and/or sale of breeding animals and tourism. The Swedish breeder?s experience of bison is that they in general are healthy.

Communication, information and marketing are three of the main prerequisites for companies that want to increase their turnover. The everyday work for a Forest Manager within the forest owners? association Mellanskog consists to a large part of interpersonal communication, either by close vicinity contact or by phone calls. Interpersonal communication is time consuming and resource intensive. If the flow of information, communication and marketing does not function well then there is a lack of a base for development.

This thesis examines the established theories on the phenomena of merger of equals. In contrast to an acquisition, a merger of equals is complex since the very nature of it entails that none of the involved parties are in control. Merger of equals are therefore viewed as one of the most difficult types of partnership and data show that over fourty percent of all mergers fail to achieve their targets. Still, research on the phenomena is limited. The main purpose of this thesis is to analyse the implicit factors to why a merger of equals fail.

In 2003 the deciding political council in Bromölla municipality requested that an overhaul on the committee and public administration structure should be conducted. In the report Bromölla was characterized as a traditional organization with a low degree of change. This case study will examine why the organization previously has been reluctant to change its structure and why they are willing to do so now. In the pursuit of this objective I conducted document studies, interviews and observations. I have used theories on, institutional change and organizational culture to enlighten this.My findings shows that the traditionalists within the organization has greatly affected this reluctance towards change, in the deciding council 39 % of the representatives are 60 years or older.

In 2003 the deciding political council in Bromölla municipality requested that an overhaul on the committee and public administration structure should be conducted. In the report Bromölla was characterized as a traditional organization with a low degree of change. This case study will examine why the organization previously has been reluctant to change its structure and why they are willing to do so now. In the pursuit of this objective I conducted document studies, interviews and observations. I have used theories on, institutional change and organizational culture to enlighten this.My findings shows that the traditionalists within the organization has greatly affected this reluctance towards change, in the deciding council 39 % of the representatives are 60 years or older.

Horse owner?s knowledge about horse feeding and nutrition is directly linked to the horse?s health and welfare. According to several studies, both Swedish and foreign, horse owners generally have inadequate knowledge about horse feeding. The housing systems and feeding routines of today differs in many ways from what horses have adapted to through evolution. Wild horses live in harem herds and roam on large open fields, spending about 60 % of the day grazing, mainly grass and herbs.

This thesis is about Christmas tree plantations in Sweden, and if its profitable to produce Christmas trees in Sweden. Sweden has 4,3 million households, 3 million of these households buys Christmas trees. 80 % of these Christmas trees are Norway Spruce (Picea abies), which is the most common Spruce in Sweden. Every year over 170 000 Christmas trees are imported to Sweden. The main import comes from Denmark.

This study was conducted on behalf of SCA forest AB, Västerbottens forest administration. Timber procurement from non-industrial private forest owners has become an increasingly important part of SCA:s wood supply. The objectives of this study was to report the current forest conditions in the private forests in the county of Västerbotten, analyse the potential for procurement of wood from private forest owners, and provide a basis for decisions on future strategies for timber procurement from private owners.Material and data have been collected from different sources, mainly from Swedish National Forest Inventory and SKA-VB08. This material was the basis for the analysis and calculations performed with the Heureka application PlanWise. This study area was divided into six different analytical areas (Coastal south, Coastal middle, Lycksele, Inland south, Inland north, Skellefteå), where each area of analysis is represented by a number of municipalities.In this study, two scenarios were specified; one describing the current forest management with current harvesting levels and the effects of these assumptions, the second to illuminate what potential there is for future timber harvesting.

Many participants in the Swedish timber market procure raw material from private forest owners. They often also offer forest services to ensure reforestation after final felling. Selling silviculture services can be a part of creating a long term relationship with the landowner for future timber purchases. The Swedish Forest Agency monitors forest rejuvenation results in the entire country. In the latest survey (2006 - 2008) the proportion of approved regeneration area was 78%.

The business mission of Norra Skogsägarna is to achieve a profitable forestry for the private forest owners. With this as a background it is of interest for the forest owner association to know how forest owners think about voluntary retentions, the methods of increasing production and quality and if there are differences between those who have chosen to certify their forest and those who haven?t. This kind of knowledge is of importance, to in an effectively and adjusted way, help the forest owners achieve a profitable forestry. The objective of this master thesis is to increase knowledge about private forest owners? opinions of the methods of increasing production and quality and to what extent these methods are used.

This paper has focused on specific aspects of the law concerning the 3rd paragraph of The Care of Young Persons Act (1990:52), LVU. The purpose of this study was to examine the prerequisite other social destructive behaviour in four cases where youths has been under compulsory institutional care because of their computer gaming. The study was composed on a legal dogmatic method and a legal sociologist perspective. The legal dogmatic method implies to examine the law and its elaboration, the legal sociologist perspective focus on the consequences and causes of the court of law. The study shows that problematic computer gaming is an increasing problem in society and that other social destructive behaviour is a wide prerequisite that need new amendment in order to ensure citizens certainty..

The purpose of this study is to search and analyze different logics that operators use in the work of helping juvenile delinquents to break their criminal behavior. New institutional theory is used in this study to analyze the results. The study was conducted through qualitative interviews of six professionals in two municipalities which work with juvenile delinquency. There are two questions that we want to address in this study. The first one is what methods the social workers are using in two middle large municipalities to help youth to brake there criminal behavior.

Veterinary medicine is not merely an area of occupation but also an area of business. In a business the customer service is its identity and brand and more importantly what makes the client choose and recommend the clinic to other potential customers. The licensed veterinary nurse is habitually the one who first meets the clients at the clinic. Therefore it is particularly important for the licensed veterinary nurse at the clinic to offer high-quality customer service. The object of this study was to understand and elucidate how the pet owners experience the encounter with the licensed veterinary nurse at different stages in their contact with the clinic.