Today there is a widespread opinion that the woodmarket and the forest industry are dominated by a traditional way of thinking and not adapted to the customers of today; a lot of products are produced purely on routine. Also, there is a demand for improving the quality of sawn woodproducts. AB Karl Hedin wants to sort this out by increasingly adapt their products to the demands of the market, i.e. through introducing a short wallstud of standard length, "Hedinregeln". At tirst, the wallstud will be produced in lengths of 2,70 m and of guaranteed quality.

This study was conducted on behalf of SCA forest AB, Västerbottens forest administration. Timber procurement from non-industrial private forest owners has become an increasingly important part of SCA:s wood supply. The objectives of this study was to report the current forest conditions in the private forests in the county of Västerbotten, analyse the potential for procurement of wood from private forest owners, and provide a basis for decisions on future strategies for timber procurement from private owners.Material and data have been collected from different sources, mainly from Swedish National Forest Inventory and SKA-VB08. This material was the basis for the analysis and calculations performed with the Heureka application PlanWise. This study area was divided into six different analytical areas (Coastal south, Coastal middle, Lycksele, Inland south, Inland north, Skellefteå), where each area of analysis is represented by a number of municipalities.In this study, two scenarios were specified; one describing the current forest management with current harvesting levels and the effects of these assumptions, the second to illuminate what potential there is for future timber harvesting.

This report discusses questions concerning wear on forest roads. The purpose of the work is to investigate if the wear on the roads will decrease when the speed limit gets lower for the trucks that transport the wood. A normal forest road, class B, was used in the study. In total 5000 m3f timber was transported on the road. Data about the road was measured with a profilograph car before and after the timber transport.

The aim of this thesis is to investigate which the main determinants of capital structure in Swedish listed firms are and to identify which incentives lies behind managers choice of capital structure determinants. Further, the study investigates whether the Post Keynesian theory and theories which incorporate behavioral aspects can be used to explain the capital structure decisions or if the traditional Neoclassical theory give an better explanation. We have used a qualitative method to analyze the determinants of capital structure and the managers incentives behind capital structure decision. We conducted a survey which was sent to 83 Chief Financial Managers and financial executives in Swedish firms listed on Mid Cap or Large Cap. The questionnaire was on-line which enabled for the respondents to quickly and convenient respond.

The purpose of this thesis is to test whether firms have target capital structure, and if so with what speed they adjust toward this target. Findings that support this purpose are also in line with the trade off theory. One of the key elements of this thesis is the method used, which successfully enables fulfilling the purpose. The panel data method captures the data characteristics of the cross sectional and time series dimension. By using this approach the dynamic effects of capital structure can be studied, thus if there actually is an adjustment towards a target the speed can be estimated.

The industrialized timber housing process is capable nowadays to build multi-storeyhouses since fairly new changes in the Swedish regulations where made after theadmission of the European Union in 1994.The industrialized process moves parts of the construction process into a highlyeffective factory where 3D-volumes of the building are prefabricated beforetransportation to the building site for assemble.The assembly process is relatively effective compared to the completion of thebuilding service system and this is therefore the main focus in this thesis. This thesisattends problems with completion of the building service system, and thereforedemarcates from other aspects, such as technical and economic aspects, of thebuilding service system.The degree of completion of the flats differs from completion of the connectivepassages, for example hallways, in a way that suggests a need for further investigation.This thesis includes analysis of the possibilities to increase the prefabricatedconnective passages, to the extent of containing building service systems.An increase of the prefabrication of the building service system has a greatdevelopment potential, even though some restraining factors need to be solvedbefore implementation.This thesis was made in collaboration with two of Sweden?s leading companies on themarket of multi-storey industrialized timber housing, Moelven ByggModul AB andLindbäcks Bygg AB..

At the beginning of the 1970´s forestry feared an imbalance in the future wood supply. Because of this anticipated "timber slump" forest companies undertook a variety of measures to counter this. One of these measures was the introduction of exotic tree species. The choice finally ended up with lodgepole pines which were considered a fast growing tree species compared to our native tree species. Theambition for the new lodgepole pine stands were to run these with rotation periods of between 40-60 years, thus smoothing out the ?timber slump? that was anticipated.

The purpose of this research is to identify how E-NGO and forest stakeholders, in the study referred to as non-state actors, have influenced the EU timber regulation; through participation and lobbyism towards the decision- makers (policy makers) at EU and national level, to achieve adjustments in the legislative text. The study also examines the relationships between the forest stakeholders, the E-NGOs and the EU-institutions, regarding communication, cooperation, informal and formal consultation where interviews were accomplished with decision-makers from the EU-institutions, forest stakeholders, E-NGOS and representatives from Swedish authorities that participated under the development of the EUTR during the period of 2008-2013. The participation and lobbying from non-state actors have most likely affected the outcome of the regulation, through alterations in the legislative text and through influencing the EU-institutions. Several factors that have affected the efficiency and timing of the influence have been identified through interviews as well as various approaches to influence the decision makers. The findings of the study may be useful for forest related interest groups that are involved in decision-making procedures at EU-level and as substance and material for further research in the subject of forest policy making at supranational level..

The costs of logging and of transportation with truck are dominating the total cost of wood delivered at industry. To support the profitability for the members' forestry the processing and handling with the timber has to be as efficient as possible. Increased length of pulpwood in thinning is one conduct that can result in higher productivity and/or lower costs. The study is scaled as a system analysis with the aim to exemplify the differences between working with 3- and 4-meter as standard length of pulpwood, related to biological aspects, timber receipts, cost of logging and cost of transportation with truck. Important aspects are if the change is technically and biologically feasible and economically profitable.

During the autumn of 2008 I obtained office experience by working at the local government of Örnsköldsvik. I started working on the district green plan of the green structure and that led to the work of this exam paper. The purpose of this exam paper has been to define some standpoints for the green structure of the local government district of Örnsköldsvik. I have used both a larger and a smaller scale to obtain a wide a perspective as possible of the green structure. The larger scale gives an overall view of the whole municipality while the smaller scale is found in the study of the two local areas Centrum and Domsjö. For the local government planning to be able to obtain an agreeable level of verdure to the residents it is necessary that the green structure is brought up on the agenda.

This master thesis concerns whether Swedish non-financial listed firms act in accordance with the optimal capital structure theory and/or pecking order theory. The examined period is 1998-2004 and we discover that Swedish companies neither follow optimal capital structure theory nor pecking order theory. From our results we conclude that there exists no single point of the capital structure which is optimal. Rather it seems as if the optimal point lies in-between an interval from 0 to the industry average, where firms tend to be indifferent to their debt-ratios. Our results show that Swedish companies prefer internal financing followed by equity and as last choice debt issuance..

Background: A company?s choice of capital structure is influenced by the access to internal and external capital but also by the opportunities and threats that the management perceives in the environment and the management?s attitude towards risk. How an individual perceives and interpret the environment depends on the cognitive structures, which are shaped by personality, background and earlier experiences. Accordingly cognitive structures can be expected to influence the choice of capital structure. Purpose: Out of a cognitive perspective we intend to study the relationship between the way a company views it?s environment and what capital structure it chooses to have, in order to contribute to an increased understanding about what lies behind a company?s capital structure policy.

The change of the Real property index map has met a lot of resistance in Dalarna.This is the reason that the parcel?s reform has not had the same impact in Dalarnaas in the rest of Sweden. In addition, even ?Laga skifte? (the reformation on propertystructure) was never effected in most areas of Dalarna. This has lead to thatDalarna has a unique property structure with many small and narrow parcels.Some argue, however, that the property structure has been the same for many centuries.The purpose of this thesis is therefore to study how the property structurelooked before ?storskifte? (the reformation on property structure) was done, howit was when äganderättsutredningen (the adjudication), in the 1970s, was accomplished,and finally how the structure looks when land consolidation has been implemented.For the template of the studies, seven different villages were chosen.The basis for the study was comprised of acts for each stage and each village.The study showed that change in property structure has occurred.

In the current situation a big part ofthe settlements that exist in Sweden isin need of renovation and energyefficiency in order to survive.Therefore, also many of the older houseswith a wooden structure are in a need ofenergy efficiency, which can be done ina variety of ways, including addinginsulation.This project deals with whether the useof a diffusion barrier or a vaporbarrier affects a wall structure byadding insulation to an older house witha timber frame. The insulation materialswhich are concidered in thisinvestigation are mineral wool and woodfiber insulation. Efforts are focused onthe effects of moisture on theseinsulation materials.To demonstrate the differences thatarise the moisture measurement programWUFI have been used to simulate avariety of wall designs. These designsare developed in consultation with theconstruction carers who are active inthe industry.Using WUFI graphs illustrating themoisture levels of the wall structureswere obtained and from these conclusionsvould be drawn. The work demonstratesthe differences that arise when using adiffusion barrier or vapor barrier inwall construction.

Husqvarna is a world leading producer of chainsaws with a well-established brand name. Husqvarna now has an interest in investigating the possibiltiy to expand their production of chains and guide bars to include cutting equipment for timber-harvesters.This project is a technical study which aims to answer questions about cutting equipment for timber-harvesters that have been decided in cooperation with Husqvarna. The questions have mainly been focused on forces, cutting speeds, service and maintenance -as well as general questions regarding the size of the Swedish market.Two methods have been applied to answer the questions. Interviews with retailers of harvesters, producers of harvester heads and harvester drivers.The main findings in this project show that there is a relatively small selection of harvester chains on the Swedish market. In contrast to the selection of harvester chains the selection of guide bars is quite large.