The aim of this report was to investigate which factors determine municipal taxes in Sweden.The aim was also to find out whether and how the forms of political rule are significant covariates. A multiple regression analysis was performed using data from 289 municipalities. The analysis resulted in five dierent models, of which a model based on municipal grouping was found to be most satisfactory. In all of the models, there are effects from the form of political rule. The results indicate that socialist municipalities have higher tax rates than non-socialist.

Today Europe is faced with an identity crisis concerning its borders. Turkey stands at the threshold for an EU-membership while the EU-Commission is trying to formulate what constitutes a European identity. This identity seeking process will determine the future not only for Turkey, but also for immigrants now living in Europe.In this thesis a discourse analysis, underpinned by socialconstructionist theory, is conducted to explore how the European identity has been constructed throughout history up until today. A starting point is that identity always is defined through a dialectical relationship to "otherness". Therefore the analysis is focused not only on what a European identity consists of but also what and who it excludes.

University of VäxjöSchool of Social SciencesBachelor Thesis in Political ScienceTitle: ?Sverigedemokraternas valframgångar 2006 ? En ulv i fårakläder??Author: Emma Haraldsson and Åsa NeuschützTutor: Emil UddhammarThe aim of this study is to explain Sverigedemokraterna?s electoral success in 2006 and the essay assumes that some form of change has occurred. To study this change two hypotheses have been constructed. The first hypothesis concerns the change within Sverigedemokraterna and the second hypothesis concerns the change of the Swedish voters attitudes.Kirchheimers catch-all theory is used to explain the change in Sverigedemokraterna. The catch-all theory states that parties have to change their structure to maximise the number of votes.

In 1998 a new regional development policy was introduced by the Swedish government. A central feature in the policy was the formation of partnerships at the regional level. The partnerships were meant to consist of local and regional stakeholders, representing a great variety of interests, who would collaborate in order to improve regional development. The new policy was promoted, besides being more efficient, as a way to broaden political participation and to break male-dominated structures.This thesis discusses whether the regional partnership actually favours ?women's interests?, in terms of how the relationship of power between women and men is constituted by the model.

The last few decades largeincreases in institutional and foreign ownershipin Swedish listed companies have created a concernthat the traditionalSwedish ownership model are disappearing.With increasing globalizationand ever morecapital-intensive markets, so have great owners forced to admitcapital fuelled institutionaland foreign investors into their companies. By from an agency theoryperspective examine how different ownershiptypes and ownershipconstellations affects the cost ofequity, we want to see if there is reason for concern. Is the change in ownership structure affecting theSwedish listed firms?Our results show that the owneridentity or ownership constellations don?t affect the cost of equity that much.The only owner-identity that shows a significant correlation with the cost ofequity is the institutions and they relate to a lower cost of equity. Theresults show that companies with two controlling shareholders relates to lowercost of equity which can show that ownership structure affects the cost.

This comparative linguistic textstudy focuses on the relationship between a newspapers own outspoken political standpoint and it´s ambition of being an unbiased provider of objective information. This connection becomes particulary interestering in times of election when a newspapers role as provider of information is of great importance for the citizens. When a newspaper reports an event to the public, the reporter always has to choose from a small selection of possible linguistic forms when representing the story. Through linguistic analysis of these forms we can see that the final choice is often not a complete arbitrary one. We compared two daily newspapers, Dagens Nyheter and Dala-Demokraten, that stod on opposite sides in the Swedish EMU-elections 2003.

The bachelor's thesis is to examine the explanatory factors affecting the choice of capital structure in real estate companies. The analysis is based on data collected from the main financial reporting from 2007; all listed real estate companies listed on Swedish, Norwegian, Danish and Finnish stock market. Based on previous research and theories, we have defined five independent variables that are linked to the debt ratio, which are: profitability, growth, firm size, cost of debt and operational risk. The statistical tests have resulted in that we can say with certainty that profitable firms tend to have a lower debt to equity ratio. We can also say with certainty that property companies with high interest costs have a high level of indebtedness..

AbstractIn the literature on multiculturalism and group rights there is a strong tradition that sees diversity as something directly paradoxal to unity. In this tradition, scholars put forward a view of multiculturalism as a divisive and exclusionary process which breaks down the cohesion and unity of society. Related to this notion is that of a neutral and universally valid frame of reference in which political dilemmas can be solved; for example a neutral civil sphere where the ?true essence? of society lies. In this essay I attempt to criticise these two notions.

Denna uppsats är ett resonerande argument kring massmedias roll i det demokratiska samhället.Vi diskuterar inledningsvis ett antal demokratiideal generellt, med syftet att ur dessa kunna identifiera ett gemensamt karaktärsdrag: att demokrati kräver politiskt medborgerligt engagemang. Detta karaktärsdrag används sedermera för att fälla ett normativt påstående kring massmedias roll och innehåll. Detta normativa påstående appliceras slutligen på tre stycken skilda demokratiska ideal med utgångspunkt i en specifik massmedial innehållstyp, personcentrering..

In this paper the effect of capital structure on profitability has been investigated among Swedish companies. The essay intends to examine how the relationship between debt and profitability appear among Swedish companies and if the relationship differs between industries. The purpose is to find out how debt affects the profitability of Swedish companies.A quantitative approach has been applied. The selection was made among companies listed on Nasdaq OMX Stockholm, which resulted in a sample of 207 companies. Several regression analyzes has been formed, based on the independent variable debt-ratio and the dependent variables profit margin, pre-tax profit margin, operating margin, return on assets and return on equity.

The thesis aims to analyze strategic, cultural and structural aspects of Grameen Bank and its micro-credit project, in order to identify key success factors. A case study was performed with an inductive and qualitative approach, using semi-structured interviews. The data was collected by field observations and interviews on site in Dhaka, Bangladesh and surrounding areas.The main conclusion is that the critical success factor of Grameen Bank is the relationship focus, guiding and aligning its strategy, culture and structure. Also, local offices have been observed to utilize practices not permitted by the bank?s management, ultimately increasing the organizational efficiency..

Regional European Offices with the purpose to represent regions and municipalities in the EU-system have had a substantial expansion over the last years. One example is the North Sweden European Office for the counties of Norrbotten and Västerbotten, consisting of seven different headmen who are representing both the private sector as well as the public system. This diverse leadership representation makes North Sweden a very good example on a so called Quango, organisations that stand under simultaneous influence from both public and private sectors. These Quangos opens up new possibilities to solve public problems, but they also bring together two different working models which is not always easy to handle for a Quango. According to earlier surveys some characteristic Quango problems within North Sweden exist, for example the ability to prioritize and thereby be as effective as possible.

The name of the thesis is?Istheprintedbook?sdeaththeauthorsbread??Astudyinhowthepublishinghouses?andtheauthors?relationshipschangeduetotheintroductionofthee--?book?Thee--?book,whichisadigitalcopyoftheprintedbook,hasbeenonthemarketforovertwodecades.However,itisnotuntilnowthatchangesarehappeningwithintheindustry,whichaffectsthedifferentactors.Amazonhasforexamplelaunchedane--?readerbythenameKindleonthemarketandApplehaslaunchedasurfpadbythenameiPad,bothwhichyouareabletoreade--?bookson.Thetechnologicalchangesthatarehappeningaffecttheactorswithinthebookindustryaswellasthestructureoftheindustry.Theresearchquestionofthisthesisis?owdothepublishinghouses?andtheauthors?relationshipswithinthebookindustrychangeduetotheintroductionofthee--?book??Actor--?networktheoryisusedtoinvestigatethis.Thetheoryincludesbothhumanandnon--?humanactors,whichtogethercancreateanetwork.Theactorswithinthenetworkconnectthemselvestoeachotherandtherebyformthenetwork.Thepurposeofthisthesisistocreateanunderstandingforhowactorsandtheirrelationshipswithinanestablishedindustrystructureareaffectedbydigitalisation.Toachievethis,semi--?structuredinterviewswereconductedwithpublishinghousesandauthors.Theboomofthee--?bookinlargepartdependsuponthetechnicaldevelopmentthathasoccurredandwhichhasintroducedsmartphones,e--?readers,surfpadsetceteraonthemarket.Moreactorswillariseinthebookindustryduetothedigitalisation,whichinturnwillaffecttheexistingrelationshipsofthepublishinghousesandtheauthors.Thepublishinghouseswillkeeptheirroleinthenetworksasakeyplayer,butcomeintocontactwithmoreactors.Theauthorsaregiventhechancetoself--?publishtheirbooksase--?books,whichmakethemcomeintocontactwithmoreactorsaswell.Asmoreactorsarise,thestructurewithintheindustrybecomesrelaxed.Hence,thepublishinghousesneedtoenrolthenewactorsinorderforthemtokeeptheirpositioninthenetwork..

This essay aims to examine Martha Nussbaum's proposal for a classical defense of reform in liberal education and her critique of utility thinking in higher education. I want to explore how Nussbaum uses history to create an ethical alternative that cultivates both moral and intellectual virtues, which she considers to be crucial for the survival of democracy. In examining Nussbaum's use of Aristotle, I focus on her work as a proposal for institutional implementation of an Aristotelian epistemology and the cultivation of the individual as an ethical political subject. This study highlights the epistemological, educational and political ideas that form the basis of Nussbaum's ideals. I intend, however, to go beyond a contextualizing reading and thus establish a dialogue with a radical intersubjectivity to respond to Nussbaum's ambitions to recognize human vulnerabilities as assets for reason.

This study deals with the road freight sector's capital structure and how leases, loans and equity affect the ratios. The study is based on a ten-year period between 2000-2010 in Sweden. Investments in finance is a complex and interesting subject to study, there are many factors that can affect how the company best choose their investments when they have many great business investment the decisions plays a greater role. The aim is to find an optimal capital structure from a financial investment point of view. The purpose will be answered by the following research question: Are there significant differences between leases, loans and equity financed fleet of factors, profitability, tax, turnover, age, and cyclicality. The study will also examine how debt is related to profit margin, DuPont and the tax, all through a regression analysis. Then were plausible economic theories for the study.