Sammanfattning Datum:         23 mars 2012 Nivå:             Kandidatuppsats i Företagsekonomi, 15 hp Författare:   Hanna Jüllig, Johan Ottosson Handledare: Ulf Olsson Nyckelord:   Meritokrati, kompetens, heterogenitetsindex, styrelsesammansättning, Nasdaq OMX Nordic Stockholm, avkastning   Titel:             ”Åsidosätter man meritokratins krafter så kommer kapitalismen att gå åt helvete” – En undersökning av korrelation mellan heterogenitet inom bolagsstyrelser noterade på Nasdaq OMX Nordic Stockholm och avkastning.   Syfte:            Föreliggande promemoria syftar till att undersöka hur ett heterogenitetsindex och dess undervariabler eventuellt korrelerar med avkastning mätt som räntabilitet på sysselsatt och eget kapital för en population bestående av bolag noterade på OMX år 2009. Författarna anser att diskussionen kring heterogenitet bör vidgas till att innefatta även andra variabler än endast jämn könsfördelning och hoppas att konstruerandet av ett heterogenitetsindex kan komma att bidra till debatten kring effekterna av mångfald inom bolagsstyrelser.   Teori:           Den etablerade teorin på området påvisar de fördelar som finns kopplade till en heterogen grupp i allmänhet och en bolagsstyrelse i synnerhet. Fem huvudsakliga variabler utkristalliseras och diskuteras i förhållande till avkastning: Könsfördelning, Åldersspridning, Utbildningsbakgrund, Tid i styrelsen och Sektorerfarenhet.   Metod:          Studien har en deduktiv ansats och utgår därmed från etablerad teori inom ämnet för att medelst empiri undersöka denna. Undersökningen är kvantitativ och data rörande de fem variablerna som diskuteras i teorin har samlats in från årsredovisningar för bolag noterade på Nasdaq OMX Nordic Stockholm under 2009. Dessa variabler har getts indextal som vägts samman till ett heterogenitetsindex.   Slutsats:        Studiens heterogenitetsindex har ett svagt samband med avkastning. Korrelationen mellan studiens undervariabler och avkastning varierade kraftigt beroende på vilken variabel som undersöktes. Resultaten skiljde sig även dem kraftigt mellan olika börs- och företagsspecifika kategorier där korrelationen mellan dessa och avkastning varierade mellan genomgående svagt negativa samband till starkt positiva samband.

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In this thesis the survival and development of a yearly recurring event will be examined. The purpose of this work is to examine how the festival Stockholm Pride has developed and to find out what underlying factors and conditions that lays behind the development. Also being examined is how the event affects Stockholm city’s tourism industry. To be able to fulfill the purpose of the thesis a qualitative research has been used and two persons with allot of knowledge about Stockholm Pride and Stockholm’s tourism industry has been interviewed. Complementary data has been selected in the form of statistics over the number of visitors and nights spent in Stockholm and a project description about development and marketing has been analyzed. The result of the collected data has then been analyzed with the help of earlier theories and research and has led to a conclusion. With these components the purpose of the thesis has been fulfilled.   The analysis of the result and theories leads to the conclusion that Stockholm Pride both as a festival and an organization from its stars has developed and grown in size, however the development has not always been consistent but has had its downfalls. There are many factors leading to the positive development, examples are the hosting cities commitment and the target groups travelling pattern. The festival has a tendency to only affect Stockholm’s tourism industry in a positive way and attracts visitors and contributes to the city’s image.

Smaller cities are the future metropolis of tomorrow, it is in them that we should plan and improve the quality of life now for the years to come. It is with this in mind that Stockholm, with 2,125,000 inhabitants and 9 different modes of transportation, was selected after an extensive research of over 500 cities around the world. Through their 'Vision 2030: The Walkable City,' Stockholm puts their attention into a long-term sustainability with several key projects, which include Hagastaden and Albano. Already in advanced stages, these proposals do not live up to the standard already demonstrated by previous projects in the city in terms of sustainability and quality of life. Their close location to each other, surrounded by three major universities and untouched nature, provides the opportunity to connect back to the landscape through a series of 'green networks' that condition the new urban form. As well, three strategies are implemented: social, transportation and sustainability strategies. The creation of a vibrant neighborhood can be achieved through a strong community with a particular focus in children, safety, mixture of uses, access to sunlight and flexible spaces. Being placed in proximity to at least five different modes of transportation provides the residents and workers the relief of car ownership; strengthened by shared vehicles located in underground parking facilities accessed via public spaces. These social and transportation strategies work together under the 'Hammarby Model' of sustainability that handles water, waste and energy in an efficient closed loop implemented in Hammarby Sjöstad (1999) and Royal Seaport (2011). / text

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This is a study to see the relationship between earnings per share and dividends during a period of both boom and depression. The study will focus on companies listed on Stockholm stock exchange and see if they follow theories from the past and if the dividend is smooth over times with a fluctuant economy. To see this we had this problem: Is it a relationship between earnings per share and dividend during a fluctuant economy, also if there is a difference between the different Caps on Stockholm stock exchange? We studied 163 stocks of the 293 listed stock on Stockholm stock exchange during a period of 8 years. The study is focused on the time period between year 2005 and year 2012. We used IBM SPSS statistics to see the correlation and regression between earnings per share and dividend and analysed that. We used Microsoft Excel to make graphs and analysed them. The study didn’t find any strong relationship between earnings per share and dividend. The strongest connection we found was for companies listed on Small Cap where the correlation was 0,461. The weakest connection that was found was for companies listed as Mid Cap where the correlation was 0,211. For companies listed as Large Cap the correlation was 0,283.

Using Lancaster’s characteristics approach to consumer theory the study investigates the impact of a variety of characteristics on the rates charged for hotel rooms in Stockholm. In particular, it examines how a number of these characteristics explain variations in room rates between weekdays and weekends. Data for 105 observations (weekday sample) and 110 observations (weekend sample) were extracted from 49 hotels in and around the Swedish capital of Stockholm from the Internet-based hotel booking site hotels.com. Based on semilog regression analysis three models for the whole sample, weekday sample and weekend sample were estimated. The results show that the provision of breakfast, distance from the city center, availability of minibar in a room, provision of free cancellation option, average room size, number of guest rooms (hotel size) and hotel star rating have significant effects on both weekday and weekend room rates. By contrast, the presence of bathroom and the provision of free parking space turned out to be insignificant in both models; whereas the provision of a 24-hour room service and association with hotel chain appear to be significant only in the weekday model. The impact of the star variable is also found to be more pronounced during the weekdays than weekends. These results are expected to shed light on which hotel characteristics consumers have to pay extra, and enhance hotel managers’ strategic pricing. The study also highlights the critical role of a proper definition and measurement of the hotel star rating in hedonic pricing.Many hedonic studies have regressed the number of stars, which are ordinal measures of quality that indicate the relative ranking of hotels, in their cardinal sense. As a result, they have failed to measure the impact of each rating independently. To solve this recurrent problem, the study attempts to provide another method of quantifying the star variable whereby one can accurately measure the star rating and capture the impact of each rating independently by creating “one less dummy variable than there are alternatives”. It is hoped that this will inspire further research and analysis.

Dagens äldreomsorg kantas av kvalitetsproblem och arbetsmiljöproblem vilket titt som tätt uppdagas i olika mediala skandaler. Sedan en tid tillbaka har äldreomsorgen i Stockholm konkurrensutsatts och idag bedrivs lite mindre än hälften av stadens vård- och omsorgsboenden av privata utförare. Samtidigt anklagas vinstdrivna bolag för att ta ut höga avkastningar istället för att satsa på kvalitén. I denna studie undersöks hur Stockholms stad följer upp och säkerställer att privata utförare tillhandahåller en god äldreomsorg. Studien visar på att kvalitén i dessa verksamheter är komplex att följa upp och kräver en relation präglad av tillit och förtroende mellan kommun och utförare, och uppföljningen har visat sig likna biktens funktion inom den katolska kyrkan.  Detta står i konflikt med hur avtalen med utförarna är utformade. Avtalen bygger på en traditionell avtalssyn vilken innebär en misstro till att utförarna kommer fullfölja sina åtaganden. Kontroll och sanktioner är byggstenar i att säkerställa avtalsefterlevnad. Att avtal och avtalsuppföljning är utformade med olika inställning till utförare innebär att det finns utrymme för vinstdrivna bolag att göra avkall på de sociala kvalitetsaspekterna av äldreomsorgen till förmån för högre avkastning. Skulle så hända har kommunen få möjligheter att sanktionera detta agerande.

This paper documents how Swedish firms implemented and executed open-market sharerepurchases over the period 2000 to 2007 by using a unique hand-collected data set withdetailed information of each repurchase transaction. I find that my sample firms have a higherrepurchase fraction in the first half of the repurchase year. Analysis of liquidity of stocksoffers mixed results as the first proxy, turnover, improves in the second half of the program,whereas the Amihud measure of illiquidity indicates lower liquidity. Positive abnormalreturns following approval of the repurchase program is documented and large repurchaseprograms are associated with higher abnormal returns. My multivariate analysis indicates apositive correlation between abnormal return and repurchase size. Finally, I also find thatmanagers in repurchasing firms exhibit market timing skill, a skill which is more pronouncedfor firms with multiple programs. / This version: July 2009

Zugl.: Würzburg, Univ., Diss., 2007