Syftet med denna uppsats är att underlätta för små och medelstora svenska företag som planerar en affärsetablering i Kina genom att ge ökad kunskap om vad en nätverksagent kan erbjuda samt vilka problem som är vanligt förekommande när företag vill etablera sig i Kina. Utöver detta syftar uppsatsen till att ge ett teoretiskt bidrag till nätverksagentens möjliga funktion vid foreign market entry Slutligen vill vi även bidra med eventuella rekommendationer till både företagen och nätverksagenterna om vad de kan behöva tänka på och förbättra för att lättare kunna uppnå sina mål..

Problem formulation: This paper will examine how the capital structure of firms affects their market valuation by applying the Modigliani-Miller theory on Swedish listed companies in a boom and a recession. The study will examine whether it is possible to draw any conclusions as to whether companies with high debt to equity ratios are valued lower in a recession, in comparison to companies with low debt to equity ratios.Purpose: To empirically test the Modigliani-Miller theory of capital structure in a boom and a recession in order to see if the companies? market value is affected differently depending on whether they have a high or a low debt to equity ratios.Methodology: The essay has a deductive and a quantitative methodological approach. Data analysis was done through a correlation analysis, a regression analysis and a hypothesis testing.Theory: The Modigliani-Miller theory of capital structure with taxes states that companies with a high debt to equity ratios has a higher value. One of the risks with a high level of debt could be that during a financial downturn companies have more difficulty realizing capital and are thus more likely to go bankrupt.Conclusions: The study shows results that are contrary to the Modigliani-Miller's theory; all the correlation analyses between debt to equity ratios and market value are negative.

In Sweden whenever trains or maintenance workers want access to the railway system, their requests of usage and movements are being supervised, granted and handled by train dispatchers. The profession holds a key role in making the complex railway system work in terms of efficiency, safety and delivering on-time arrivals. This master thesis, delegated by the Swedish Transport Administration, has been carried out at the Division of Human Computer Interaction at Uppsala University and at the train traffic control center in Gävle. The aim has been to map what information the train dispatchers use in order to make safety-related decisions concerning their working goals. And further to describe and analyze how the train dispatchers, visavi their tools and systems in the work domain, gather necessary information.The result indicates a complex, diverse and spread out setting of different programs, procedures and tools that make satisfactory fulfilment of efficiency, safety and punctuality in relation to the time table hard.

This paper presents a study of Scandinavian Airlines? (SAS) frequent flyer program, EuroBonus. The study describes the transfer pricing of award seats between EuroBonus and the airlines within SAS. Furthermore, it aims to determine what effects market-based transfer pricing would have on EuroBonus, the airlines within SAS and consequently on the SAS Group. We have found that the existing transfer pricing does not provide incentives for the airlines within SAS to satisfy EuroBonus? demand for award seats.

The purpose of this thesis was to illuminate and create a deeper understanding of how small niche retail businesses within the apparel industry position themselves. We aimed to investi-gate how these small niche retail businesses create their position and how they communicate these positions to their target market. To be able to investigate the positioning-process within these small niche retail businesses a case study was conducted based on interviews with two respondents from two different companies and observations of these businesses physical envi-ronments. The study indicated that the small niche retail businesses mainly make use of emo-tional aspects and their assortment range to create their position. To communicate their posi-tion to their target market they mainly use their in-store personal selling and their assortment range..

Background: In the past 10 years private label has increased significantly in the Swedish grocery market. This is an important strategic event, which is a great challenge to suppliers as it causes stiff competition. To handle this situation an increasing number of suppliers have to make the decision whether to produce private label or not.Purpose: The purpose of this study is to find and analyse factors that influence suppliers in the Swedish grocery market to produce private label. On this basis we intend to confirm or develop existing theories within the field of study.Research method: The study has a qualitative approach where empirical data has been gathered through interviews with suppliers and retailers in the Swedish grocery market.Results: This study has identified factors that underlie suppliers? decision to produce private label.

Since 1996 the Swedish households have ten folded their volume of loans for own homes that is attached to a floating interest rate. Also in 1996 the Swedish electric market was deregulated. These two facts have increased the volatility in the household expenses for these two commodities. This thesis studies the risk for homeowners attached to the exposure against the electric and the credit market. The risk model used is Cost-at-Risk which is usually used by public authorities for analysing the risk involved with national debt.

According to the Employment Protection Act, the permanent employment is the main condition of employment in Sweden. Nevertheless, nowadays a large number of employers choose to apply other conditions of employment than the permanent employment in their businesses. The rapid technical development and the demands for shorter perspective investment in companies on the Swedish labour market have started the requirement for a more flexible workforce. On-call employment is one of the conditions of employment that is increasing the most. This condition of employment is adjusted by the parties on the labour market.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to research and analyze how the establishment in new markets of small and medium Swedish fashion companies can be made more efficient from a network perspective. Methodology: The researchers have decided to take a phenomenological standpoint and undertake an exploratory study in order to gain understanding of the phenomenon of market entry and the use of networks. The researchers have chosen to undertake a qualitative study and to adopt an abductive approach. Two ?case companies? have been chosen which are Filippa K and House of Dagmar.

The negative trend of newspapers reading gives the owner of several paper manufacturingcompanies in the West worries. Producers should be more concern to strengthen their marketpositions in order to maintain profitability in the paper mills. Holmen Paper is a medium sizedpaper mill company with all of their production in Europe. Sales are mainly made to printingcompanies operating in European countries. In order to strengthen their economic strengthHolmen Paper needs to increase the market share in markets where they have the greatestprofit margins.

The aim of this Masters thesis is to examine the view of market-led culture, focusing on literature, within Swedish governmental cultural policy. The main issue is to discover changes in attitude towards cooperation between culture and business by comparing the attitudes and ideas expressed in the governmental policy documents from the 1970s with the governmental policy documents from the 1990s. To illuminate, and with an effort to explain, these attitudes and ideas expressed in the documents their political and social context has been studied as well. The theoretical starting point is two political ideologies, and Danish cultural policy researcher Dorte Skot-Hansens theories of cultural policy in the Nordic countries. The methodological starting point is two variants of analyses that are textual ones.

Recent years there has been discussed how the critical situation in the housing market threatens the Stockholm region's growth. The thesis objective is to examine whether there is a scientific link between the lack of housing supply and growth. The thesis also intends to identify solutions for increased housing construction, for instance by examining the conditions for a greater regional perspective and influence on the region's housing supply. The thesis empirical study is based on semi-structured interviews with representatives from the Government, municipalities and the housing industry.In Sweden, research on the relationship between housing shortages and growth has not been conducted to that extent it can be said to exist scientific evidence regarding the growth threat. However, in Britain and the U.S, empirical studies show that a lack of housing supply has hindered growth through negative impact on countries' gross domestic product.

ABSTRACTTITLE The investors guide to hedge fund strategies ? A comparing study of hedge fund strategies on the Swedish market.COURSE Bachelor Thesis in Finance KEYWORDS Hedge funds, Hedge fund strategies, Swedish hedge fund market, Investors, Average return, Riskadjusted returnThe ThesisInvestor?s general knowledge about hedge funds and hedge fund strategies, is compared to other investment alternatives low. The purpose of this thesis is therefore to clarify to investors how examined hedge fund strategies separate concerning risk and return in hedge funds. This, in order to facilitate for investors understanding which hedge fund strategy will be more suitable for them. To achieve this, the thesis is mainly focusing on quantitative data, which is complemented with qualitative findings in terms of a questionnaire.

Intelligent IT-based solutions, often called Smart Grids, are considered to be the future balancers of renewable energy sources. One area within the Smart Grid concept is called demand response, which is focused on making customers more consumption flexible by making them more active in their consumption. In this thesis the aim is to analyze a business model by investigating the income potential for a demand response solution as well as its market potential. This has been done through literature studies, interviews and development of a computational model.The use of 5000 households with flexible consumption can provide a cost reduction of 17.2% or 2.4 million SEK for a balance responsible party during an average year. If the solution is used to make strategic bids on the regulation markets the study indicates that the largest potential for revenues lies within this strategy.

In order to make take-off and landing procedures possible at an airport, an organized allo- cation of slots is necessary. How these slots shall be distributed among airlines is, at pre- sent, governed by the European Parliament and Council Regulation (EEC) No 95/93 of 18 Janu- ary 1993 on common rules for the allocation of slots at Community airports. It is important for the air- lines to be allocated a beneficial slot. Hence it is of great interest for the airlines to ex- change and transfer the allocated times among themselves, a form of secondary market. Whether such practices are allowed or not is not regulated by specific detail in the regula- tion, which leads to legal uncertainty.