This paper describes a study examining four different GARCH models AR(1)-GARCH(1,1), AR(1)-EGARCH(1,1), AR(1)-APGARCH(1,1) and AR(1)-GJR-GARCH(1,1), and their ability to predict future volatility and thereby providing more reliable estimates for Value-at-Risk. The study is based on daily observations for the return of the OMX Stockholm 30 Index, during the time period 31st December 1996 to 29th December 2006. The coefficients for these GARCH models have been estimated using a five-year rolling estimation window, with one-year lags, for five different in-sample-periods. These five in-sample-periods, and the coefficients given by them, have been used to generate five out-of-sample predictions for the volatility in each year. Using these volatility predictions, the daily Value-at-Risk has been calculated for confidence intervals of 90 percent, 95 percent, and 99 percent, respectively, during the time period between 1st January 2001 and 29th December 2006.

AbstractBachelor thesis G3 in Business Administration, Linnaeus University School of Businessand Economics, Financial Control, 2FE90E, Spring Semester 2010Authors: Kennerth Eriksson and Leo H KochAdvisor: Lars-Göran AidemarkTitle: Balanced Scorecard in governmental organizations ? About, how and its meaning.Background:  The Balanced Scorecard is a Control System that includes both financial andnon-financial measures which intend to link the short-term business management with the long term vision and strategy. Businesses in the public sectors are different fromthe private sector on several levels and they often seek to reach multiple targets.Therefore, their choice of Control System becomes interesting. According to the SwedishNational Financial Management Authority (Ekonomistyrningsverket) among others, thereis no clear knowledge of how widespread the Balanced Scorecard is in governmentalorganizations. The lack of that knowledge is one of the questions at issue with this thesis.Is it only a few organizations that are using the Balanced Scorecard or parts of the model?Another question at issue is about how the Balanced Scorecard is used in the point ofcontrolling in the organizations we chose to investigate further.Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is partly to investigate the existence and use of theBalanced Scorecard in governmental organizations and partly to describe the design ofthe Balanced Scorecard in the studied organizations and explain why they have chosen towork with the Balanced Scorecard and what impact it has on them.Demarcation: The first part of this study has been demarked to only look at the existenceof the Balanced Scorecard in governmental organizations.

Fewer and fewer people from the age of 60 and upward are still in the working life according to a working survey from Central Bureau of Statistics. Only one of twenty can consider retiring after an age of 65. According to another survey that National Insurance Administration put through year 2000, just about 40 % of the working population desires to finish working before an age of 65. This trend towards lower seceding age seems to continue. There are number of factors that seem for lower retirement age and others for a higher retirement age that we prove in our study.

Background: Internet is a new phenomenon; small companies have only used Internet a couple of years. Internet created a lot of new possibilities for the companies. Internet is a new marketing and communication channel for the company. Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to examine how small companies can use Internet as a strategic tool. Another purpose of this thesis is to generate a better understanding of the application of Internet in small companies.

SammanfattningSyfte och frågeställningar: Syftet med undersökningen var att ta ett första steg mot att skapa ett testbatteri, som objektivt kan mäta fotbollspelares tekniska prestationsförmåga med boll, samt konstruera en rad övningar som innefattar viktiga fotbolls-specifika tekniker och testa dessa övningars reliabilitet genom ?test-retest?. Syftet med studien var också att göra en jämförelse i prestation mellan varje spelares dominanta och icke-dominanta fot, från tillslagsövningar där båda fötterna används.  Metod: Tolv herrjuniorer (16-19 år) och sju damjuniorer (15-17 år) på elitnivå genomförde ett testbatteri bestående av totalt 21 övningar för mätning av de fotbollsspecifika teknikerna nick, mottagning, driva med boll samt tillslag. Åtta av männen (16-19 år) återgenomförde testbatteriet för utvärdering av testbatteriets reliabilitet.

This essay examines the decline of reading comprehension in Swedish schools, and also aims to provide insight into the debate concerning a literary canon and its usage in schools. While some claim that the literary canon is only a list of irrelevant white dead men which only serves to perpetuate feelings of alienation in, for example, female students, others see it as a means to bring society together using the only literature that stood the test of time. This essay will look to studies concerning reading comprehension, and questions regarding reading habits which our own students answered. It will also explain the different viewpoints of both sides of the canon debate.There are several studies that show this decline in reading comprehension, PISA and PIRLS being the foremost of them. They point to a trend where the reading skills of boys are much worse than those of girls, a trend which still has not panned out.Bloom and the different researchers who are the basis for Verhaest's thesis are of the opinion that canonical literature serves a purpose in that it teaches students aesthetic literary values.

In this master thesis a robot arm belonging to an automatic milking machine from DeLaval is investigated. The robot arm is controlled by a pneumatic cylinder and a valve. The goal of the master thesis is to investigate instability problems and to find out if it is possible to solve them by using gain scheduling. Gain scheduling is a type of controller where the parameters of the controller are changed during operation, for example depending on the working point. First a nonlinear mathematical model of the system was made.

The aim of this investigation was to assess if there was a correlation between touch avoidance and hierarchical position, perceived degradation, number of years spent in jail and age amongst men at a correctional institution. In addition, a possible correlation between hierarchical position and the amount of perceived degrading treatment was also explored. In the collection of the data a questionnaire containing 27 open and closed answer alternatives was utilized. A multiple regressional analysis was conducted to find possible correlations between touch avoidance and the other underlying variables. Also an independent t-test explored the possible effects of the control variables: place of birth and girlfriend.

Since 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) and International Accounting Standards (IAS). The purposes of these standards are to accomplish international harmonization of accounting rules to make financial reports more comparable. However, recent research has shown that some firms tend to use goodwill strategically in a business combination by manipulating the acquired assets and consciously allocate the intangible assets to goodwill to reduce the depreciation in the income and decrease costs. This phenomenon may reduce the comparability between financial reports and thus has an opposite effect on the purpose of IFRS and IAS.The aim of this study is to show how the companies involved in this study allocate goodwill strategically. Furthermore, the introduction of the new standards has contributed to that goodwill now is a subject for impairment test, therefore we want to show whether this affected the comparability of the companies in this study.An empirical study was conducted, based on interviews with four Swedish managers.

Hästen är ett stäppdjur som under en lång tid utvecklat sin flyktinstinkt samt specifika beteendemönster som spänd kroppshållning och fnysningar. Dessa beteendemönster visar sig vid rädsla och har som funktion att varna artfränder för möjlig fara. Utvecklingen av ovanstående beteenden har haft en stor betydelse för artens överlevnad. Att snabbt fly från saker som hastigt dyker upp i synfältet, är hästens främsta sätt att skydda sig mot fara. Flyktinstinkten har haft så stor betydelse för hästens överlevnad att den inte går att träna bort. Hästens flyktinstinkt ligger ofta bakom flertalet av alla hästrelaterade olyckor som sker.

There are two species of potato cyst nematode (PCN), the yellow, Globodera rostochiensis, and the white, Globodera pallida. Each of them can appear in different pathotypes. These are separated by testing the nematode ability to multiply on a number of potato cultivars with different resistance properties. The aim of this project was to examine the virulence of Swedish and foreign PCN populations and to compare two test methods. Biotests are today the only available tests used to study virulence.

The objective of the study is to examine whether the experience from language courses abroad has had any impact on the career choices for four individuals. Based on a qualitative research methodology, four semi-structured interviews have been executed. The two research questions have been answered by letting four people recount their experiences from language courses abroad linked to their self-images and career choices. The outcome is that the experiences from the language courses contributed to a more or less altered self-image. Most of all, the interpersonal abilities were fostered, which led to the formation of a self-image characterized by improved confidence in social settings.

AbstractAim: The aim of this study was to investigate if treatment with ?dry needling? in myofascial triggerpoints (MTrPs) in the rotatorcuff muscles may affect impingement symptoms such as pain during provocative tests, shoulder mobility, and function. The research questions were: Does the value of pain change on the Visual Analog Pain Scale (VAS) between before and after treatment? Do the positive provocative tests for impingement change between before and after treatment? Does the active shoulder mobility change between before and after treatment? Does the self-rated function change between before and after treatment?Method: The study was a prospective randomized intervention study and 19 persons with impingement symptoms (mean ± standard deviation; 58 ± 18 years, and shoulder pain duration 3.9 ± 1.6 months) were randomized into two groups. The groups were tested before, directly after and 3 weeks after treatment.

This study aimed to investigate whether there was a correlation between an individual?s selfesteem and search for confirmation on social media. The study also sought to answer whether there were differences in self-esteem and search for confirmation from a gender perspective. In this study social media was defined as Instagram. The choice was founded on the basis that Instagram in the current situation is one of the world's largest social media that allows users to share their everydaylife in pictures, which are commented and ?liked? by other users.

This thesis has been carried out in cooperation with a company which develops mobile sensor platforms. The sensors measure different types of data such as temperature, pressure etc.. They will communicate through the internet with a server that stores data in a database. This system will be controlled and monitored through a web page. The project's aim has been to develop this system and to implement a server, a database, a website and a client application that simulates sensor signals.