Efficient numerical methods for option pricing is an active field of research. This project has the goal to examine possible ways to improve an established method of numerical pricing. The method is based on an adaptive finite difference method in price and uses the backwards differentiation formula of order 2, BDF2, in time. The project will focus on improvements to the time integration through implementation of discontinuous Galerkin methods, dG. Empirical convergence and accuracy results are obtained for equidistant dG-methods up to order 3 and performance is compared to BDF2.

I denna studie har vi haft som avsikt att jämföra två modeller som förklarar avkastningen på aktiemarknaden. Modellerna är Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) och Fama-French trefaktormodell(FF3). Undersökningen har gjorts på Nasdaq OMX Nordic Stockholm över perioden 2002 till 2012. Vi har valt att göra denna undersökning för att se huruvida FF3 med två extra faktorer kan förklara avkastningen på aktiemarknaden bättre än CAPM. Sex portföljer konstruerades och vi har visat att FF3 statistiskt signifikant förklarar mer än CAPM för fem av sex portföljer.

As the globalization progresses, the matters of transfer pricing have become essential to multinational enterprises and tax administrations. For states it is important that the transfer pricing is correct to defend their tax base. Incorrect transfer pricing can also have dire effect on the enterprises. They run the risk of both double taxation and tax penalties. Some of the most difficult assets to put a transfer price on are intangibles.

Car usage is determined by several facts, e.g. living conditions determined by geographical matters. There is a political will to control car usage with different kinds of incentives since car usage generates environmental problems. This essay analyses the differences between car usage in urban areas as opposed to thinly populated areas in Sweden and their significance on governmental incentives. By using statistics differences in car ownership during ten years between thinly populated areas, areas in the countryside and urban areas is studied.

The internet has fundamentally changed the way people communicate. With all the information that we are sharing over the internet, and the ways which companies want to use our information, the importance of keeping our private information secure has increased. This thesis aims to discover what attitudes internet users have against privacy on the internet, and what ? if anything ? they are doing to protect their personal privacy.We distributed an online survey to internet users in the Stockholm area, and conducted three interviews with persons in our target population. The results of these studies show that people in general are very aware of privacy concerns on the internet, but that their attitudes toward how important personal privacy on the internet is, differ somewhat..

Title: Pricing of IPO:s on the Swedish stock market Authors: Mikael Gustavsson Martin Kvist Henrik Wannberg Tutor: Anders Hederstierna Problem: There are certain sets of problems for underwriters when they are pricing potential stock-exchange companies. The problem partly consists of estimating the demand at an IPO and also to accurately value the business in comparison to the market. To set the price per share is problematic, since the company carrying out the public offering wants to optimise the amount of capital at the same time as they want the share to be subscribed in full. If the IPO would not be carried out, it could cause harm to the position of the underwriters. Purpose: To investigate whether underpricing exists associated with IPO:s on the Swedish market during the period 1995-1999.

This study is based on an examination of students? habits of using the Internet in formal and informal environments. The focus within this study is on what kind of activities students use the Internet for and how and if their teacher connect the students actual usage of the Internet to base the education in school on it. What we have discovered in this report is that the student in this examination uses the Internet as a tool for communicative and entertaining purposes. Though, the use of the Internet is different depending on which physical environment it is situated in.

Title: Pricing of IPO:s on the Swedish stock market Authors: Mikael Gustavsson Martin Kvist Henrik Wannberg Tutor: Anders Hederstierna Problem: There are certain sets of problems for underwriters when they are pricing potential stock-exchange companies. The problem partly consists of estimating the demand at an IPO and also to accurately value the business in comparison to the market. To set the price per share is problematic, since the company carrying out the public offering wants to optimise the amount of capital at the same time as they want the share to be subscribed in full. If the IPO would not be carried out, it could cause harm to the position of the underwriters. Purpose: To investigate whether underpricing exists associated with IPO:s on the Swedish market during the period 1995-1999. Method: The collection of data has been achieved by means of: Internet, E-mail and telephone calls. Conclusions: We have reached the conclusion that oversubscribing in comparison to the return at an IPO has an average growth of 3.3 per cent the first day, on every occasion of oversubscribing. For the studied population, including 138 initial public offerings, the average market value rise is 15 per cent the first day. When we made our calculations, adjustments have been made for the general index of Affärsvärlden (AFGX).

Purpose: The purpose of the study is to in a comparative and causal way explore whether there is a relationship between risk and return and also how it is perceived on the Nordic financial markets.Theory: The theoretical frame of reference applied in the thesis is considered relevant inthe perspective of the study?s purpose and research questions. We have among other theories used The Capital Asset Pricing Model, The Efficient Market Hypothesis and various Behavioural finance theories.Method: The study has its starting point in a quantitative approach with a quantitative data analysis supported by secondary data extracted from Thomson Reuters.Empirics: The empirics contains regression analyses made from calculated secondary data of 240 randomly chosen companies from Nasdaq OMX Stockholm, NasdaqOMX Copenhagen, Nasdaq OMX Helsinki and Oslo Bors.Conclusion: The study conclusions show that there are both a negative and positive relationship between volatility and actual return on the investigated markets. Considering this prior statement we can conclude that the Capital Asset Pricing Model can?t correctly describe the actual relationship between the parameters investigated on the current sample.

The arm?s length principle has existed in Swedish law since 1928 but has previously been given little attention. In 2007, documentation requirements were introduced, and the government began to do tax audits regarding transfer pricing. This thesis examines how the documentation requirements and tax audits affect the application of the arm's length principle. The research consists of nine interviews with a total of ten people at the tax authority (Skatteverket) and audit- and consulting agencies. The results of the interviews are analyzed using the agency theory. Many companies are risk averse and prefer having correct transfer pricing instead of taking on challenging strategies that can be risky in case of an investigation by Skatteverket.

The usage of internet is growing significantly every year in today?s society and whether you like or not, the internet has an influence in your life. It is therefore important to find out how people are affected by its use. We have through our study interviewed a number of people that uses internet on a day to day basis, who have agreed to live without internet access for a period of time. We started out by interviewing these people about their internet usage and what it means to them, then proceeded with their non-internet access period.

This paper analyses the pricing on spare parts. Empirical studies have showed that manufacturers of durable goods make an unproportional large profit on its spare parts in relation to the revenue it generates. It is first showed that according to the standard economic model the price on spare part ought to be zero since the producer include an insurance in the price of the main good. Further it is showed that moral hazard alone do not explain the pricing found in the studies. Finally an analysis of whether consumers with present-biased preferences could be a possible explanation is made.

According to the arm?s length principle, transactions between associated multinational en-terprises (MNE) shall be based on the same conditions as transactions between unrelated parties. This means that intra-group prices on cross-boarding transactions must be at arm?s length range and consistent with conditions in the open market. The arm?s length principle is expressed in article 9.1 of the OECD Model Tax Convention and Chapter 14 section 19 of the Swedish Income Tax Act.When transfer pricing between associated MNEs is not reflecting the arm?s length princi-ple, states face the possibility of losing tax revenue.

This study is an examination of the stadium fever prevailing in Sweden. It is built stadiums in Sweden as never before. The high cost of these constructions end up in the end at the Swedish taxpayers. The study examines through the hedonic pricing of real estate how local residents value the new stadiums. The result indicates that local residents put a positive value in the costly and sumptuous buildings.

Background: Internet is a new phenomenon; small companies have only used Internet a couple of years. Internet created a lot of new possibilities for the companies. Internet is a new marketing and communication channel for the company. Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to examine how small companies can use Internet as a strategic tool. Another purpose of this thesis is to generate a better understanding of the application of Internet in small companies.