Ever since it was first introduced in an article in the Journal of Finance 1952, Harry Markowitz? mean - variance model for portfolio selection has become one of the best known models in finance. The model was one of the first in the world to deal with portfolio optimization mathematically and have directly or indirectly inspired the rest of the world to develop new portfolio optimization methods. Although the model is one of the greatest contributions to modern portfolio theory, critics claim that it may have practical difficulties. Partly because the Markowitz model is based on various assumptions which do not necessarily coincide with the reality.

In this study I have met three authors in a dialogue seminar on their literary work. The discussion, starting from texts by Lacan and Socrates, revolved around the dichotomy of personal and private, and how to benefit from personal material in one?s literary work. The three authors reflected on the writer Karl Ove Knausgård and the photographer Sally Mann, who both are working with their own immediate family as a motif. In Knausgård, you can find a strong and self-dissecting writer persona as a medium of creating recognition in the readers mind.

The economical and judicial cooperation that EU constitutes results in that there is an increasing amount of international disputes arising. These international disputes in turn result in questions concerning private international law. The principle of mutual trust is not only an important principle in the entire judicial cooperation but especially important in the area of private international law. The principle means that the member states have to trust each other and the different legal systems. The aim of the principle is to ensure a well functioning internal market that is permeated by free circulation and freedom of establishment.

Hållbarhetsredovisning är ett frivilligt åtagande för företag och är en vidareutveckling av miljöredovisningen. Redovisningen ges i flera dimensioner för att skapa en starkare grund och trovärdighet samt för att ge en helhetsbild. Denna redovisning utgör miljörelaterade, etiska och sociala förhållanden samt den ekonomiska utveckling som är knuten till dessa. Parallellt med att miljö- och hållbarhetsredovisningspraxis utvecklades under 1990-talet och början av 2000-talet har allt fler modeller, rekommendationer och riktlinjer lanserats av olika organisationer och individer. Till skillnad från den finansiella redovisningen finns det ingen uttömmande lagstiftning för hur ekonomiska, miljömässiga samt sociala och etiska aspekter ska redovisas.

This project was a request of Norrbodal´s Forestry Board, Västra Götaland. It was performed as a qualitative interview analysis of private forest owner?s deficient motivation regarding pre-commercial thinning. The purpose of the project is to investigate what the Forestry Board can do to motivate private forest owners to do more pre-commercial thinning. The results build upon 16 qualitative phone interviews with forest owners that have their forest within the district of Norrbodal. The owners are divided into two groups, the one who have performed the pre-commercial thinning and the one that has possible pre-commercial thinning needs on their properties according to the pre-commercial thinning analysis ,which is the result of a satellite analysis.

There is much research into the reasons why a temporary pain, in some individuals, becomes chronic. Many of the causal factors linked with pain also seems to coexist with social anxiety, public self-consciousness and, to some extent, private self-consciousness. The purpose of this study was to investigate and identify possible patterns of self-consciousness (private and public), social anxiety and pain. This was done by a cross-sectional study in which a questionnaire was distributed to students at Örebro University. A total of 302 completed questionnaires were received.

Bakgrund:Småbolagseffekten påvisades först av Banz (1981) och Reinganum (1981) som kom fram tillatt småbolag genererade högre avkastning än stora bolag under samma period. Effekten syntes även stabil över tiden vilket ej är förenligt med Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) och den effektiva marknadshypotesen (EMH).Syfte:Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka om det finns någon påvisbar småbolagseffekt påNasdaq OMX Stockholm och huruvida den i så fall har varit konstant under studieperioden. Vidare syftar studien till att undersöka huruvida relativvärdering av småbolagsaktier framgångsrikt kan användas för att generera överavkastning.Metod:Studien baseras på en kvantitativ metodansats med ett deduktivt angreppssätt. Behövd datasamlas in och sammanställs för att sedan användas för att skapa portföljer som studeras och analyseras baserat på prestation.Slutsats:Studien  har  ej  kunnat  påvisa  en  småbolagseffekt  under  hela  studieperioden.  Underhögkonjunktur har dock en småbolagseffekt kunnat påvisas. Vidare har studien kunnat visa att relativvärdering av småbolagsaktier genererar både absolut och riskjusterad överavkastning jämfört med studiens småbolagsportfölj och marknadsindex (AFGX).

Uppsatsen undersöker fem mäns berättelser kring krigsfilmen Saving Private Ryan, med fokus på maskulinitet. Föreställningarna och bilderna kring maskulinitet som kan urskiljas i intervjupersonernas berättelser, knyts till R.W. Connells teoretiska ramverk kring hegemonisk maskulinitet och de hierarkiska relationerna mellan olika maskuliniteter. Vidare resoneras det kring hur berättelserna exemplifierar en syn på mediepublik som aktiva meningsskapare, då intervjupersonerna tar fasta på olika aspekter i filmen samt ger den olika mening och betydelse. Slutligen belyses hur genus- och andra identiteter är något som kontinuerligt skapas i mötet med en mängd olika diskurser varje dag, samt hur själva handlingen att se på krigsfilm i sig kan ses som konstruerande av maskulinitet..

Background: An evaluation of analysts´ forecasting ability is interesting since their estimates constitute an important part in stock valuation and investment decisions. The recent years´ development in the stock market has lead to criticism of analysts? deficient forecasts. Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to evaluate analysts´ forecasting ability concerning companies quoted at Stockholmsbörsen between 1987 and 2002. We also intend to discuss possible explanations for analysts? behavior in case of deficient accuracy.

Background: In the current labor and business policy debate in Sweden there is a major focus on the need for it to become easier to set up small firms, and that it needs to become easier for small firms to hire staff. In order to set up and run a business, funding is required. Firms can choose to work more or less actively with this issue, but they all need to relate to it. There are basically two ways to fund a business, either through equity or through debt. The ratio between these two sources is called the firm?s capital structure.Purpose: To chart the capital structure of small firms in Sweden.

The use of chainsaws in both private forestry and commercial companies is highly associated with personal injuries and accidents with deadly outcome. As a result to this, a driver?s license for chainsaws was presented in the year 2005. To get the license you have to attend a course given by the Swedish Forest Agency or one of several private educators. This study is an evaluation of one course given by the Swedish Forest Agency in Uppsala.

This paper aims to create a better understanding for how executing private matters during work hours affect the individual worker. In todays world the access to social medias, the Internet and all your friends is easy to access due to smartphones and computers. Prior research as described this both as a threat against the productivity of the worker and the moral of the workplace. While others mean that it is a source of recovery and something positive.This thesis uses a qualitative method and fifteen interviews where conducted with people between 20-30 years, who where working and living in Sweden. The theory of this paper is built on following areas: Time, the line between work and private, together alone, the brain and the affect it has on the dialogue between colleagues.

It has become more popular to work abroad and companies have become more global than they used to. A big reason for this is due to globalization and the progress done within the field of technology. Because of this aloofness that occurs, a gap between the expatriates? personal life and his or her working life develops. The cases focused on in this paper includes people who are distanced from their private lives at least a few consecutive months but are all aiming to get back when they are done with their individual errands.

Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) är en oberoende internationell organisation som utfärdar riktlinjer för företag att följa när de upprättar en hållbarhetsredovisning. Den svenska regeringen beslutade att lagstadga hållbarhetsredovisningen för statliga företag. Lagen började gälla den 1 januari 2009. GRI innehåller tre nivåer, A, B och C. Genom att företagen får hållbarhetsredovisningen bestyrkt av en oberoende granskare får de ett plustecken bakom bokstaven.

Despite ongoing efforts toward equality, persistent wage gaps between men and women in Sweden still remain, particularly within male dominated industries, such as finance. Gender equality is a prominent topic in public discourse, yet progress towards achieving equal pay between men and women continues to be slow. This study aims to contribute to the research area and offers a unique perspective by examining gender related expectations from both men and women, managers and employees. The purpose of this study is to investigate whether, and if so how, gender related expectations influence salary setting processes in the financial industry. Through a qualitative study based on semistructured interviews, the study explores how both employee?s and manager?s gender related expectations affect attitudes, salary negotiations and potential outcomes of salary setting.