This research seeks to determine the necessary conditions for the United States to host another Olympic Games. To lay the foundation for my research, I historically trace the declining number of cities bidding for the Olympics. While exogenous factors such as political protests, terrorist acts, and boycotts contribute to a decline in the number of candidate cities from 1968 to 1984, modern disinterest in hosting the Olympics is motivated by endogenous dynamics derived from the bidding process. To determine how the bidding process affects the likelihood of hosting the Olympics and uncover the roots of successful bids, I analyze four case studies of former United States bids. These case studies include: Denver’s withdrawn bid for the 1976 Winter Olympics, Los Angeles’ successful bid for the 1984 Games, Boston’s relinquished bid for the 2024 Olympics, and consequentially, Los Angeles’ bid for the 2024 Olympics. I argue the structure of the bidding process inherently favors special interests with the most to gain from hosting the Games at the expense of the city as a whole. Stemming from the central condition of public support, I deduce six underlying conditions that are pivotal for successful bids: 1) the use of existing facilities and infrastructure; 2) absence of opposition groups; 3) private funding; 4) ‘insurance’ measures against cost overruns; 5) alignment of Olympic plans and urban development; and 6) greater use of the region. These conditions do not guarantee a successful Olympic bid, but are fundamental for the Olympic Games to return to the United States.

I Sverige är bostadsmarknaden ett centralt och återkommande samtalsämne i såväl folkmun som media. Hetsiga budgivningar och en oreglerad lagstiftning har medfört att parterna ifrågasatt huruvida processen varit korrekt, och vidare skapat misstro mot hela fastighetsmäklarbranschen. Avsaknaden av strikt lagreglering, mer specifikt bindande bud, kan ha en bidragande effekt till att bostadsmarknaden ser hetare ut än vad den är. Detta då spekulanter kan delta i flertalet budgivningar samtidigt utan intentionen att faktiskt genomföra ett köp. En tänkbar förändring för ett mer hållbart klimat på bostadsmarknaden är därför att införa bindande bud. En utredning kring huruvida detta är applicerbart har legat som grund för denna uppsats. För att undersöka detta har en komparation gjorts mellan det svenska systemet och våra grannländer Norge och Danmark som har andra utgångspunkter där budgivningsprocesserna lyder under betydligt striktare lagrum. En kvalitativ metod har använts där primärdata har insamlats genom intervjuer med representanter från såväl tillsynsmyndigheter, branschorganisationer samt praktiker aktiva i branschen. Detta tillsammans med sekundärdata från bland annat mediala artiklar har påvisat en rådande meningsskiljaktighet huruvida det finns en önskan om att införa bindande bud i Sverige. Ett sammanslaget resultat visar på att ett införande av en modell likt den norska skulle ha en svalkande och hälsosam effekt på bostadsmarknaden. Författarna är dock oeniga om inom vilken tidsram ett införande skulle ske då justeringen av lagen skulle vara tidskrävande. Önskvärt skulle därför, som ett första steg, vara att i närtid införa obligatorisk Id-kontroll av samtliga budgivare. Detta för att skapa ett seriösare och säkrare klimat för såväl köpare som säljare. / Throughout the years, the Swedish housing market has been a central topic for discussions. Over inflated biddings and a lack of regulating law regarding the bidding process has resulted in questions regarding the process correctness and has created a distrust towards the Swedish real estate brokers. The lack of regulations which makes it possible for a bidder to participate in more than one bidding at the same time without any intention of actually buying, might have a contributing effect to making the real estate market look hotter than it in reality is. One solution to the problem could be to implement binding bids. Whether or not that is a possibility is the foundation for this thesis. A comparison between the Swedish, Norwegian and Danish law has been made to examine this. A qualitative method has been used where the primary data has been collected through interviews with respondents from the regulators, trade organizations and active practitioners. Together with secondary data including articles published in media has shown a divided opinion regarding the problem. A conclusion has been drawn that an implementation of the Norwegian model will have a dampening and sound effect on the Swedish real estate market. The authors of this thesis are in a disagreement on the time frame of the implementation. Due to the long process of changing the law a first desirable step would be the implementation of ID-control when placing a bid. This could contribute to a more serious and secure climate for both sellers and buyers.

The growing penetration of variable renewable energy has brought all-round challenges to the current power system, no matter for the grid infrastructure, market design or the power producers. The positive and negative externalities caused by the market participators are to be finer priced and a significant amount of flexibility is to be added to the system, in order to counter these problems and facilitate energy transition. The flexibility providers range from dispatchable sources such as thermal generators and gas turbines, interruptible data centers and electric vehicle clusters, to direct and indirect storage such as battery and hydrogen. The intermittency of variable renewable energies can be effectively managed combining with these flexibility providers, and the more expectable output can lead to the more expectable income.  This study investigated a wind-biogas-hydrogen hybrid system, and biogas plays the role of ramping the system up and down according to different situations. When there is a wind deficit, the biogas-to-power unit is activated to compensate for the gap; when there is a wind surplus, the extra power is fed to the biogas pyrolysis equipment and produces hydrogen. To figure out its performance in the power market, a Supply Function Equilibrium approach for the day-ahead market is adopted and extended to the active participation in the balancing market under a two-price settlement scheme. Selling the hydrogen, meanwhile, earns the system additional revenue from the hydrogen market. Given these settings, twelve scenarios of operation mode are proposed and their marginal costs are derived. Results show that the supply function of the system follows the price signal in the balancing market and as well is determined by the cost of activating the flexibility components. By aggregating the Karush-Kuhn-Tucker (KKT) conditions from all the scenarios, the bidding price that maximizes the system profit can thus be obtained.

The housing market in Sweden has been a central debate topic in media during the past few years. The increase of prices in the big cities has caused hectic auctions that leaves the bidders to question whether the process really passed as it should. The bidding process has today no regulation by law and it is therefore up to the seller to decide how he wants it to proceed. This brings consequences in form of unhappy customers that does not know what to expect of this process.One solution, that has been discussed in media already, is to make the bidding process more safe by making the bids legally binding. This thesis is written in order to find out how this kind of regulation would change the swedish housing market. To do so we will investigate the system in Norway to see how they handle the binding bids.The investigation is based on interviews with industry professionals that has knowledge of the subject. The interviews showed that there is split opinions about whether binding bids in the housing market would be a good regulation since both advantages and disadvantages were discussed. The regulation of the law is comprehensive and it would take many years to process before it would be applied. Thus the result of the investigation is that both the real estate industry as well as the customers will need time to adapt to the new law, since it is a major change. On the other hand, binding bids would contribute to a safer bidding process in the sense that the risk of false bids probably would be eliminated. That in combination with a slower and more serious bidding process makes the regulation reasonable in the long run. / The housing market in Sweden has been a central debate topic in media during the past few years. The increase of prices in the big cities has caused hectic auctions that leaves the bidders to question whether the process really passed as it should. The bidding process has today no regulation by law and it is therefore up to the seller to decide how he wants it to proceed. This brings consequences in form of unhappy customers that does not know what to expect of this process.One solution, that has been discussed in media already, is to make the bidding process more safe by making the bids legally binding. This thesis is written in order to find out how this kind of regulation would change the swedish housing market. To do so we will investigate the system in Norway to see how they handle the binding bids.The investigation is based on interviews with industry professionals that has knowledge of the subject. The interviews showed that there is split opinions about whether binding bids in the housing market would be a good regulation since both advantages and disadvantages were discussed. The regulation of the law is comprehensive and it would take many years to process before it would be applied. Thus the result of the investigation is that both the real estate industry as well as the customers will need time to adapt to the new law, since it is a major change. On the other hand, binding bids would contribute to a safer bidding process in the sense that the risk of false bids probably would be eliminated. That in combination with a slower and more serious bidding process makes the regulation reasonable in the long run.

Fenomenet ”såld före visning” är i dagsläget inte lika förekommande som för enbart något år sedan. Detta beror huvudsakligen på att marknaden stabiliserats. Vår studie går ut på att undersöka hur såld före visning påverkar mäklare, säljare och köpare. Varför vi valde att studera just såld före visning är för att det är ett fenomen som förekommer i de flesta marknadssituationer, men där fenomenet ökar markant i frekvens i vissa situationer och i vissa marknadstillstånd. Vi ville försöka förstå vilka konsekvenser fenomenet får på huvudintressenterna vid en bostadsrättsaffär. Vi har kartlagt hur en traditionell försäljning kan se ut för att se hur denna skiljer sig från en försäljning där objektet sålts före visning. För att få svar på de frågeställningar vi tagit fram, utfördes intervjuer med fyra mäklare samt en mäklarassistent från fem olika fastighetsförmedlingsföretag.  Den slutsats vi kom fram till är att såld före visning kan förekomma i alla typer av marknadsklimat, men fenomenet är klart mest förekommande när bostadsmarknaden är stark eller ännu mer när marknaden är överhettad. Vi bedömer att såld före visning ibland kan innebära vissa fördelar för parterna, om än i olika omfattning beroende på situation. Vår bedömning är att fenomenet såld före visning är mer negativ än positiv, som helhet setttill hur det påverkar både köpare, säljare och inte minst mäklare. Utöver detta har vi funnitstöd från myndigheter och utredare, vilka pekar på att en dysfunktionell bostadsmarknad kanfå stor negativ påverkan på den totala ekonomin i landet, vilket naturligtvis även påverkarindividerna i grupperingarna köpare, säljare och mäklare.Vi menar också att lagstiftaren velat förse marknaden med regler så att ingen part i enbostadsaffär ska bli förfördelad, dvs. att varje affär ska göras upp under så rättvisaförhållanden som möjligt.Vår rekommendation är att om det inte är genomförbart att via lagstiftning ellermyndighetsbeslut begränsa alltför snabba affärer genom att införa en mer långtgåendeundersökningsplikt och/eller tvång till öppna visningar med krav på minimitid mellan visningoch avslut – vilket vore det mest verkningsfulla – så borde bostadsmarknadensintresseorganisationer kunna utverka betydligt mer kraftfulla rekommendationer, i sammaandemening som nämnt ovan, så att hastigheten i bostadsaffärerna på detta sätt bromsas uppäven i den mest överhettade bostadsmarknad. / The phenomenon "sold before viewing" is currently not as common in the Swedish housing market as in previous years. The main reason for this is that the housing market has stabilized. Our study focuses on examining why pre-viewing purchases occurs, the reason as well as how brokers, sellers and buyers are affected.  We have chosen to study sold before viewing because today this phenomenon is constantly recurring - more frequent in certain situations and even more so at certain market climates. We want to understand what consequences the phenomenon has on the different parties of a housing deal. We have looked into what a traditional sale looks like in order to see how it differs from a deal where the object is sold before viewing. In order to answer the questions we raised, interviews were conducted with four different brokers, as well as one broker assistant from various real estate agencies.  The conclusion we reached is that sold before viewing can occur in all types of market climate, but the phenomenon is clearly most common when the housing market is strong or even more so when the market is overheated. We estimate that pre-viewing purchases can provide benefits to all parties of varying degrees depending on the situation,  Our standpoint is that the consequences of the phenomenon sold before viewing is more negative than positive, taking an overall view over how it affects the buyer, the seller and even more so the broker. On top of that we have found support from authorities and researchers pointing at that a dysfunctional housing market can have severe negative effect on the total national economy – which of course also affects the individuals as well.  We have also taken in the view that the legislator has attempted to provide the market with rules so that no party is compromised, and that all business are being executed at as fair terms as possible. Our recommendation is that if it’s not doable to legislate around excessively fast business in the housing market, thus by law force buyers to a duty of examination, and/or force sellers to execute open viewings with a minimum of days between viewing and closing a deal – which would have an immediate effect – stakeholders such as branch organizations, should express much more powerful recommendations, as those mentioned above, so that the velocity of housing business is slowing down even in the most overheated market.

No description available.

The City of Stockholm has undergone a curious process of considering whether to launch a bid for the 2026 Winter Olympic Games. That Stockholm has contemplated launching a bid is not surprising from a regional perspective—the Olympic Games have not been held in a Scandinavian country since Lillehammer, Norway played host in 1994 and Sweden has never hosted the Winter Olympics. A potential bid from Stockholm would also be consistent with Sweden's self-identification and embracement of being a 'sportive nation'. Failed applications by the Swedish cities of Gothenburg, Falun, and Östersund to host the Winter Olympic Games confirm the long-standing interest of the Swedish Olympic Committee to secure the Games, although it should be noted that the Swedish Olympic Committee did not submit a bid for the 2006, 2010, 2014 or 2018 Winter Olympic Games competitions. Although recent reports indicate that Stockholm will not vie for the 2026 Winter Olympic Games, the notion that the city was even considering the option remains surprising. Stockholm had withdrawn its bid from the 2022 bidding competition citing a variety of concerns including a lack of government and public support, financial uncertainty, as well as the post-event viability of purpose-built infrastructure. Stockholm's withdrawal from the 2022 competition resonates with the growing apprehension by potential bid cities (especially those emerging from democratic countries) towards the Olympic Games. This thesis seeks to illustrate that Stockholm's Olympic hopes have book-ended a transformative period in the Olympic bidding process and to expose the struggle that bid cities have in adjusting to the demands of the IOC's bidding process. / Master of Science

Participating in the ancillary services market, alongside the day-ahead market, can be economically beneficial for market actors. However, adopting an optimal bidding strategy is not straight forward. The decision-making process is subject to uncertainty, due to the prices being unknown before gate closure times. Furthermore, at some instances, the day-ahead production schedule might have to change to obtain the ability of reserving capacity. Previous research have studied the gains of adopting a coordinated bidding strategy. However, most of this research focus on the day-ahead market and the intraday market. Less focus it put on the ancillary services market. Additionally, smaller case studies are often carried out in previous research. For producers owning multiple power plants, treating every plant individually turns into a time consuming and complex process. This project constructs a model that instead uses a top-down approach. A system of hydropower plants is aggregated into one curve, representing the water valuation. This, together with a representation of available capacity for the system, gives the cost of delivering capacity. The cost is incurred through not producing optimally on the day-ahead market. Thereafter, modern portfolio theory is applied when determining how to allocate between the different products. Modifications to the traditional theory are made in order to better suit this context. Price forecasts are modelled as expected return, and historical price forecasting errors represents the risk. The model output is bid ladders for all capacity ancillary services. A top-down approach makes it possible for large scale producers to adopt the methodology, and results in a structured way of constructing the bids, while aiming at spreading the risk.

O objetivo deste trabalho é analisar o sistema de franchise bidding como uma alternativa à regulação tradicional, tomando-se como exemplo as concessões de rodovias, tanto do ponto de vista teórico como empírico. A partir do estudo de caso envolvendo o programa de concessões rodoviárias gaúchas, o presente trabalho realizou uma análise comparativa entre o sistema de franchise bidding, também conhecido na literatura como leilão de Demsetz (1968), e a regulação direta, identificando-se os principais pressupostos teóricos, as características e os problemas enfrentados e, ainda, as similaridades e diferenças existentes entre os dois modelos propostos. Os resultados obtidos confirmam o diagnóstico realizado por Williamson (1976), indicando que regulação e franchise bidding diferem somente na forma e não em espécie. / The aim of this study is to analyze franchise bidding as an alternative to traditional regulatory systems, approaching both empirically and theoretically the highway concessions as an example. Taking the highway concession program from the state of Rio Grande do Sul as a study case, this study compares the franchise bidding system, also known in the literature as Demsetz bidding (1968), with direct regulation and identifies the main theoretical assumptions, characteristics and problems experienced as well as the similarities and differences between both models. The results confirm Williamson’s (1976) diagnosis showing that regulation and franchise bidding differ only in form rather than kind.

O objetivo deste trabalho é analisar o sistema de franchise bidding como uma alternativa à regulação tradicional, tomando-se como exemplo as concessões de rodovias, tanto do ponto de vista teórico como empírico. A partir do estudo de caso envolvendo o programa de concessões rodoviárias gaúchas, o presente trabalho realizou uma análise comparativa entre o sistema de franchise bidding, também conhecido na literatura como leilão de Demsetz (1968), e a regulação direta, identificando-se os principais pressupostos teóricos, as características e os problemas enfrentados e, ainda, as similaridades e diferenças existentes entre os dois modelos propostos. Os resultados obtidos confirmam o diagnóstico realizado por Williamson (1976), indicando que regulação e franchise bidding diferem somente na forma e não em espécie. / The aim of this study is to analyze franchise bidding as an alternative to traditional regulatory systems, approaching both empirically and theoretically the highway concessions as an example. Taking the highway concession program from the state of Rio Grande do Sul as a study case, this study compares the franchise bidding system, also known in the literature as Demsetz bidding (1968), with direct regulation and identifies the main theoretical assumptions, characteristics and problems experienced as well as the similarities and differences between both models. The results confirm Williamson’s (1976) diagnosis showing that regulation and franchise bidding differ only in form rather than kind.