Background: To maintain or increase the trust in the market, companies can disclose more voluntary information in the annual reports. According to prior research the annual report is the primary source of information for small shareholders and investors. Thus, it is of interest to investigate why companies chose to report the voluntary information inquired by this group. Purpose: We investigate some company-specific factors to decide whether these determine the extent of voluntary information, particularly inquired by small shareholders and investors, in the annual reports of listed Swedish companies. We also aim to discuss underlying causes for our result.

The aim of this thesis is to describe the development of profitability and capital structure in Swedish quoted companies during the period of 1990 to 2004. Further, the aim is to determine the relationship between profitability and leverage in order to conclude whether the choice of capital structure supports the pecking order theory or the trade-off theory of capital structure. The findings show that return on assets fluctuates between 3 and 11 percent and that return on equity fluctuates between 3 and 22 percent during the period. Further, the leverage and the cost of debt have decreased. This indicates lowered financial risk in Swedish quoted companies in the period between 1990 and 2004.

In today?s fast changing environment it is important for knowledge intense companies that want to stay competitive to actively work with their knowledge, knowledge sharing and Knowledge Management (KM). Barriers decrease the efficiency of how knowledge is created, stored and shared, and they are therefore important to reduce or preferably remove making the KM activities result in as much value for the organisation as possible. To achieve this, it is important that the KM activities become a natural part of the employees? daily work.

In order to optimize calf welfare and health it is important to know the behavior of cattle in free ranging conditions. When the cow is about to give birth to a calf she will leave the heard about 12 hours before. It is then rather obvious that isolating the cow about calving time in a single pen is imitating the cows? natural behavior. To save space and minimize building cost it?s common that the farmers build calving pens for four of five cows especially at larger farms.

Delia flies (Diptera: Anthomyiidae) are economically important pests in several horticultural crops. The control is commonly relying on chemical insecticides, though there are possibilities with biological control from the natural enemies in the field. An important natural enemy is the parasitic wasp, Trybliographa rapae Westwood (Hymenoptera: Figitidae) that lays eggs in the Delia fly larvae. The parasitoid larva and the host larva have a parallel development until the host dies within its puparium and an adult parasitoid emerges. The aim of this thesis was to understand the attraction to host- and food-associated plant volatiles of T. rapae, in order to enhance the effectiveness of the parasitic wasp as a biological control agent.

This study aims to measure the effect of accounting conservatism and to identify thebusiness activities causing firms to undervalue owners? equity. To estimateaccounting conservatism, we have followed the hypothesis that no firm over time cangenerate a return greater than its cost of equity, i.e. CAPM. Thus, if a firm in factgenerates an excess return over time, we assume that the excess return is an estimateof accounting conservatism within that firm.The hypothesis originates from the corporate valuation model ?Economic ValueAdded®? which tries to adjust for accounting bias.

SyfteSyftet med denna uppsats är att analysera vilka effekter införandet av internationellt gällande redovisningsregler har på den svenska redovisningen. Detta ska belysas genom studerandet av hur IAS 38 har påverkat redovisningen av varumärken.MetodStudiens kommer att bedrivas med en kvalitativ ansats där datainsamlingen kommer att ske genom intervjuer och skriftliga källor.SlutsatserStudien visar att implementeringen av IAS 38 ej görs på ett enhetligt sätt och att inte samma metoder för att värdera varumärken används av företagen vilket skapar problem med jämförbarheten mellan olika företag. Vidare visar studien att varumärken är en av de vanligaste tillgångarna som identifieras vid förvärv och att företagen oftast överväger en särskiljning av varumärket från goodwill vilket visar att implementeringen av IAS 38 är på god väg. Slutsatser som dras av studien är att det kommer att krävas tid och även en specialisering inom revisionsbranschen för att implementeringen av internationaliseringen ska få full effekt, vilket är att skapa enhetlighet, jämförbarhet och ett rättvisare värde på företaget på en internationell nivå..

The economic growth we have experienced the last century is based on limited natural resources. Whether these resources will last for a further economic growth is widely debated. Pessimism and optimism have each been influential philosophies in debate whose opinions can be conceded as two opposing opinions. In this paper we have analyze these opinions from an economics perspective. To study this further, the construction and meaning of the pessimistic and optimistic arguments have been applied implicitly on the Leontief production function and the Solow growth model.

Open access to scientific literature on Internet is a concept which is supposed to change librarians' work. The aim of the thesis was to examine librarians' perception of Open access. A questionnaire survey was conducted among librarians at libraries with specialisation in technique, natural sciences, medicine and pharmacy in Sweden. Even though Open access can be regarded as an alarming for librarians' work, the results of the survey showed that the future of the librarians' profession can be positive if they flexibly adopt their work routines according to changes in publication forms and library users' needs..

The purpose of this examination was to se how exercise affects the learning capacity. In this work I have chosen to integrate natural science with sport and the target group was a primary department. The two areas I integrate with sports were: the digestive system and knowledge of deciduous trees. I split the class in two different groups. One group got to have a theoretical lesson and the other one got to have an exercise lesson.

Med företagets kapitalstruktur avses den mix av eget kapital och skulder som används för att finansiera företagets tillgångar. En faktor som anses påverka valet av kapitalstruktur är den typ av tillgångar som företaget har. En hög andel immateriella tillgångar är förknippade med en lägre skuldsättningsgrad. Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka om det finns ett samband mellan andelen bokförda immateriella tillgångar och skuldsättningsgraden hos svenska börsnoterade företag i IT-branschen. Ett delsyfte är undersöka om det finns något samband mellan affärsrisken samt företagens storlek och skuldsättningsgraden.

In this paper discourse analysis on the Ethiopian National Action Program (NAP) to combat desertification is made. The aim is to describe how the overall image/picture of desertification, its causes, and effects and of possible solutions are presented in the NAP. The result of this analysis shows that the main cause of desertification is human activities mainly due to the poorly developed socio-economic situation in the dryland areas. It is indicated that an excessive dependency of the rural population on the natural resources, particularly land, is the major cause of land degradation and this deterioration of land is said to have been caused by the rapid population growth, overgrazing, forest clearing as well as past government and institutional failures. In addition it is indicated that the effect of desertification usually involves ecological changes that sap land of its ability to sustain agriculture and human habitation, therefore the most serious threat to human welfare.

When someone dies there will always be an inheritance, an inheritance that earlier has been seen as a national concern. However, every year there are about 450 000 deaths within the European Union linked to more than one country, either when the deceased has changed his state of residence or when he has assets in another state, for example a Swedish national with a summer house in Spain. The problem is to determine which na-tional law that is supposed to be applicable to the inheritance.There are two principles that can be applicable on the choice of law, the principle of na-tionality and the principle of residency. If the principle of nationality is used the inherit-ance will be regulated by the deceased`s citizenship while the principle of residency takes aim on the deceased´s last domicile instead. Conflicts can occur between the two principles so that the legacy must be divided between two different legislations.In October 2009 the Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on jurisdiction, applicable law, recognition and enforcement of decisions and authentic instruments in matters of succession and the creation of a European Certificate of Succession was presented, a regulation that will try to create harmonized rules on in-teralia the inheritance matters.

Transfers of joint stock companies can be executed in several ways - for example by transferring individual shares or by transferring all shares or by selling the company's assets and liabilities. It is not fully clear which rules should apply to transfers of joint stock companies. Some legal experts claim that the Sales Act (Köplagen) is applicable, while others claim that the rules for promissory notes (Skuldebrevslagen) should apply. This distinction is of great significance regarding the extent of the vendor's liability. According to Skuldebrevslagen the vendor's liability is rather limited, while Köplagen enjoins the vendor a more extensive liability.A transfer of a joint stock company brings about great economical risks, both for the vendor and for the purchaser.

The purpose of this study was to examine in depth and analyze how and on what basis selection of guests managed by doormen primarily in an exclusive bistro in Stockholm. Qualitative methods in the form of personal interviews with door staff and participant observations were made. Interviews with doormen who work at two other similar places have also been carried out in order to find the differences and similarities in the selection process. To connect the results in a scientific way, we have mainly used Pierre Bourdieu's theories of capital forms and the field, and Göran Ahrne and Apostolis Papakostas organization theories. Previous research related to the phenomenon of selection in one way or another, along with the overarching theories, are used to answer the questions and purpose of this study.