The purpose of this paper is to examine and analyze past development of mutual funds in large and small mutual fund companies and see if there are any differences between these two segments. Limitations on the number of funds have been made by choosing Nordic mutual fund companies that invest in emerging markets over an 11-year period. The study is made on 66 mutual funds managed by 13 mutual fund companies in which the segment of small fund companies includes seven fund companies with assets under management less than 100 billion SEK and the segment of large mutual fund companies includes six fund companies with assets under management more than 400 billion SEK. In the comparison of the segments the Sharpe ratio has been used to calculate the risk-adjusted return. The study shows small differences of the risk-adjusted return between the segments.

This master thesis is a study of the Swedish hydropower capacity to balance wind power. The Swedish government has decided that it should be possible to produce 30 TWh from wind power in the year 2020. The Swedish municipalities have to have plans for wind power plants with total yearly generation of 30 TWh. Wind power is an variable energy source that needs to be balanced by other energy sources. In Sweden the Swedish hydropower can be used for balancing a large scale introduction of wind power.

Chemicals are everywhere in todays society, in humans, animals as well as nature, and they are difficult to avoid. The chemical industry is regarded to be the fastest growing industrial sector, accounting for ten percent of the global economy. A large amount of chemicals are used to produce hygiene products and cosmetics, products that in Sweden only are consumed in quantities of 110 tons per day. Researchers find it increasingly difficult to determine which chemicals that are dangerous and which that are safe, and how they might affect us in the long run. Correlations have been found between chemicals, diseases and other health effects such as cancer, allergies, reproductive and endocrine disorders.

Tail-biting in pigs is an animal welfare issue and in Sweden during 2002 the producers lost tree million Swedish crowns because of tail biting. This economic loss depends on the pigs which are discarded at slaughter because of tail biting. Tail biting can be separated into two stages, "pre-injury" and "injury". The aim of this study is to investigate if tail biting depends on environment or genetic background.A lot of research on the environments effects on the behaviour of pigs but not so much on the genetic effects has been performed. The frequency of tail biting in pig farms influence among others of environment enrichment, ventilation, gender and breed of the pig.

This master thesis aims to investigate and quantify the potential associated with increasing the usage of edible by-products as food for human consumption on the Swedish market. The main emphasis is on the Swedish production of offal and the obstacles that currently inhibit greater usage of these products as foods.The results indicate that the Swedish market for offal is limited. Only a small amount of the edible by-products that are produced in Sweden every year are consumed as foods and a considerable amount seem to be downgraded into animal feed or thrown away. The utilization of these products is restricted by economical, technical, legal, and cultural factors that all need to be taken into consideration. On the whole, large-scale slaughter plants seem to be more inclined to utilize these products effectively, as the profit from doing so increases proportionately to the produced volumes.

Sweden is a country that has made some progress in developing energy efficient solutions. The problem in Sweden is that many houses and apartment buildings are old and have inefficient ventilation- and heating systems. This energy is lost when systems are inefficient, which then results in huge economic costs. Luckily, more and more people are becoming aware of this, which means that Sweden is on track to become even better within energy efficiency.Energy use for the housing- and service sector amounts to 166 TWh of total use at 616 TWh. Without distribution and conversion losses, these figures show that the housing- and service sector accounts for almost 40 % of the country's total energy consumption.

Tidigare studier indikerar att det finns en problematik med redovisningsstandarden IAS 36, angående goodwillnedskrivningar, då standarden skapar utrymme för resultatmanipulering i form av stålbad. Enligt tidigare studier har företagsledningar incitament för stålbad när företag uppvisar svaga preliminära finansiella resultat. Denna studie undersökte i vilken utsträckning resultatmanipulering i form av stålbad genom goodwillnedskrivningar förekom för företagen på OMX Nordic large cap under perioden 2006 till och med 2009. Det gjordes genom att det i studien undersöktes huruvida det fanns ett samband mellan goodwillnedskrivningar och svaga finansiella resultat.En kvantitativ metod användes och sambandet mellan goodwillnedskrivningar och svaga finansiella resultat testades med hjälp av statistiska metoder. Undersökningen utgick från Jordan och Clarks (2004) trestegsmodell som i första steget testade huruvida goodwillnedskrivningarna var väsentliga, då det är ett tecken på stålbad.

Purpose: The purpose of this work is to investigate teachers' professional attitude to homework as a method. The study will also provide answers to the purpose for which the homeworks are used in teaching and if the individual circumstances and needs are met by this method.Method: Qualitative research was conducted through interviews with four teachers from three different schools. In addition, published surveys were used in support of reasoning.Results: Neither the curriculum or the syllabus mentions homework. There are no directives for how much time should be dispensed with and the extent of a homework should be. In teacher training literature the homework is not discussed.

Today's Swedish large-scale forestry uses almost exclusively computer-aided bucking. It allows the harvester computer, using an optimisation price list (steering price list), to maximize the value of each tree. The optimisation price list can be adjusted so that the industry gets the raw material it demands from the forest. There are various simulation programs that can be used when constructing a optimisation price list. The simulation program merchandise a database of stem shapes using a given price list and mimics a harvester's work. To get the demanded raw material for the industry it is important to use a well-adjusted optimisation price list.

Energy efficiency is today more important than ever, mainly due to the high energy prices and the approaching climate changes. Heating of buildings is an essential area within energy efficiency. Many buildings are old and were built at a time when the energy prices were low and the term ?energy efficiency? was unheard of. By applying today?s broad range of energy saving actions on these old, and thereby often, heating ineffective buildings, this area has a large potential in reducing energy consumption and costs.Churches and chapels are generally old buildings with, in many cases, ineffective heating systems and therefore consume much more energy than needed.

The Private Equity industry has over the past years been booming and major external environmental changes have made the industry transform rapidly. Increased competition between Private Equity firms is one of the reasons why the industry has been and is being forced to focus more on addition of value through increased operational management. Consequently, the focus of value addition is by some said to be transferred away from deal making and financial skills, and into active operative management. This case study investigates how the portfolio management, and more specifically the measuring and management of performance, is carried out in a number of leading Swedish Private Equity funds with investments in the biotech sector. The biotech sector is characterized by extensive research and development, and many biotech companies often lack income and other measurable financial parameters in the initial phase.

Management consulting firms are an important part of the knowledge economy and they capitalize on the analytical ability and knowledge of their employees. Much research have been made on large consulting firms and their management of knowledge, but little is known about how small consultancies manage their knowledge. Even less is known about the management of knowledge in small consultancies specialized in change management. These firms rely solely on senior consultants and focus on the human aspect of organizational development. This thesis aims to show how these firms manage their knowledge and also provide an understanding of why.

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to examine the companies on Nasdaq OMXS Large and Mid Cap to see if there are interesting patterns regarding their WACC assumptions, used when performing impairment tests on goodwill, during 2007-2009. If so, can we explain these patterns? MethodWe have gathered information about the WACC assumptions presented in the annual reports of the 133 companies that were listed on OMXS Large and Mid Cap during the spring of 2011. To complement this quantitative information we have also conducted an interview with Peter Malmqvist and contacted eight of the companies that were in the study.ConclusionWe can conclude that not all companies present their WACC assumptions in the annual report, even though IAS 36 states that this should be done. Of the 45 companies that were included in our study, eight had lowered their WACC during 2008 and increased it in 2009.

Purpose: The purpose of this work is to investigate teachers' professional attitude to homework as a method. The study will also provide answers to the purpose for which the homeworks are used in teaching and if the individual circumstances and needs are met by this method.Method: Qualitative research was conducted through interviews with four teachers from three different schools. In addition, published surveys were used in support of reasoning.Results: Neither the curriculum or the syllabus mentions homework. There are no directives for how much time should be dispensed with and the extent of a homework should be. In teacher training literature the homework is not discussed.

Tail-biting in pigs is an animal welfare issue and in Sweden during 2002 the producers lost tree million Swedish crowns because of tail biting. This economic loss depends on the pigs which are discarded at slaughter because of tail biting. Tail biting can be separated into two stages, "pre-injury" and "injury". The aim of this study is to investigate if tail biting depends on environment or genetic background.A lot of research on the environments effects on the behaviour of pigs but not so much on the genetic effects has been performed. The frequency of tail biting in pig farms influence among others of environment enrichment, ventilation, gender and breed of the pig.