Sweden is a world leader in listed private equity and ranked fifth in the world in market capitalization. The sector is attracting increasing interest from the investment community. However, the private equity industry in Sweden has historically poor reputation and is criticized for creating value through high leverage, multiple riding and severe cuts. This study analyzes value creation drivers in buyouts from the perspective of the private equity firm using a dataset of 15 realized buyouts by private equity firms listed on NASDAQ OMX Nordic Stockholm. The methodology used separates the value contribution of leverage on the private equity firm's return from internal operational improvements and external variations in transaction multiples.

The purpose of this thesis is to identify the factors that drive efficiency and effectiveness in technical development projects performed at A?F?s department of product development. In addition to identifying and analyzing these factors, the thesis also analyzes what needs to be taken in to account in order to implement a measurement system that is able to both monitor and control the identified factors.The thesis has been performed in a qualitative manner. It is based on interviews with people from several different technological companies, within different lines of business, all of which are customers to A?F?s department of product development.The results show that there are seven critical factors for project efficiency and effectiveness.

The purpose of this thesis is to identify the factors that drive efficiency and effectiveness in technical development projects performed at A?F?s department of product development. In addition to identifying and analyzing these factors, the thesis also analyzes what needs to be taken in to account in order to implement a measurement system that is able to both monitor and control the identified factors.The thesis has been performed in a qualitative manner. It is based on interviews with people from several different technological companies, within different lines of business, all of which are customers to A?F?s department of product development.The results show that there are seven critical factors for project efficiency and effectiveness.

It is a qualitative study that describes and analyzes how professionals deal with social issues of inclusiveness and ethics in the investigation of cases involving interventions for adolescents. The focus is on the strategies that staff in social services expressed in terms of obstacles and opportunities for working participatively and especially when it comes to dealing with ethical dilemmas that may arise.    The method used was qualitative research interviews. Five social workers from two different municipalities were interviewed and the material is analyzed on the basis of socio-cultural theory and organizational theory. Themes that emerged were participation, ethics, discretion and flexibility, collaboration, organization, skills and time. The main obstacles that have emerged in the study are that those who work in social services have had been difficulties to fully create participation due to various factors.

SummaryAimThe study examines a theoretical model developed to capture cyclist´s perceptions of the route environment. The survey focuses on if level two and three in the theoretical model captures what it´s intended to do. More specific we ask ourselves how the three appraisals (unsafe/safe by traffic reasons, stimulating/inhibiting route environment, unsafe/safe by other reasons) in the model´s second level relates among themselves and if these three appraisals can capture the degree of environmental well-being/unwell-being in the model´s third level. The questions were: Do the three appraisals differ among themselves? What is the difference/-s in such cases? And, is there a correlation between any of the three appraisals and environmental unwell-being/well-being? What is the correlation in such case? MethodThe gathering of data was done through questionnaires.

The thesis handles the principal-agency problem between shareholders and the Chief Executive Officer. The purpose of the thesis was to examine the link between CEO compensation and corporate performance measured as a change in Market to Book ratio. Data was collected from corporate annual reports between the years 2000 ? 2008 and the study covers 39 Swedish companies from the Stockholm Stock Exchange Large Cap list. To examine whether there is a link between the CEO´s compensation and firm performance, we performed a regression analysis, and no significant relation is found.

This study was performed to investigate the bacteriological quality of French cheeses made from raw milk. Fifty cheeses of this type were purchased from Swedish retail premises. The methods described by the Nordic Committee on Food Analysis (NMKL) were used to determine the number of Enterobacteriaceae, presumptive Escherichia coli, coagulase positive staphylococci and Listeria monocytogenes. In 32 cheeses (64%) the number of bacteria mentioned above exceeded the determined maximum value. Thirty samples (60%) showed high counts of Enterobacteriaceae.

The aim of this study was to examine if there was a relative age effect in students grade in mathematics. The study was built on regression analysis and Spearman rho on student?s month of birth and their grades. It was found that there is a relative age effect in the student?s grades.

Abstract During the last 15 years, the former ?really existing socialist? economies have undertaken an extensive transition process. In this paper the development, measured as GDP growth, is analyzed using variables for economic policy. The analysis is both theoretical, taking as starting point current positions in academia, and econometrical with the linear regression model. We show that while economic policy variables of inflation, economic freedom and institutional quality affect economic growth, the results are not only the ones predicted by the theory.

Environmental issues is now taking a growing place in society and to ensure that companies meet public expectations and do their part in working towards a sustainable development, environmental management system is said to be an effective tool (Almgren & Brorson, 2009).This case study has examined a company's environmental management system in order to find strengths and weaknesses within the ISO 14001 system. The work was carried out using interviews, document reviews and analyzes in which the three main concepts control the report ; "daily work", "audit" and "environmental aspects".The results shows that the daily work looks different depending on where you are; in the production or at the office. The audit examined all documents related to the environmental management system and the study showed that the biggest strengths was the commitment and waste handling while areas such as environmental goals and management review needed improvement. As a result of the deficiencies identified, suggestions for improvements was proposed. The investigation of the routine of the environmental aspects showed an incomplete routine where the red wire from identification to evaluation was missing.

I denna undersökning undersöker vi hur individers utbildning samt föräldrars utbildning och beteende påverkar individers jämställdhetsattityder. Vi använder oss av data från 2009 innehållandes 1325 respondenter födda mellan 1964 och 1980. Analysen utfördes med logistisk regression där vi studerar två olika typer av jämställdhetsattityder, allmänna jämställdhetsattityder och jämställdhetsattityder inom den privata sfären. Vår teoretiska ansats är teorin om socialisation samt kognitiv utvecklingsteori. Vi har funnit att en hög utbildning är associerat med mer positiva jämställdhetsattityder.

This thesis deals with the concept of how price affects demand for a good by estimating various price elasticities of demand for snu sold in Sweden. Information was gathered on price development for snus and cigarettes as well as sales data from Swedish Match, the largest supplier of snus in Sweden. Income-, price- and cross-price elasticities were estimated based on log-log regression. Results show that snus is an inelastic good since the coefficient for price of snus was -0.536. This proved that a 1% increase in price causes a 0.536% decrease in quantity demanded.

The purpose of this thesis is to identify the factors that drive efficiency and effectiveness in technical development projects performed at A?F?s department of product development. In addition to identifying and analyzing these factors, the thesis also analyzes what needs to be taken in to account in order to implement a measurement system that is able to both monitor and control the identified factors.The thesis has been performed in a qualitative manner. It is based on interviews with people from several different technological companies, within different lines of business, all of which are customers to A?F?s department of product development.The results show that there are seven critical factors for project efficiency and effectiveness.

This thesis aims to investigate the information effects of fair value accounting in Nordic real estate companies. As a consequence of the mandatory IFRS adoption in the European Union in 2005, listed Nordic companies are allowed to recognize investment property at fair value in accordance with IAS 40. Theory suggests that fair value accounting should lower information asymmetry. Therefore, this study aims to examine correlation between fair value accounting of investment property and information asymmetry on the stock market. To investigate this, we use bid-ask spread as a proxy for information asymmetry and examine Nordic real estate companies before and after the implementation of IFRS.

En kvantitativ studie av incitament och avkastning på 338 aktie- och 33 hedgefonder med säte i Sverige genom att variablerna fondförmögenhet, antal fonder i fondbolaget, prestationsbaserad avgift samt prestationsbaserad lön testas mot avkastning och risk. Vi finner att en större fondförmögenhet leder till lägre avkastning, fler fonder i fondbolaget resulterar även det i lägre avkastning för fonden än för motsvarande i ett fondbolag med färre antal fonder. Vår variabel prestationsbaserad lön resulterar i lägre risk för fonden och vår variabel prestationsbaserad avgift resulterar i högre risk. Vi kan inte utifrån våra resultat fastslå att agentteorins antaganden om incitament och kontroll i svenska fonder har en avgörande roll. Däremot hittar vi effekter vilka sannolikt har sin förklaring i agentteorin men då de inte är entydiga går det inte att generalisera sambandet..