I denna studie testas tio hypoteser som relaterar till finansiell teori för att se hur väl teorin kan förklara skuldsättningsgraden i små börsnoterade bolag. De teorier som testas är avvägningsteorin (trade-off theory), hackordningsteorin (pecking order theory) samt teorier relaterade till asymmetrisk information och agentkostnader. Testen genomförs med multipel linjär regressionsanalys och de undersökta bolagen är samtliga bolag med färre än 200 anställda på tre av de mindre börslistorna i Sverige. Resultatet visar stöd för åtta av de tio undersökta hypoteserna och är i flera avseenden tydligare än i tidigare studier som testar onoterade små bolag eller ett bredare urval av bolag..

The aim of this thesis was to investigate how the use of the IT-personnelsystem influences human resources and the new challenges and future requirements that may occur, while IT-personnelsystem is used more extensively in the HR-function.Previous research referred to in this study, has focused on how the HR-transformation has contributed to the development of an IT-personnelsystem, which has been used with increasing frequency. This use has created a significant change in the HR-function. This thesis focuses on investigating, describing and analyzing how the practice and development of the IT-personnelsystem meets the needs of the HR-transformation.This study uses qualitative research methods to investigate sixteen users? experiences and our understanding and conclusion is based on both semi-structured interviews and webb surveys. Initially deductive, later on our study took a more abductive approach.The result indicated a variety of uses for a specific IT-personnelsystem dependent on the users? function and positions and also how HR-activity was organized within the business.

The aim of this thesis was to investigate how the use of the IT-personnelsystem influences human resources and the new challenges and future requirements that may occur, while IT-personnelsystem is used more extensively in the HR-function.Previous research referred to in this study, has focused on how the HR-transformation has contributed to the development of an IT-personnelsystem, which has been used with increasing frequency. This use has created a significant change in the HR-function. This thesis focuses on investigating, describing and analyzing how the practice and development of the IT-personnelsystem meets the needs of the HR-transformation.This study uses qualitative research methods to investigate sixteen users? experiences and our understanding and conclusion is based on both semi-structured interviews and webb surveys. Initially deductive, later on our study took a more abductive approach.The result indicated a variety of uses for a specific IT-personnelsystem dependent on the users? function and positions and also how HR-activity was organized within the business.

In the era of urbanization and globalization, many small, rural and post-industrialcities struggle for growth. The competition for citizens and visitors is intense, andone commonly used strategy is to promote the city to a target audience. Placemarketing, however, is homogenized to a great extent. Marketing thus seems likea useless approach, yet almost every city does it.By using discourse analysis and institutional theory, this essay aims to explainwhy the city of Kramfors markets itself. There are several problems arising due tothe marketing of places, especially concerning the discrepancy between the city?simage and identity.

Many studies have shown that unethical acting can affect the share price of the company negatively. However, this is not always the case. The aim of this thesis is therefore to examine what it is that can cause the share price to be affected negatively by unethical acting exposed in media. This qualitative study is primarily based on interviews with institutional investors, but also with economic journalists and investor relations managers. Our conclusion is that there are three main reasons why the share price can be affected by unethical acting, namely economic consequences, the management's behaviour and psychological factors.

New laws and recommendations within corporate governance during the last years have affected the way board of directors work. The board is said to have and fulfill three roles: a control role, a service role and a strategy role. These roles could be understood by three theoretical theories: the agency theory, the resource dependence theory and the stewardship theory. The purpose of this study is to investigate whether, and if so how, the board work differs between two small firms based on these roles, given that one of the firms is a publicly listed firm and the other is a privately owned firm. Using a qualitative case study as research method we find that the board work differs between the two companies when it comes to these roles.

Syftet med uppsatsen var att studera vilka idéer som ligger till grund för 2009 års Kulturutredning och om den genomsyras av de idéer som inför de administrativa förändringar som kopplas till New Public Management. Detta undersöktes genom en kvalitativ innehållsanalys av Kulturutredningens betänkande. New Public Management (NPM) är en uppsättning idéer om hur man organiserar och styr offentlig verksamhet och har påverkat verksamheter inom bland annat vård, omsorg och skola de senaste decennierna. Dessa idéer innebär ökat fokus på uppföljning och utvärdering samt att kvalitet kopplas till kostnadseffektivitet. Man sätter upp mål, operationaliserar dem till mätbara prestationer som kopplas till finansiering.

The aim of the study is to examine how the executive leadership and the decision-making process are shaped by the leadership environment in a transition democracy as Venezuela. The questions I intend to answer are: What kind of leadership environment surrounds the leadership and what kind of consequences does it have on the leadership and the decision-making process in Venezuela? To answer my questions I will use the literature: Political Leadership in Liberal Democracies (Elgie, Robert 1995, London: Macmillian), together with the method ?The cultural determinist school of history? by Tomas Spencer, later reproduced by Kellerman. The leadership environment provides unique opportunities for a leader to gain control over the decision-making process. Institutional structures and the needs of the society are major parts in determining how the political leadership is exercised.

This thesis examines the possibility of Bolivian indigenous women?s social movements? getting their demands of a gender equal society fulfilled in the new state which was initiated in 2005 when Evo Morales became the first president representing the indigenous people of the country. By using a qualitative method I have showed that although the Bolivian indigenous women?s social movements? historically has been significant political actors for social change in the country, with representation at both regional and national level, Bolivian women are still subordinated in the social and political sphere. By applying a feminist intersectional perspective which takes its point of departure in a understanding of power as multidimensional, where gender, ethnicity and class are constitutive principals, multiculturalism theories and a social movements theory framework, I have found that even if institutional changes, that opened the system increased the indigenous women?s social movements political participation in Bolivia, power structures based on gender limited their possibilities to influence both socially and politically.

The purpose of this research is to examine some historical aspects of Robert Putnam?s thesisabout voluntary associations and social capital. According to a micro perspective theory ofsocial capital the trust and reciprocity required and created by associations is important toexplain the disparity between institutional performance and socioeconomic development ofsocieties. The social patterns governing this therefore set a precedent for the future. Using themutual sickness benefit societies in Sweden as variable for voluntary associations around1884, the essay discusses the possible links between social capital, associations and long termeconomic development.

?Liberal Democracy? is a common term in political theory, and it is used as if it had a commonly accepted referent, with both normative and descriptive content. This is certainly the case in democratic theory, where it on the one hand seems to refer to a normative democratic model; on the other hand it is used descriptively, to refer to real-life democracies. The deliberative democratic sub-field is not an exception; on the contrary, the term is frequently used albeit rarely defined; yet the concept it refers to is supposedly developed enough to allow detailed propositions about its citizens?s political behaviour.This essay is an attempt to analyze how Liberal Democracy is used by three deliberative democrats (Jürgen Habermas, John Dryzek and Stephen Elstub), in order to understand the democratic model (or models), whether normative or descriptive, they refer to.

Theory of mind är att kunna tillskriva andra människor mentala tillstånd som förklarar deras beteenden. Dessa mentala tillstånd kan röra sig om uppfattningar, intentioner eller känslor.    Theory of Mind Scale är en bedömningsskala utformad av Wellman och Liu (2004), som undersöker olika nivåer av theory of mind. Theory of Mind Scale är uppbyggd i skalsteg med stigande svårighetsgrad. Syftet med föreliggande studie var att översätta Theory of Mind Scale från engelska till svenska samt validera bedömningsskalan för barn mellan 3 och 4 år. Studien syftade även till att se om det fanns ett samband mellan dessa barns förmåga till theory of mind, impressiva grammatiska förmåga och impressiva ordförråd.      Valideringen i föreliggande studie visade att skalstegen i den amerikanska originalversionen av Theory of Mind Scale var applicerbara på barnen i föreliggande studie, med undantag för den sista uppgiften.

?Liberal Democracy? is a common term in political theory, and it is used as if it had a commonly accepted referent, with both normative and descriptive content. This is certainly the case in democratic theory, where it on the one hand seems to refer to a normative democratic model; on the other hand it is used descriptively, to refer to real-life democracies. The deliberative democratic sub-field is not an exception; on the contrary, the term is frequently used albeit rarely defined; yet the concept it refers to is supposedly developed enough to allow detailed propositions about its citizens?s political behaviour.This essay is an attempt to analyze how Liberal Democracy is used by three deliberative democrats (Jürgen Habermas, John Dryzek and Stephen Elstub), in order to understand the democratic model (or models), whether normative or descriptive, they refer to.

AbstractOil rich states all over the world share a common feature. They are less likely than other states, depending on other resources, to be ruled democratically. In this essay Saudi Arabia has been studied with the purpose of trying to find which mechanisms that lie behind why oil rich states do not have institutions or institutional change that promotes democracy.Saudi Arabia has the world's largest known reservoir of oil. The oil brings huge revenue each year to the Saudi Arabian government. Why have Saudi Arabia not developed democratically when their economic growth suggests that to be a natural step? Under the framework of historical institutionalism and path dependency theory, I have used process tracing trying to track the mechanisms behind Saudi Arabia's authoritarian rule down.

The essay is about how immigrant pupils are integrated into the Swedish school and society. I have studied how teachers work with integrating these pupils and if there is a plan of act used in their work. The essay is also about how social relations can be used as a pedagogical resource by the teachers when the institutional framework and support is failing..