Informe de Seminario para optar al grado de Licenciado en Lengua y Literatura Inglesa

Bakgrund: OECD har tillsammans med G20-länderna beslutat att koncerner skall skatterapportera i enlighet med ett nytt underlag utifrån en ny lagstiftning, som heter Country-By-Country-rapportering (CbCr). Detta innebär att företagen skall börja rapportera bland annat betald skatt och sina anställda per jurisdiktion där företaget verkar och på så vis kommer en ökad transparens inom skatteredovisning att ske. Ur myndigheters synpunkt är detta en ändring mot det positiva, men frågan blir vad företagen och dess koncernskattechefer anser om denna ändring i skatteraportering. Syfte: Uppsatsens syfte är att identifiera och beskriva koncernskattechefers attityder till en ny lagstiftning som ändrar dagens skatterapportering genom CbCr som leder till en ökad transparens i skatteredovisningen, samt att se vad som påverkar identifierad attityd. Denna studie kommer att bidra genom att ge ett empiriskt underlag som öppnar för framtida forskning kring attityder hos koncernskattechefer vid den ökade transparensen i skatteredovisning. Studien ger också ett kunskapsunderlag för statliga myndigheter, i synnerhet skattemyndigheter, och för berörda koncerner samt svenskt näringsliv. Metod: Genom en kvalitativ metod med  intervjuer av koncernskattechefer hos 8 stora koncerner samt skatteverket har empiriskt material samlats in som leder till en vidare analys och slutsats. Slutsats: De mest framträdande resultaten i denna uppsats har varit att en del koncernskattechefer ser samband mellan skatt och socialt ansvar och är därmed positiva till implementeringen eftersom det kommer att stärka det sociala kontraktet. Andra koncernskattechefer ser risker med CbCr och ökade kostnader och därmed minskade incitamentsersättningar och har en negativ attityd till en ökad transparens i skatteredovisningen. / Background: A decision made by OECD, together with G20-countries says that Corporate Groups shall report report tax according to new guideline, called Country-By-Country-reporting. This means that corporate groups for example will report tax paid per jurisdiction and therefore will the tax transparency be increased. According to  authorities, the new implementation is positive but the question is whether the corporate groups and their corporate group tax managers will be positive or not. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to identify and explain attitudes of tax managers when a new legislation changes today´s tax reporting in the form of a CbC-report which will increase transparency in the tax reporting, and what elements are behind these identified attitudes.This study will contribute by giving an empirical material thats opens to further research about corporate group tax managers attitudes with increased tax transparency. The study also gives better knowledge for public authorities, particularly the tax authority and to concerned corporate groups. Method: Through a qualitative method with interviews with corporate group tax managers with 8 large corporate groups and tax authorities, empirical material has been gathered, which leads to further analysis and a conclusion. Conclusion: The most prominent results in this essay has been the fact that some corporate group tax managers sees the connection between tax and social responsibility and therefor are positive to the implementation because it will strengthen the social contract.Other corporate group tax managers sees the hazards with CbCr and appurtenant costs and therefor decreased incentive compensation. These corporate group tax managers have a negative attitudes towards an increased tax transparency.

Place branding scholars and practitioners increasingly highlight the influence that corporate image can exert on the image of the country of origin (COI). Yet, there is remarkably little theoretical and empirical research on this influence. In this qualitative and quantitative study the researcher aims (1) to analyse whether corporate image affects COI; (2) to identify consumer-related and company-related factors that affect the influence of corporate image on COI; (3) to examine the influence of corporate image- (net valence and consistency) and corporate-related factors (number of corporate brands and accessibility) on COI; (4) to investigate the moderating effects of corporate familiarity, business familiarity and consumer ethnocentrism on the influence of corporate image-related factors on COI; and (5) to describe the COI not only in terms of lists of attributes, but also in terms of holistic impressions. This study focuses on the case of Spain and is based on empirical evidence provided by undertaking, firstly, in-depth interviews with 13 place branding experts and, secondly, a face-to-face survey of 300 British people aged 18 and over living in London or Greater London, selected using a multi-stage area sampling technique. The findings reveal (1) the statistically significant positive impact of corporate image on one dimension of COI (political beliefs); (2) six consumer-related (awareness of the corporate brand’s COO; power of the corporate brand image; strength of the corporate brand-country association; brand image fit; brand image unfit; strength of the industry-country association) and four company-related (extent to which the company plays up or down its COO; the company’s international and market visibility; the number of corporate brands operating in the market) factors that influence the impact of corporate image on COI; (3) that corporate image- and corporate-related factors explain collectively 10 per cent or over of variance in the affective dimensions of COI and a smaller proportion of variance in the cognitive dimensions of COI; (4) that business familiarity has a significant effect moderating the influence of net valence on COI; and (5) that tourism is the dominant element of the image that British people have of Spain. Theoretical (conceptual model, first study testing the influence of corporate image on COI) and managerial (guidelines for selecting corporate brands to be included in country branding campaigns) implications of these findings are considered, and finally, limitations of the study and future research directions are suggested.

The purpose of this play is to dramatize the fable of a city mouse and her cousin in the country, and the differences in their lifestyles. Through visits to each other's respective homes, the mice discover that there is more to life than what their own environment has to offer.

Artist Statement My photographs and paintings are reflective of a simpler and slower paced, rural life. This focus is in high contrast to what contemporary urban life often requires. I depict scenes of tranquil landscapes, farm animals, old barns, fields of grasses, and growing crops. I alter my digital photographic images with computer software. I use various filters that transform color, clarity, and value to give the photographs of nature an intentionally peaceful mood. These photographs are a basis for my paintings where I soften nature’s contours and emphasize tranquility. My desire is that viewers will look at my work and take a moment to stop, think, and breathe. Like myself, I want them to slow down and take in the simplicity and beauty of country life.

This study focuses on exocontact mineral assemblages to determine composition, thermal signatures, and the extent of exomorphism that occurred between the Mt. Mica pegmatite and the migmatite host rock at the contact. Biotite-garnet thermometry of country rock samples resulted in an average temperature estimate of 630 °C. Measured biotite Fe/(Fe+Mg) ratios were used to calculate an fO2 of -18. The results indicate that the country rock and pegmatite formed under similar oxidizing conditions near the quartz-fayalite-magnetite (QFM) equilibria buffer. Whole rock (REE) analysis indicates an interaction trend between the country rock and pegmatite. Exomorphism does not appear to have been significant at Mt. Mica, likely due to the moderately evolved nature of the pegmatite. Minor B leakage into the surrounding country rock is constrained to within 15 cm from the contact. Results indicate no enrichment of alkali elements (Li, Rb, Cs), As, U, or F occurred in minerals analyzed.

[pt] Alguns países emergentes têm se destacado com empresas de forte atuação no mercado externo, competindo em setores antes dominados por multinacionais de países de economias desenvolvidas. O presente estudo descreve e analisa as características da internacionalização da Eletrobras, um caso particular de uma empresa estatal que concorre em um setor regulado. Com base em entrevistas com executivos da empresa e em dados secundários, o estudo descreve as motivações para internacionalização, os critérios para seleção de países e os modos de entrada no exterior empregados pela Eletrobras. Uma análise deste caso específico, à luz das principais teorias de internacionalização e de tipologias de multinacionais de países emergentes, contribui para um melhor entendimento do fenômeno de internacionalização de empresas de países emergentes. / [en] Some emerging countries have stood out with strong companies presence in foreign markets, competing head-to-head in sectors traditionally dominated before by multinationals from developed economies. The present study describes and analyzes the characteristics of the internationalization of Eletrobras, a particular case of a state owned company that competes in a regulated sector. Based on interviews with company executives and secondary data, the study outlines the motivations for internationalization, the criteria for selecting countries and entry modes used by Eletrobras. The analysis of this specific case, through the lenses of the major theories of internationalization and typologies of multinationals from emerging countries, contributes to a better understanding of the phenomenon of internationalization of companies from emerging countries.

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Science, School of Statistics and Actuarial Science in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science, University of the Witwatersrand. Johannesburg, 08 June 2017. Mathematical Statistics degree, 2017 / Country risk evaluation is a crucial exercise when determining the ability of countries to repay their debts. The global environment is volatile and is filled with macro-economic, financial and political factors that may affect a country’s commercial environment, resulting in its inability to service its debt. This re search report compares the ability of conventional neural network models and traditional panel logistic regression models in assessing country risk. The mod els are developed using a set of economic, financial and political risk factors obtained from the World Bank for the years 1996 to 2013 for 214 economies. These variables are used to assess the debt servicing capacity of the economies as this has a direct impact on the return on investments for financial institu tions, investors, policy makers as well as researchers. The models developed may act as early warning systems to reduce exposure to country risk. Keywords: Country risk, Debt rescheduling, Panel logit model, Neural net work models / XL2017

Emerging markets have become important investment destination for international investors as they seek opportunities to grow and diversify their investment portfolios. At the same time, emerging markets are perceived to be riskier than developed markets. It is therefore imperative for the international investor to fully comprehend and appreciate the risk faced by their investments in the emerging markets and the drivers of the underlying their value. A significant amount of research has been carried out on the valuation of companies in emerging markets and the role country risk has in determining the final valuation price. Despite this, there is still no consensus amongst practitioners in the financial industry and academics on the best approach. The valuation methodologies currently employed vary significantly and in some cases involve making arbitrary adjustments based on “gut feel” with limited empirical evidence. This research study appraises existing emerging markets valuation frameworks such as the discounted cash flow model (DCF), including capital asset pricing model (CAPM) and its variants. It also looks at relative valuation and real option pricing framework with intention of proposing the “best practice” valuation framework for valuing companies in emerging markets. The general theory is that emerging markets are segmented from the developed world capital markets making portfolio optimisation across these markets difficult. Segmentation of emerging markets is as a result of inefficiency of the capital markets, in particular the inability of foreign investors to enter and exit the local capital markets at no extra costs. The emerging markets valuation frameworks are designed to address the inability to effectively diversify investments due to the segmentation of these markets. It was therefore pertinent that this study determines whether emerging markets are indeed segmented from world capital markets and therefore significantly riskier than developed markets. This part of the study was carried out by conducting both quantitative and qualitative analysis of the emerging capital markets. Quantitative analysis was done on the performances of twenty-seven emerging equity markets for the period between July 1998 and November 2008 and the results were compared with the US equity market analysis (United States was used in the study as the proxy for the world equity market) for the same period. The study used volatility of the markets as the measure of risk and the correlation to measure the level of integration. Qualitative analysis involved reviewing regulatory, legal and political risks of the different emerging markets. The results from this part of the study showed that emerging markets are indeed riskier than developed markets and are somewhat segmented from the world capital markets. Based on 4 this result, we concluded that the valuation frameworks in emerging markets should be adjusted or modified to incorporate the impact of country risk. A total of eleven different emerging markets valuation frameworks were appraised. The study reviewed the literature relating to the emerging markets valuation frameworks to establish their theoretical and empirical basis. The study also conducted qualitative and quantitative analysis of each of the eleven selected methods regarding relevance and practicality in the valuation of emerging market companies. Valuation models were developed from the different valuation frameworks, a process that included deriving different variants of the models such as the country risk premium. The qualitative analysis looked at the how practical is the valuation frameworks considering its variants. For quantitative analysis the emerging market valuation models were used to value ABSA Bank Group; Edgars Consolidated Stores Limited; and Standard Bank Group and outcomes of the valuation were compared with the final purchase price paid in recent corporate transactions involving these companies. The absolute difference between the notional valuation and the actual transaction price was used to rank the valuation frameworks, with smallest difference indicating the best fit. All the eleven emerging market valuation methodologies yielded results different from the purchase prices. Erb−Harvey−Viskanta (EHV) model had the best fit when compared with the actual purchase price. However, the study does not propose the usage of EHV as the “best practice” method because of weak theoretical basis. The study concludes that at least three to four methodologies should be used to derive a valuation range for purchase price negotiations

Thesis advisor: Ina V.S. Mullis / Equity in educational outcomes, particularly reading, is an important policy issue in countries around the world. This dissertation used data from PIRLS 2006 to explore an approach to measuring equity in reading achievement internationally at the fourth grade. Relative risk ratios were selected as a measurement approach and were used to create a composite measure, the Relative Risk-Percentage (RRP) Equity Index, to compare equity in reading achievement across countries. This index was used to present the likelihood of scoring below the PIRLS 2006 Low International Benchmark for student groups that were traditionally at risk for low reading achievement compared to other students. The `at risk' student groups that were the focus of this study included those with low parental education, who spoke a language other than the language of instruction, who attended urban or rural schools, and who were boys. To complement the RRP Equity Index results, the relative likelihood of students scoring within the lower 20 percent of their country's reading achievement distribution was also presented. The results of these analyses showed that students with these characteristics were more likely than other fourth grade students to have low reading achievement in a number of the PIRLS 2006 countries. Overall, having parents with less than secondary education and not speaking the language of the test before starting school were associated with inequity in reading achievement in the largest number of PIRLS 2006 countries. As an example of how individual countries could further explore potential reasons for inequities in reading achievement highlighted by the RRP Equity Index, logistic regression models were built for Germany, Iran, and Romania. These models explored the extent to which statistically controlling for differences in resources could diminish the effect of being in an `at risk' group on reading achievement. In all three countries examined, resources explained a substantial proportion of the risk for low reading achievement. Though the logistic regression model results were country-specific, lacking books in the home was strongly associated with lower reading achievement in all three countries. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2009. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Educational Research, Measurement, and Evaluation.