This paper replicates a test performed by Burgstahler and Dichev (1997), which identifies a kink in the frequency distribution of earnings for companies listed on American stock exchanges. Their claim, that the kink is evidence of earnings management, has however been dismissed as a methodical consequence. To address this concern, this paper not only replicates the test in general, but also performs tests on a split sample, where founding family-owned companies are separated from the others, since earlier research has shown that founding family ownership is correlated with less earnings management. The results are in line with the findings of Burgstahler and Dichev, with a significant kink in the frequency distribution in the general test. The findings also show that the significance of the kink increases in the non-family-owned sample, while it disappears in the family-owned sample.

The goal of this study is to examine how the market reacts when information about the exchange of a CEO becomes public. It also examines factors such as gender and whether the departure was voluntary or not, discerning if the market behaves differently concerning any of these aspects.To achieve this, the study was performed using an event study. The selection consisted of 48 companies on the Stockholm Stock Exchange, who had during the years 2005 to 2008 underwent a change in leading management. These units were submitted to hypothesis tests, to determine if an abnormal return was attained during the event window. The tests were performed on the units as a whole, and divided up after gender and whether the departure was voluntary or not.The results of the study show no statistically significant abnormal return caused by the announcement of a CEO exchange.

The purpose of this study is to investigate librarian?s opinions concerning literature with state supported distribution and how to mediate and market these in the library. The types of mediation and marketing that have been studied are positioning, labeling and oral mediation.The study is qualitative with interviews at seven main public libraries in central Sweden. The respondents of the study were responsible for the literature with state supported distribution within the library.The study is based on a theoretical frame of reference containing theories from Jofrid Karner Smidt, regarding librarian?s mediation in libraries, and François Colbert?s theory on marketing planning for arts and culture.The results of our study showed that librarians have both positive and negative opinions when it comes to the literature with state supported distribution.

The purpose with this thesis is to demonstrate that other factors than the existing set of rules could influence the Management Group?s decision in regards to depreciation of goodwill. We have explained the conflicts between the management group and the stakeholders by using the Agency Theory and the Stakeholder Model. We have used the Positive Accounting Theory to describe how the management group?s opportunistic behaviour decides which accounting method to use.

Recent studies show that manufacturing companies to a larger extent use historical cost accounting in their internal accounts, at the expense of calculated costs. The explanation behind this is claimed to be that firms are subject to careful scrutiny by the stock market. Consequently, top management stresses the need of evaluating all parts of the firm from external accounting. However, lower management levels express a general concern that the incentive to invest in machines will decrease. This master thesis aims to investigate whether or not there is an objective reason behind this concern.

This thesis explores some issues regarding estimations of the cost of capital on the Stockholm Stock Exchange through reverse engineering of the Residual Income Valuation model and through usage of the Capital Asset Pricing Model. Previous studies are in conflict of whether the risk premium changes considerably over time or not. Furthermore, the risk premium estimated by CAPM tends to be fairly stable. In this study, reverse engineering of the cost of capital implied by analysts? forecasts shows a significant difference in the risk premium over time.

Since January 1st 2005 all companies listed on a regulated stock exchange within the European Union are required to present their financial reports in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). The intention of the introduction of IFRS is to achieve international harmonization of accounting rules in order to make financial reports more comparable between companies from different countries. The purpose of financial reports presented in accordance with IFRS is to provide information that is useful to the users of the information. The aim of this paper is to investigate whether the information regarding goodwill and the goodwill impairment test, presented in accordance with IFRS, in fact is useful to a specific group of accounting information users, namely equity analysts. An empirical study is conducted, based on interviews with seven Swedish equity analysts.

This paper seeks to investigate whether there is a positive relationship between bonus as a part of total executive compensation and lower accounting quality among Swedish companies. In this study, accounting quality is defined as the degree by which a company's earnings are subject to earnings management. To detect earnings management accrual-based modified Jones model is applied to companies listed on the Large-, Mid- and Small-Cap lists on the Stockholm stock exchange during 2011. We find a statistically significant positive relationship between bonus as a part of total executive compensation and lower accounting quality. Thus, in line with prior research, our results suggest that managers, interested in maximizing their bonus, will select income increasing accruals to manage earnings upwards.

This paper investigates the relationship between dividends and institutional and foreign ownership in Swedish firms. We use a dataset which covers the Swedish stock market over the period 1999-2009. The institutional ownership is defined as mutual funds, pension funds and insurance companies and these are analysed separately. The study confirms the expected positive relationship between the level of institutional investors in a firm and the size of dividends. We also confirm? the expected negative relationship between foreign investors and the size of dividends paid by Swedish firms.

Title: Time to renovate ? The effect of communication on the relationship between company and customer in a change situationCourse/subject:Busniess administration, Leadership, 15hpAuthors:Fredrik Elghag, Ossian OlssonTutors:Ingemar WictorKeywords:The Million Programme, Communication, Relationship Marketing, Tentant, Landlord.Problem formulation:How does communication affect the relationship between company and customer in a change situation?Purpose:Examining how different parts of a communication process affects customers trust, commitment and loyalty to their company.Theoretical framework:The starting point for the study?s theoretical perspectives have been Morgan and Hunt?s (1994) previous studies on relationship marketing and Laswell?s (1948) communication model.Methodology:The paper is performed with a qualitative research approach and a deductive approach to answer the research question. Personal interviews were conducted with four employees in real estate companies and two tenants in each company stock.Conclusion:We have found that communication affects the relationship between company and customer. Tentants have experinced credibility of businesses is important for them to have a confidence and loyalty in the relationship. .

The main aim of this paper is to consider the possible effects of a transition to a new accounting standard for goodwill. According to IASBs Exposure Draft of Proposed Amendments to IFRS 3 Business Combinations there is an inconsistency in the currently used purchased goodwill method. The full goodwill method is considered to be a superior alternative and is therefore suggested to become the standard from 2007. This paper comprises a quantitative study of the effects on certain key ratios for companies listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange, arising due to the proposed transition. The period examined is 2004 and 2005.

There are many different forms of financing for small businesses and two common financing options mentioned in the study, bank loans and Venture Capital.Venture Capital is a form of risk capital financing, investing in unlisted stock market. The feature of the arrangement is that those people are trying to find companies that can offer unique, attractive and in demand products on a strong growing market. Since VC-firms are taking a big risk in cooperation with the investment, the VC-company strong demands while assessments are made on the company will generate a return in the future.Bank loans are the most common form of financing for companies in the market. Requirements and assessment under the law is hard especially for small businesses because financing entails high risks. Banks require that the liquidity management in the enterprise should be stable because the bank's main objective is to repayment of debt and the interest payable on the capital.The purpose of this study is to examine the requirements and assessments VC-firms and banks make use of the financing of small businesses. .

The requirement on audit was introduced when ownership was separated from management. The situation that arouse was that not only the owners, but also the stakeholders, required information about the company?s financial position. On this basis the audit would contribute to quality assurance of the financial information. One of the auditor's functions is to assess an ongoing stakeholder opinion.

There is a strong debate in the media about the CEO compensation in the listed companies and whether they deserve their high rewards. Many previous studies have shown differences in the reward system depending on the ownership structure, mostly testing for only ownership concentration or ownership category. This study aims to investigate how the influence of the owners affects the CEO reward system, testing for both the level and the structure of the reward. The sample used in the investigation is Swedish listed corporations and consists of 251 observations. A survey was also conducted but due to low response rate and because the answers are not representative for the whole sample the survey will only be used as an illustration.

During the past year it has been made possible to buy back a company?s outstanding stock. This is done in order to change the capital structure towards a situation with less equity. A change in capital structure means a change in the cost of capital for a company and by that a change in the value for the stockholder. This Master Thesis studies the relation between capital structure and business risk.