<p><strong><p>Sammanfattning</p>*<p>Denna uppsats betraktar begreppet arbetskraftsuthyrning ur olika synvinklar. Ur arbetstagarperspektivet görs detta genom att jämföra arbetsrättsliga villkor mellan inhyrd och traditionellt anställd personal samt redogöra för vad som händer med en arbetstagares olika förmåner när dennes anställning övergår från beställaren till uthyraren. Dessutom undersöks arbetstagares rättsliga möjligheter vid uppsägning som har sin grund i organisationsrelaterade skäl vilka resulterar i inhyrning. Ur beställarperspektivet undersöks vilka begränsningar som finns för inhyrning av arbetskraft i fall då egna anställda hävdar företrädesrätt till anställning. Slutligen undersöks uthyrarens möjligheter att säga upp personal på grund av arbetsbrist.</p><p>Det framkommer att det är svårt att helt likställa inhyrd personal med traditionellt anställda. Detta grundar sig främst i att de två har olika motparter vilka de kan hävda sina rättigheter mot, något som främst visar sig vid en eventuell arbetsbristsituation hos beställaren. Trepartsrelationen får ytterligare konsekvenser i fall då arbetstagares anställning övergår från beställaren till uthyraren. De begränsningar som finns gällande beställares möjligheter att hyra in personal i fall då egna anställda har företrädesrätt består av skäl som motsvarande arbetstagarorganisation får svårt att bevisa. Uthyrningsföretags möjligheter att säga upp personal regleras på samma sätt som för företag i andra branscher. I de fall uthyrningsföretag vill framstå som seriösa bör de överväga vilken typ av anställning de ingår med respektive arbetstagare.</p><strong><p>Sökord:</p><p>Anställningsskydd, Arbetsbrist, Arbetskraftsuthyrning, Företrädesrätt, Verksamhetsövergång</p><p>*</p>Tack till samtliga som gett råd och lämnat uppgifter. Ett särskilt tack riktas till Ann-Christine Hartzén, universitetsadjunkt på ekonomihögskolan vid Linnéuniversitetet, för hjälp och vägledning i uppsatsens internationella avsnitt. </strong></strong></p>

<p>The aim of the thesis is twofold: to analyze the effects of the expectations on the Bothnia Line on the housing market and expectations on railway use. To fulfill these aims, three questions are considered:</p><p>1. To what extent is property prices influenced by the expected effects of the Bothnia Line?</p><p>2. Are there differences in expectations on regional development and future journeys between residents in different locations and with different individual characteristics?</p><p>3. How are trips to work affected by the expectations on the Bothnia Line and the performance of the train service according to residents in different locations?</p><p>Property prices are investigated quantitatively with data delivered from Lantmäteriet. The data contains every sold property from 1994 to 2001 in the municipalities of Umeå, Nordmaling, and Örnsköldsvik. Expectations on regional development and future traveling on the Bothnia Line were investigated with two questionnaires conducted in the autumn of 2002.</p><p>The empirical results from the study of property prices are clear. There are no signs of influence from the Bothnia Line on the property prices close to the railway stations or in the proximity of the railway.</p><p>The empirical results from the questionnaires reveal a mixed picture of the expectations. In the municipalities located furthest away from the railway, the expectations are low. On the contrary, a large proportion (>75 %) of the residents in municipalities along the railway line believe it can be useful for the population in general when searching for new employment opportunities. This is especially true for males living in Örnsköldsvik. A significantly smaller proportion (≈25 %) believes they will use the railway themselves.</p><p>One explanation to the geographic variations is that they are a result from an ongoing diffusion process. Residents in Örnsköldsvik were the first ones to have a visual image of the railway since the construction started there. As the construction continues, the expectations might increase in other locations as well. Another possibility is that people only react on word of mouth from someone that actually made a trip before they consider changing the mode of transport. If that is the case, the expectations will increase only after the opening of the railway line.</p><p>With the exception of residents in Nordmaling, expectations on future journeys with the Bothnia Line are low. The low expectations on journeys on the Bothnia Line might be explained by the lack of attraction between the places along the line. They are satisfied with their present situation and cannot find any rationale to consider other alternatives. It is a different story if they are forced to consider other alternatives. The result from a stated preference study shows that if they are offered employment at another place, the majority is willing to commute.</p>

<p>Speciation is the process in which reproductive barriers evolve between populations. In this thesis I examine how sexual signals contribute to the maintenance, reinforcement or breakdown of reproductive barriers.</p><p>Male pied flycatchers (<i>Ficedula hypoleuca</i>) and collared flycatchers (<i>F. albicollis</i>) differ in song and plumage traits. However, where the two species coexist, several pied flycatchers sing a song resembling the collared flycatcher (mixed song). Mixed song is not caused by introgression from the collared flycatcher but is due to heterospecific copying. Mixed song provokes aggressive behaviour in collared flycatcher males and leads to heterospecific pairing and maladaptive hybridization. </p><p>The species differences in song were found to be larger in an old than a young hybrid zone. This was due to a reduction in the frequency of mixed song in the pied flycatcher and a divergence in the song of the collared flycatcher. Apparently, mixed song causes maladaptive hybridization, which over time leads to reinforcement of reproductive barriers by a song divergence.</p><p>Previous studies have shown that a character displacement in male plumage traits reinforces species barriers. Hence both plumage and song divergence reduce the incidence of hybridization. The evolution of male plumage traits has been so rapid, or selection has been so strong that rapidly evolving molecular markers are unable to trace it.</p><p>Hybrid females mate with a male of the same species as their father. Previous studies have shown that females use male plumage traits controlled by genes linked to the sex chromosomes (the Z) in species recognition. An association between preference and a sex-linked trait through the paternal line may render reinforcement of reproductive barriers more likely.</p><p>In conclusion, sexual signals are affected by species interactions that cause breakdown or reinforcement of reproductive barriers.</p>

<p>In this thesis I estimate a monetary value of the risk attached to living near a hazardous waste</p><p>site in the town of Teckomatorp. This site is the result of hundreds of rusty leaking barrels of</p><p>toxins being buried in the ground by the company BT Kemi in the 1970’s. Ever since then the</p><p>site has been remediated in several steps and is still contaminated today. For estimating the</p><p>perceived risk of living near this site I use a hedonic price model (HP) which is a form of a</p><p>revealed preference approach. In a HP model the price of a market good is a function of</p><p>different utility-bearing characteristics and the estimated parameters can be used to calculate</p><p>the implicit prices of these characteristics. In this case I use a data set from the National</p><p>Swedish Institute for Building Research (IBF) and regress property price on a number of</p><p>housing characteristics. I compare an estimated town-effect for Teckomatorp with the</p><p>estimates for two control towns: Billeberga and Anderslöv. I can confirm my hypothesis that,</p><p>after controlling for housing characteristics, there is a negative effect on prices of property in</p><p>Teckomatorp. I find that property prices are on average 46878 SEK lower in Teckomatorp</p><p>than in the two control towns.</p>

Anthropogenic influences and climate change are warming rivers in New Brunswick and threatening the cold water habitats of native salmonids. When ambient river temperatures in summer exceed the tolerance level of Atlantic salmon and brook trout, individuals behaviourally thermoregulate by seeking out cold water refugia. These critical thermal habitats are often created by tributaries and concentrated groundwater discharge. Thermal infrared imagery was used to map cold water anomalies along a 53 km reach of the Cains River on 23 July 2008. Although efficient and useful for mapping surface temperature of a continuous stream reach, the fish did not use all identified thermal anomalies as refugia. Overall, 100 % of observed large brook trout >35 cm in length were found in 30 % of the TIR-mapped cold water anomalies. Ninety eight percent of observed small brook trout 8 – 30 cm in length were found in 80 % of the mapped cold water anomalies and their densities within anomalies were significantly higher than densities outside of anomalies. Fifty nine percent of observed salmon parr were found in 65 % of the mapped anomalies; however, they were dispersed within study sites and their densities were not significantly different within anomalies compared to outside of the anomalies. No brook trout were observed at the seven noncold water study sites that were investigated. Preference curves for various habitat variables including velocity, temperature, depth, substrate, and deep water availability near cold water anomalies were developed based on field investigations during high temperature events (ambient river temperature >21 oC). Combined with thermal imagery, managers can use the physical descriptions of thermal refugia developed here as a tool to help conserve and restore critical thermal refugia for Atlantic salmon and brook trout on the Cains River, and potentially similar river systems.

In Sweden, about 10% of the adult population experienceshearing problems that cause them difficulties in everydaycommunication, and approximately 60 000 people are providedwith hearing aids each year. Despite the fact that modernhearing aids can facilitate speech communication in a widerange of listening environments, many hearing-aid users aredissatisfied with their hearing aids. It is likely that theclinical methods used for individual fitting of the hearingaids are not optimal. The current study investigates prescriptive methods fornonlinear, wide dynamic range compression (WDRC) hearinginstruments. The goal is to draw general conclusions about thepreferences of hearing aid users. Therefore, the prescriptionsare evaluated using well-established models of loudness andspeech intelligibility. Current methods differed considerably in prescribed gain.Evaluations in a laboratory test, with 20 hearing-impairedlisteners, showed that these differences led to largedifferences in perceived and calculated loudness, but only tominor differences in measured and predicted speech recognitionscores. The difference in loudness was explored in a studywhere 21 first-time hearing-aid users compared twoprescriptions. One method led to normal and the other toless-than-normal overall calculated loudness (according to theloudness model of Moore and Glasberg (1997)). The prescriptionthat led to less-than-normal overall loudness was clearlypreferred in field and in laboratory tests. Preferred overall loudness was then quantified.Hearing-impaired participants with mild to moderate hearingloss preferred considerably less-than-normal overall calculatedloudness in both eld and laboratory tests. There were nosignificant differences between inexperienced and experiencedhearing aid users. Normal-hearing participants, on the otherhand, preferred close-to-normal overall calculated loudness. Inaddition, a potential problem with the loudness model wasencountered: despite the fact that the hearing-impairedlisteners were provided with less than normal overallcalculated loudness, they rated loudness higher than thenormal-hearing listeners. The results refute the most commonly adopted rationale forprescriptive methods for WDRC hearing aids - that overallloudness should be restored to normal. Hearing-impairedlisteners with mild to moderate hearing loss preferredconsiderably less than normal overall loudness. This should betaken into account when deriving new prescriptive methods, andwhen providing clients with hearing aids. Key words:hearing impairment, hearing aid, nonlinear,WDRC, hearing aid experience, prescription, loudness, loudnessmodel, speech intelligibility, preference.

The period of pregnancy and childbirth is an important and sensitive time for men’s upcoming parenthood. Research into fathers’ experiences of childbearing has received less attention compared to maternal experiences. The purpose of this thesis was to study the sources fathers use to obtain information about pregnancy and childbirth, fathers’ preference for the mode of birth of their baby, and fathers’ childbirth experience and their perception of postnatal care quality.In 2007, 1105 expectant fathers were enrolled in the study when their partner had reached the middle of pregnancy. The fathers were followed until one year after the birth of their baby. The fathers were living in the county of Västernorrland in Sweden and their babies were born in one of the three hospitals in the county. Data was analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics, and content analysis. An index was created from a combination of fathers’ experiences of postnatal care quality.iiiCommon sources of information about pregnancy and childbirth used by prospective fathers were the Internet, their partners and the midwife. Fathers who were expecting their first baby (OR 1.4; 1.2-1.7), had a high level of education (OR 1.3; 1.2-1.5) and fathers with previous experience of caesarean section (OR 1.3; 1.1-1.6) were the greatest users of the Internet. Of the prospective fathers 71 (6.4%) desired caesarean section for the birth of their baby. Previous negative birth experience (PR 8.6; 2.6-28.3) and the experience of caesarean section (PR 5.7; 2.8-11.9) were factors associated with the wish that the baby would be born by caesarean section. A desire to plan the day of the baby’s birth (PR 6.0; 1.5-24.1) was associated with a preference for caesarean section for the men who were expecting their first baby. Two months after the birth of the baby 604 (74%) of the fathers in this group had had a positive birth experience. A correlation with a less-positive birth experience was with emergency caesarean section (OR 7.5; 4.1-13.6), instrumental vaginal birth (OR 4.2; 2.3-8.0) and if the man was unhappy with the medical care which the partner received (OR; 4.6; 2.7-7.8). Positive experience of healthcare professionals’ knowledge and attitudes was related to a satisfactory birth experience. The deficiencies in the postnatal care were mainly related to deficiencies in the information on the baby’s care and needs, and fathers’ experiences of their partners’ inadequate check-ups and medical care. A year after the birth 488 (79%) of the fathers were satisfied with the overall postnatal care, although they had pointed to deficiencies in the provision. Deficiencies in the attitude of the staff (OR 5.01; 2.80-8.98) and the medical care and check-ups their partner received were associated with fathers’ dissatisfaction with the overall postnatal care (OR 2.13; 1.25-3.62).ivMost fathers in this study had a positive birth experience and were happy with the postnatal care. The thesis highlights, however, opportunities for improvements in intrapartum and postnatal care. Healthcare professionals should be informed regarding the information provided via the web and to discuss the information that expectant fathers receive about pregnancy and childbirth. Prospective fathers should be given the opportunity to discuss their preferences and attitudes to the mode of birth. In addition, professionals should provide supportive information and be present in the delivery room. The information about the newborn baby’s care and needs can be strengthened, both before and after birth.

The road network is extremely valuable. Road Administrationsare expected to invest maintenance funding in a way thatreturns maximum benefit to road users. Cost-benefit analysis isone method to ensure that an adequate return in terms ofbenefits results from committing expenditure. Today,cost-benefit calculations are frequently used as a base fordecision making of investments. The surges for such methods inthe maintenance management sector are increasing. Up to the present, one reason for not analysing costs andbenefits for various maintenance management measures has beenthe lack of knowledge about comfort benefits for road users inquantitative monetary terms. The aim with this thesis is toinvestigate motorists’apprehension of pavementmaintenance management and winter maintenance operations. Thefinal goal is to find out their willingness to pay fordifferent levels of road maintenance management. Those valuescan later be used in cost-benefit calculations and also ineffect models of road maintenance management. Due to the pioneer status of this study, focus groups andin-depth interviews as well as a number of pilot studies havebeen carried out before a main survey with stated choiceexperiments could be designed. These exploratory studies showedthat the interviewees were familiar with the types of roadsurface damage that exist and in many cases mastered the sameterminology as the Road Administration and others. Showingpictures of well-known types of road damage lead to highermonetary valuations of getting better road standard incomparison with just text descriptions. One reason for thatcould be the requisite severness of the damage in order toillustrate a certain road maintenance shortage. The respondentswith the text descriptions could have stated their preferencesfor an, in their own minds, average shortcoming while the groupwith access to photograph of road damage all saw the samesevere damage. Illustrations of different road maintenancestandards make it possible to control the respondentsinterpretation of the maintenance management standard valuatedbut could lead to high monetary estimations. Driving comfort was very important to the interviewees inthe exploratory studies. That was manifested in the pilotstated choice surveys, which resulted in high willingness topay for better pavement management. The main study consisted of two surveys; the first one wasabout pavement maintenance management and was carried out inOctober to November 2000 and the second one took place inFebruary to March 2001 and was about winter maintenanceoperations. Both the pavement and the winter survey includedattitude questions and two stated choice experiments. Theresult showed that the maintenance management status of theroad network was important to car users. For example, the worstpavement damage was roughness; the motorists were willing topay 1.7 SEK (Swedish Crowns) per kilometre to avoid roadsdamaged in their full length. The least harmful damage of thosestudied was cracks; the willingness to pay to avoid that was0.5 SEK per kilometre. For more rapid snow clearance, the carusers were willing to pay 60 to 80 SEK per year for getting theroads cleared from snow one hour earlier than the currentstandard implies. The willingness to pay for driving on bareroads in comparison with snow roads was 0.4 SEK per kilometre.Statistical tests on the models showed that the parametervalueswere well estimated. In the pavement as well as in the winter survey, a clustergroup analysis was performed in order to test the heterogeneityof attitudes and behaviour to road maintenance management. Theanalysis resulted in two separate groups in each survey. Onegroup consisted of drivers who reported to be very influencedby the level of maintenance management regarding chosen speed,joy of driving and so on. The other group reported to be lessinfluenced and had lower acceptance of higher road tax for thepurpose to increase the maintenance management standard.Separate stated choice models revealed that the differences inattitudes could also reflect the respondents’willingnessto pay for higher road maintenance standard. However, thedifferences were only small and the different groups’monetary valuations were not found to be significantlydifferent from each other. The result of this study, better knowledge aboutmotorists’apprehension of maintenance management, theirattitudes to driving comfort and road standard and theirmonetary valuations of different levels of pavement maintenanceand winter maintenance operations, opens up the possibility tomake cost-benefit analysis of various maintenance managementprojects. The impact of the monetary values found in this studyhas been studied in a limited cost-benefit analysis. <b>Keywords:</b>stated choice, stated preference, valuationsof maintenance management, driving comfort, road standardevaluation

Speciation is the process in which reproductive barriers evolve between populations. In this thesis I examine how sexual signals contribute to the maintenance, reinforcement or breakdown of reproductive barriers. Male pied flycatchers (Ficedula hypoleuca) and collared flycatchers (F. albicollis) differ in song and plumage traits. However, where the two species coexist, several pied flycatchers sing a song resembling the collared flycatcher (mixed song). Mixed song is not caused by introgression from the collared flycatcher but is due to heterospecific copying. Mixed song provokes aggressive behaviour in collared flycatcher males and leads to heterospecific pairing and maladaptive hybridization. The species differences in song were found to be larger in an old than a young hybrid zone. This was due to a reduction in the frequency of mixed song in the pied flycatcher and a divergence in the song of the collared flycatcher. Apparently, mixed song causes maladaptive hybridization, which over time leads to reinforcement of reproductive barriers by a song divergence. Previous studies have shown that a character displacement in male plumage traits reinforces species barriers. Hence both plumage and song divergence reduce the incidence of hybridization. The evolution of male plumage traits has been so rapid, or selection has been so strong that rapidly evolving molecular markers are unable to trace it. Hybrid females mate with a male of the same species as their father. Previous studies have shown that females use male plumage traits controlled by genes linked to the sex chromosomes (the Z) in species recognition. An association between preference and a sex-linked trait through the paternal line may render reinforcement of reproductive barriers more likely. In conclusion, sexual signals are affected by species interactions that cause breakdown or reinforcement of reproductive barriers.

The aim of the thesis is twofold: to analyze the effects of the expectations on the Bothnia Line on the housing market and expectations on railway use. To fulfill these aims, three questions are considered: 1. To what extent is property prices influenced by the expected effects of the Bothnia Line? 2. Are there differences in expectations on regional development and future journeys between residents in different locations and with different individual characteristics? 3. How are trips to work affected by the expectations on the Bothnia Line and the performance of the train service according to residents in different locations? Property prices are investigated quantitatively with data delivered from Lantmäteriet. The data contains every sold property from 1994 to 2001 in the municipalities of Umeå, Nordmaling, and Örnsköldsvik. Expectations on regional development and future traveling on the Bothnia Line were investigated with two questionnaires conducted in the autumn of 2002. The empirical results from the study of property prices are clear. There are no signs of influence from the Bothnia Line on the property prices close to the railway stations or in the proximity of the railway. The empirical results from the questionnaires reveal a mixed picture of the expectations. In the municipalities located furthest away from the railway, the expectations are low. On the contrary, a large proportion (&gt;75 %) of the residents in municipalities along the railway line believe it can be useful for the population in general when searching for new employment opportunities. This is especially true for males living in Örnsköldsvik. A significantly smaller proportion (≈25 %) believes they will use the railway themselves. One explanation to the geographic variations is that they are a result from an ongoing diffusion process. Residents in Örnsköldsvik were the first ones to have a visual image of the railway since the construction started there. As the construction continues, the expectations might increase in other locations as well. Another possibility is that people only react on word of mouth from someone that actually made a trip before they consider changing the mode of transport. If that is the case, the expectations will increase only after the opening of the railway line. With the exception of residents in Nordmaling, expectations on future journeys with the Bothnia Line are low. The low expectations on journeys on the Bothnia Line might be explained by the lack of attraction between the places along the line. They are satisfied with their present situation and cannot find any rationale to consider other alternatives. It is a different story if they are forced to consider other alternatives. The result from a stated preference study shows that if they are offered employment at another place, the majority is willing to commute.