Today there is a keen competition between regions in the world for companies and inhabitants in order to improve regional development and economic growth. In many regions there is an active effort to create a good home base for companies and inhabitants. Since 2003 municipalities in nine counties in Sweden have come together in co-operative agencies in order to work towards more efficient regional development.This essay focuses on the relation between the state and the co-operative agencies in the regional development policy and which possibilities the state gives the co-operative agencies to pursue an efficient regional development policy, both legally and financially. I have researched and analysed this through models and ideas on how the state governs the administration and through the translation theory. The result of my study is that the co-operative agencies have a relatively large amount of freedom to make there own priorities, but the ability to act efficiently within regional development is limited..

I mitten av 1900-talet steg antalet kvinnor på arbetsmarknaden dramatiskt vilket fick tillföljd att debatten kring möjligheten till balans mellan arbete och fritid, work-life balance, tog fart på allvar.Det övergripande syftet med denna studie är att bringa en bredare förståelse kring kvinnor i förhållande till aspekter av arbete, som berör balansen mellan privatliv och yrkesliv. Intentionen är att tillföra personalområdet en djupare och bredare förståelse kringde villkor som kvinnliga arbetstagare dagligen måste förhålla sig till och därmed också arbetsgivare.Resultatet visar, utifrån kvinnornas berättelser, att samhälleliga förutsättningar för balans och integration, jämställdheten i parrelationen och dess betydelse för balans och integration samt kvinnornas egna strategier kring balans och integration är viktiga aspekter för kvinnorna i hur de balanserar och hanterar work-life balance.Det har även visat sig att förändringar i ovannämnda perspektiv av work-life balance är små mellan generationerna. I de samhälleliga förutsättningarna för balans och integration syns tydliga förändringar mellan generationerna. Politiska och organisatoriska förutsättningar har förändrats över tid. Nya hjälpmedel och möjligheter för individen har etablerats och den samhällsekonomiska situationen förändrats.

This thesis explores how the concept of ?legal corruption? manifests itself within the European Investment Bank with a modern approach to the theoretical understanding of anticorruption efforts. This approach conceptualises the idea of complementing theories based on contextual applicability rather than focusing on their competing qualities. The European Investment Bank (EIB), as the world?s largest multilateral lender, is an underexplored yet vital organ of the European Union, which has recently faced criticism for its alleged lack of transparency and dubious application of policy.

School can be an effective environment for achieving a more equal health among children and adolescents, since many individuals can be reached by the health promoting work in the school. In the year of 2000 a project in Skåne was started for the development of health promoting schools. The health promoting projects however, have shown to be of short duration. So, as an alternative, the integration of the health in school ought to be tried. The aim of this study is to give examples how health promoting schools can strengthen their profile.

In contemporary Sweden political participation among foreign-born Swedes is viewed as low and it is well known that foreign-born individuals do not use their voting rights to the same extent as the general population. At the same time there are numerous ethnic associations around the country who work with various activities involving political, democratic and integration issues. This study aims to study how four members of a Somali association regard, relate to and work with politics, democracy and integration. The study is based on these four people, but also on their relationship with authorities and other agencies in the community. The conclusion of this study shows in brief that the desire to participate politically is great, but that democracy and politics is accessible to all, depending on the level of language skills and what political knowledge the individual has.

This bachelor thesis delves into the role and impact of cultural dimensions, identity and leadership on post-merger acquisition in Sweden through an in-depth analysis of two companies that have undergone acquisitions or mergers. Using an abductive method, where theories are continuously adapted based on empirical data, qualitative information was gathered through semi-structured interviews with managers and employees from the two companies. The study aimed to gather well-founded insights on how corporate cultural dimensions, identity and leadership are experienced by individuals during the merger. By examining culture, leadership and identity in three different time phases of the integrationprocess, a comprehensive understanding of the integration process was achieved. The results of the study highlight that cultural factors such as leadership, culture, and identity play a central and crucial role in mergers and acquisitions. By considering and managing employees' and leaders' identities, organizations can create a sense of coherence and continuity despite changes.

Integration of the labor is becoming increasingly topical, with increasing immigration. Labour market integration has been proved to be problematic, partly due to linguistic and cultural differences between the migrant's home country and Sweden. Difficulties with labour market integration have resulted in high numbers of unemployment and dependence on social welfare. Projects VIAM is an employment project conducted by Folkhälsobyrån AB in Västerås, aimed at finding jobs for welfare dependency immigrants. The purpose of this study is to investigate how the informants on Folkhälsobyrån and administrators on the Social service in Västerås has experienced the work of the project VIAM, development issues and the informant´s and administrator´s perception of factors that are influencing immigrant´s employment situation in Västerås.

The purpose of this study is to examine the changes in law and other types of politicialregulation regarding unauthorized absence during the reformation of the Swedish schoolsystem in 2010. How was this ?new? approach on unauthorized absence established; whatmade it possible and which view on ?unauthorized absence? does it implicate? The study hasa discourse analytic approach in which it examines central policy documents regarding thetopic of inquiry. The study has found that the alliance-government?s education policy onunauthorized absence is pervaded by one hegemonic discourse termed the mono-culturaldisciplinary discourse.

Denna studie grundar sig på genomförda intervjuer med fyra utlandsfödda och två svenskfödda kvinnor som är bosatta på landsbygden i Falu kommun i Sverige. Syftet är att få en bild av föreningslivets roll för integration av utlandsfödda på den svenska landsbygden. Eftersom landsbygden behöver utlandsfödda och dessa i sin tur kan enligt dagens forskning gynnas av att bo på mindre orter, blir detta ett intressant och aktuellt ämnesområde att forska i. Många rapporter påvisar att deltagande i föreningslivet på landsbygden ökar integrationsmöjligheterna och att dess nätverk motverkar utanförskap. Genom att ha samtalat med utlandsfödda intervjupersoner om deras erfarenheter och upplevelser som inflyttade till de mindre samhällen, och med svenskfödda intervjupersoner om deras respektive hembygder samt om deras perspektiv på integration, har jag fått en annan bild av föreningslivets roll på landsbygden.

ABSTRACTThis thesis focuses on the OPEC oil crisis of 1973 and its impact on the Scandinavian countries of Sweden and Denmark. Starting from Walter Carlsnaes theory of energy vulnerability, the concepts of vulnerability and national security are tested on the selected cases and an array of policy alternatives are assessed. Posited available options like oil stockpiling, conservation, renewable energy and international coordination are evaluated as means for ameliorating the vulnerability of the nations. The theory chosen is further expounded with a consensus element to reinforce its explanatory power. The thesis utilizes a wide range of material from parliamentary records to daily newspapers in an attempt to shed some light on the interplay between economics and politics.Sweden and Denmark evince diverging developments despite their common starting point with exceptionally high oil dependencies and can be located on different ends of the energy policy gamut.

I gruppen möten mellan olika kulturer kommer vi bland annat lyfta fram möten som en invandrare ställs inför när han/hon integreras i det svenska samhället. Dessa möten innebär eventuella möjligheter eller begränsningar till integration. Vi kommer dessutom att diskutera hur en nyanländ människa påverkas av den nya kulturen samt hur individen bevarar sitt kulturella arv. Vi har studerat dessa möten i fyra fallstudier med inriktning på; en mångkulturell svensk gymnasieskola, kulturarv, sexuell läggning och slutligen bostadsförhållanden. I den mångkulturella skolan ligger tyngdpunkten på att studerahur olika etniska grupper samspelar och behandlar varandra.

The purpose of this study was to analyze the level of the uniform way of interpretation from the Swedish asylum officers at the Swedish Migration Board, of asylum investigations for asylum seekers who claim sexual orientation as reason of refuge. The interviews with the officers were analyzed in relation to the policy document with investigation- guidelines and methodology.The results of the study showed that there was a uniform way to conduct asylum investigations and interpret the policy document, this despite that the document was found to be ambiguous in certain aspects. The uniform interpretation of the asylum officers was explained by the knowledge and understanding that exists within institutional organizations. This because the asylum officers at the Swedish Migration Board might have similar experience, knowledge and also the demands related to asylum investigations.The uniform interpretation demonstrated a strong similar common understanding of investigative work within the agency. This suggests a certainty that the investigations are carried out in a similar way regardless of which asylum officer within the institution conducting the investigation which indicates a well-functioning ?rule of law? for the asylum seekers. .

On three occasions, in 1973, 1993 and 2005, Swedish parliament and government has resolved to integrate the, previously independent, foreign offices beloning to the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) with the Swedish embassies. The implemenation of the integrationreform has however been a lengthy process. This thesis adresses two main issues: how has the integrationreform been able to remain a viable recipe for organizational change over time and why has the integrationprocess taken so long? Lastly I assess the possibility for effective implementation following the decision 2005.Based on New Institutionalism I conducted an historical analysis of the integrationprocess to explore the conditions for reform. My results indicate that the integrationreform primarly suited the interests of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, making the Foreign Serivce more effective and clarifying the Ministry's responsibilty for Swedish development cooperation policy.

Climate change and the sea level rise that it contributes to is an ever more pressing issue for costal municipalities around the world. Today there is a great deal of scientific reports and projections on what these changes could entail. However, resent studies on south Swedish costal municipalities have shown great discrepancies when it comes to how these scientific projections are implemented in the municipal planning and adaptation strategies. In an effort to understand the underlying reasons for this lack of concurrence, this paper has applied Rolf Lidskogs theory of the hetrogenity of science. The theory gives an explanation to the complications in the science-policy interface, by describing complicating factors in the communication between these actors.

Unaccompanied children that arrives in Sweden are usually placed in homes for care and residence, called HVB. It is the municipality's responsibility to provide adequate care and protection for the children. The aim of the study is to examine how a workgroup on a HVB home for unaccompanied children is working to meet the needs of the children, and how the workgroup improves the children?s integration process. The study also aims to examine the emotional labour of the workgroup, which illustrates how they can manage their own emotional behavior when working with the unaccompanied children.The study is based on a qualitative approach with detailed descriptions of five semi-structured interviews with the workgroup and assistant managers.