The aim of this thesis is to examine the existence and prevalence of earnings management in Swedish companies. Theoretical frameworks often suggest that there are strong incentives to practice earnings management. The research area of earnings management has, to date, mainly focused on detecting earnings management. However, to our knowledge, no such studies have been conducted on Swedish companies. This thesis provides evidence of the existence and prevalence of earnings management in Swedish companies.

Abstract Considering the social dimension of sustainable development this thesis focuses on the qualities of life and how the environmental qualities that the inhabitants value can be incorporated in the physical planning of the municipality. The thesis deals with the problems that occur when the physical planning, whit its focus on the environmental aspects, also needs to consider peoples opinions, that springs from the individual experience of the place. The municipality of Mark, where this thesis takes its place, is characterised by the countryside landscape. Mark is situated in the western part of Sweden close to Göteborg, Borås and Varberg. The commuting is extensive and the demand for dwellings in the municipality is increasing. Those who strive to live in the municipality have a conception of what life on the countryside means and of which environmental qualities they want to assimilate.

Extensive planting of the tree species lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta var. latifolia) during the 1970s and 80s has resulted in large areas now being available for commercial thinning. However, the varying quality of the stands creates a problem. The purpose of this study was to investigate, at the Torsby district of the Stora Enso forest company, how well the present computer records of the stands correspond to reality and determine which stands are, from a qualitative perspective, suited for timber production. Finding variables that indicate better stands would give Stora Enso the possibility of selecting qualitative stands which are more profitable to thin. The study included 32 stands containing at least 70 % Pinus contorta.

This study describes how verbal abuse is used in schools and how it affects students. As a  result of the study is a questionnaire which was distributed to 153 students at two schools in a small town in southern Sweden. Students who participated in the study were in grades 3-6 and were between 9 and 13 years old. I asked students 13 questions, which dealt with verbal abuse, some of them were check questions and some were issues that required a longer response.The results of the survey show that 108 students of 153 have ever felt verbally abused at school, slightly more girls than boys. Usually they say they have been verbally abused by their own sex and then with words like boys are more frequently offended by words of a sexual nature, whereas girls more often are offended by words that violate their appearance.The students who feel aggrieved are shown to be those students who violate others.

A great number of tourists visits each day the Fox Glacier in New Zealand and are subjected todangers such as jökulhlaups. This phenomena can occur suddenly and in a destructive way when abuilt up of water suddenly bursts and releases large amounts of water. This is well known to happen atthe near by Franz Josef Glacier which has similar settings to Fox Glacier, but sparse previous researchon the subject indicates different results of whether jökulhlaups are present or not by Fox Glacier. Thisthesis therefore aims to study the conditions for jökulhlaups at the glacier. This is done by remotesensing and field observations of the sandur in the Fox Glacier Valley, qualitative interviews andliterature studies with a comparison with Franz Josef Glacier.

During natural conditions cattle live in large herds, which are divided into subgroups of 10-15 animals. Humans have held cattle for over 9000 years. Today we mostly have cows for milk and meat production during more or less intensive forms. Most of the Swedish cattle have the opportunity to graze during the summer time. This partly arises from the Swedish Animal Protection law which stipulates that cattle must have the option to be outside and graze, also partly because it makes it easier for the farmer.

Bakgrund: Idag har det blivit allt viktigare att företag växer, då det skapar förutsättningar att utveckla samhället genom att exempelvis skapa fler nya jobb. I de små företagen finns stor tillväxtpotential och tillväxtvilja, men det är svårt att undkomma olika tillväxthinder och växa lönsamt. Många små företag består av byggföretag och det är vanligt att små byggföretag lyckas växa snabbt, men många av dem går ändå i konkurs. Frågan är hur en anpassad styrning av företagens organisation kan bidra till att underlätta tillväxten och hjälpa företagen att lösa de organisatoriska styrningsproblem som kan uppstå.Syfte: Vårt syfte med studien är att undersöka vilka styrningsproblem som vanligtvis uppstår vid tillväxt av små byggföretag och hur dessa problem påverkar den fortsatta tillväxten, samt ta reda på hur styrningsproblemen kan lösas med en, för branschen, anpassad styrning.Definitioner: Tillväxt betyder vanligtvis att något växer eller ökar i mängd. Tillväxt kan även innebära att något ökar i storlek eller att kvalitén förbättras till följd av en processutveckling.

The aim of this study was to get an insight into the pet owners? experiences associated with euthanasia at small animal clinics, concerning their emotions, the treatment by the personnel and the experiences around various types of support provided by the personnel. The target group was pet owners who had had their animal euthanized at a small animal clinic. Incomplete survey responses and responses where it was clear that the euthanasia took place in the owner?s home were excluded. In the end, a total of 442 pet owners participated and out of those were 92 % women and 8 % were men. The study was carried out using a web-based questionnaire consisting of standardized questions with the opportunity to give further comments to each question and in the field of ?Other comments? as well. Swedish small animal related companies and forums were contacted via email and were asked to alert about the present study on their website or forum.

How capital structure influences corporate performance and value has been in the interest of researchers and scholars for more than half a century, but an answer is yet to be found. The main objective of the present paper is to contribute with data for this cause and hopefully help to clarify this mystery. The method that was used was by analyzing the impact of debt on profitability and market valuation through linear regression. The study examined 17 Swedish property companies listed on Nasdaq OMX Large Mid and Small Cap over a 6 year period (2007-2012). The authors found a slightly negative relationship between debt-to-equity and profitability measured by return on equity (ROE) as well as by return on assets (ROA).

Titel: Bankrevisorers yrkesutövning i det förebyggande arbetet mot penningtvättSyfte: Studien syfte är att öka förståelsen samt förklara hur externa och interna bankrevisorer arbetar förebyggande mot penningtvätt inom banksektorn. Syftet besvaras genom att undersöka hur penningtvättslagen tillämpas i bankrevisorers yrkesutövning, hur det arbetet förhåller sig till god revisionssed samt om berörda parter upplever ett förväntningsgap gällande bankrevisorers ansvar att upptäcka finansbrott, såsom penningtvätt.Metod: Studien har tillämpat en kvalitativ forskningsmetod för att studera hur externa och interna bankrevisorers yrkesutövande förhåller sig till det förebyggande arbetet mot penningtvätt. Detta har genomförts med hjälp av tio stycken semi-strukturerade intervjuer med externa och interna bankrevisorer samt berörda parter för att kunna bidra med ytterligare perspektiv.Resultat och slutsats: Ett resultat som studien kan påvisa är att varken interna eller externa bankrevisorer rapporterar misstänkt penningtvätt direkt till Finanspolisen. Interna bankrevisorer rapporterar misstänkt penningtvätt till Compliance-funktionen samt att externa bankrevisorer rapporterar misstänkt penningtvätt till företagets VD eller styrelse i första hand. Studien finner stöd i att god revisionssed är en betydande faktor i det förebyggande arbetet mot penningtvätt för externa och interna bankrevisorer.

This master thesis encompasses an inventory of the older industrial community of Gimo. Investigations of the contamination situation for each industrial area were done. A risk classification according to the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency?s ?Method of Surveying Contaminated Sites?, phase one, followed. The risk classification was done on areas of Iron Work, a rockwool industry and a landfill. Gimo have had iron manufacturing from 1615 until 1945. Gimo have had two blast-furnaces and two smithies periodically.

Master Thesis in Business Administration, School of Business Administration, Linaeus University, Finance 4FE03E, Spring 2011Authors: Benni Hansson, Axel SandquistTutor: Christopher von KochExaminer: Sven-Olof CollinTitle: Compensation as a means of monitoring or recruiting ? a study on ownership structure in Swedish listed companies.Keywords: CEO compensation, compensation structure, ownership structure, ownership types, ownership concentration, agency theory, resource dependence theory, managerial theoryBackground: There has been extensive research on CEO compensation, however not a lot on Swedish listed firms. Many studies have an agency theoretical perception on CEO compensation. In accordance with this, compensation is used as a means to solve monitoring and incentives problems.Purpose: The aim of this study is to examine the role of CEO compensation, by studying ownership structure.Method: To examine the role of CEO compensation we use a multi-theory approach, based on agency theory, resource dependence theory and managerial theory. The companies examined are Swedish listed firms the in years 2005 to 2009.

Sammanfattning Titel: Aktievärdering ? En empirisk undersökning med momentumstrategi under åren 2002-2011 på Stockholmsbörsen Large Cap. Författare: Fredrik Appelqvist och Åsa Nilsson Handledare: Anders Wrenne Institution: Blekinge Tekniska Högskola Kurs: Kandidatarbete i Företagsekonomi, 15 högskolepoäng Syfte: Utifrån ett investerarperspektiv är syftet med uppsatsen att undersöka om det varit möjligt att uppnå överavkastning på Stockholmsbörsen, Large Cap under åren 2002-2011. För att uppnå syftet använder vi oss av en momentumstrategi på medel-lång sikt, som menar att aktiemarknaden tenderar att behålla samma avkastningsmönster för perioder av nästkommande 3-12 månader. Syftet är också att undersöka om marknaden är effektiv i svag form. Metod: Studien utgår från en deduktiv forskningsansats där vi utifrån befintliga teorier inom ämnet tagit fram en frågeställning. Utifrån frågeställningen har hypoteser testats och analyserats med empiri.

This paper is about the extent to which simplified penetration calculations ofsmall-caliber projectiles is a useful tool for assessing the physical protectioncapability. The work should be seen as an attempt to create an accessible tool inthe form of a simplified equation that allows for a better and safer use of thenaval vessels. The tool will also be used at different levels so that decisions andinstructions could be clearer.Performed calculations show a very limited capacity of a ship's basic design interms of physical protection against the use of small-caliber projectiles.How do we know that the calculations correct? By verifying the calculations withpractical shooting tests, a substantial condition to answer the question will becreated. To shoot against a material with two different thicknesses estimated toproduce perforation and non-perforation is a good approximation of the equationusability in the context..

 Bakgrund: Sedan 1988 har alla svenska aktiebolag oavsett storlek varit tvungna att ha en kvalificerad revisor som granskar företagets räkenskaper. Idag är Sverige ett av två länder i EU som fortfarande har kvar revisionsplikten för små företag. Inom EU finns bestämmelser som medger medlemsländerna att undanta små företag från revisionsplikt. Utifrån undantagsbestämmelserna har en utredning gjorts i Sverige och ett lagförslag har lagts fram som innebär att 96,5 procent av alla företag i Sverige kan välja om de vill bli reviderade eller inte. Revisionspliktens vara eller inte vara har diskuterats flitigt i Sverige och studier har gjorts avseende vilken relation företagen har med revisorn, vilken nyttan är med revisionen och vilka faktorer som spelar in vid frivillig revision.