Den nya rehabiliteringskedjan med sina fasta tidsgränser för långtidssjukskrivna har fått stor uppmärksamhet i svensk media under senare tid. De nya reglerna fokuserar framförallt på tidiga insatser för långtidssjukskrivna med målet återgång i arbete. Intervjuerna i föreliggande studie utfördes med sju försäkrings-kassahandläggare på olika försäkringskontor. Syftet var att undersöka vilka erfarenheter och upplevelser handläggarna på Försäkringskassan har av den nya rehabiliteringskedjan och arbetslivsinriktad rehabilitering. Resultatet visade att det är en mängd olika faktorer som påverkar handläggarnas arbete. Som viktiga faktorer uppgav handläggarna ett ändrat regelverk med fasta tidsgränser, samarbetet mellan olika aktörer för den försäkrades återgång i arbete, handläggarnas och andra aktörers engagemang samt den försäkrades egna resurser. Vidare forskning inom området arbetslivs-inriktad rehabilitering behövs, om den nya rehabiliteringskedjans effekter på tidigare återgång till arbetslivet verkligen innebär ökat stöd till de långtidssjukskrivna. Även andra rehabiliterings-aktörers erfarenheter av de nya sjukskrivningsreglerna behöver utforskas.

Denna studie har som syfte att undersöka den svenska IPO-marknaden under åren 1995-2005. Studien undersöker ett fenomen som är frekvent förekommande i samband med börsintroduktioner. Fenomenet kallas underprissättning och med begreppet menas den skillnad i pris som uppstår mellan en akties introduktionspris och dess stängningskurs första dagen den handlas publikt på en aktiebörs. Underprissättningen kan ses som potentiellt kapital som ett företag går miste om. Detta på grund av att aktiens stängningskurs i viss mån representerar vad investerarna verkligen var villiga att betala för en aktie. Detta är information som inte är tillgänglig då introduktionskursen sätts. Studien har undersökt 113 börsintroduktioner på Stockholmsbörsens O-lista. Information har samlats in om de introducerade bolagens sektortillhörighet, introduktionskurs och stängningskurs samt kortsiktig kurs- och indexutveckling. Samband mellan dessa olika variabler har utforskats. Studien visar att det har förekommit underprissättning i Sverige under perioden på i snitt 16,28 procent per börsintroduktion. Underprissättningens storlek varierar kraftigt olika sektorer emellan och underprissättningen har varit som störst inom IT-sektorn.

This paper examines whether the phenomena of price drift around quarterly earnings re-leases exist among firms listed on the large cap. list at the Stockholm Stock Exchange for a time period ranging from the first quarter of 2003 to the second quarter of 2006. It fur-thermore examines the ability of the variables forecast error, relative to analyst’s estimates, and firms’ size to explain the variation in price drift among firms. A sample of some 30 firms were drawn in the first three quarters of each year between 2003 and 2005, for the year of 2006 only the fist two quarters were included in the study. For each quarter all firms were classified into three different portfolios on the basis of earnings deviations relative to mean analyst’s estimates (forecast error). The returns for each firm in all portfolios were investigated during 20 days post- and pre quarterly earnings release date, resulting in an event window totaling 41 days. In order to clear out effects from general market movements the Capital Asset Pricing Model, CAPM, was used in which betas were estimated for all firms each quarter. The findings from this study indicate that price drift, measured by cumulative abnormal re-turn, occur for firms with both negative forecast error as well as positive. For firms with positive error, statistically significant positive price drift was found for both the pre- and post period. As for the firms with earnings below analyst’s mean estimates, negative prean-nouncement drift was statistically supported. The ability of firms size and forecast error to explain the variation in price drift on a stock level was very weak, R2 measures of below 5% was reported. However, forecast error was a strongly significant independent variable in the context of the regressions run for both pre- and post-announcement drift. The firms below the lower market cap. quartile in the sample show, on average, lower pre-announcement drift than the firms belonging in the largest quartile. Concerning market efficiency among the large cap. firms the price drift found is an indica-tion of market inefficiency both it terms of the semi strong and the strong form. However, care should be taken before generalizing the results from this study but. Possible misspeci-fication of the equilibrium return model will skew the price drift measurement. Moreover, speculation is not explicitly controlled for in this test. Finally, this study is done within a li-mited time span; hence generalization over time is not possible

There are several authors Markowitz (1991), Elton and Gruber (1997) that discuss the main issues that an investor faces when investing, for example how to allocate resources among the variety of different securities. These issues have led to the discussion of portfolio theories, especially the Modern Portfolio Theory (MPT), which is developed by Nobel Prize awarded economist Harry Markowitz. This theory is the philosophical opposite of tradi-tional asset picking. The purpose of this thesis is to investigate if an investor can apply MPT in order to achieve a higher return than investing in an index portfolio. Combining a strong portfolio that beats the market in the longrun would be the ultimate goal for most investors. The theories that are used to analyze the problem and the empirical findings provide the essential concepts such as standard deviation, risk and return of the portfolio. Further, diversification, correlation and covariance are used to achieve the optimal risky portfolio. There will be a walk-through of the MPT, with the efficient frontier as the graphical guide to express the optimal risky portfolio. The methodology constitutes as the frame for the thesis. The quantitative method is used since the data input is gathered from historical data. This thesis is based on existing theories, and the deductive approach aims to use these theories in order to accomplish a valid and accurate analysis. The benchmark that is used to compare the results from the portfolio is the Stockholm stock exchange OMX 30. This index mimics and reflects the market as a whole. The portfolio will be reweighed at a preplanned schedule, each quarter to constantly obtain an optimal risky portfolio. The finding from this study indicates that the actively managed portfolio outperforms the passive benchmark during the selected timeframe. The outcome someway differs when evaluating the risk adjusted result and becomes less significant. The risk adjusted result does not provide any strong evidence for a greater return than index. Finally, with this finding, the authors can conclude by stating that an actively managed optimal risky portfolio with guidance of the MPT can surpass the OMX 30 within the selected timeframe.

Sammanfattning Antalet investeringsfonder och intresset för dessa har under de senaste åren ökat drama-tiskt. 94 % av den svenska befolkningen mellan 18-74 år sparar i någon form av fond. Un-der 2005 uppgick det totala fondkapitalet till ungefär 1,4 miljarder SEK. Det gör detta till ett viktigt ämne att studera vidare. Syftet med denna uppsats att analysera om det är något samband mellan förvaltningsavgif-ter, avkastning, riskjusterad avkastning och marknadsanpassad förvaltningsavgift och av-kastning i svenska aktiefonder. Vidare, skiljer sig prestationen mellan fonder beroende på om de är förvaltade av banker, listade som premiepensionsfonder eller förvaltade av andra fondbolag? För att analysera dessa frågor användes ’panel least square’ regressioner. Populationen bestod av 63 aktiefonder inom en tidsram av 20 kvartal. Dummy variabler användes för att särskilja bank- och premiepensionsfonder från den totala populationen. Observationerna visade liksom tidigare forskningen blandade resultat. Ingen relation hitta-des mellan avkastning, riskjusterad avkastning och förvaltningsavgift. Detta indikerar att fondbolagen inte tar hänsyn till den förväntade avkastningen när de fastställer sin förvaltningsavgift, vilket överensstämmer med tidigare forskning. Ett negativt samband hittades emellertid mellan den marknadsanpassade avkastningen och förvaltningsavgiften. Generellt presterade banker i genomsnitt bättre än fondbolag som varken var bank- och/eller premiepensionsfonder när det gäller avkastning, riskjusterad avkastning och marknadsanpassad avkastning. Vidare, fonderna med någon avgift utöver förvaltningsavgif-ten var de med den i genomsnitt näst sämsta gällande avkastning. / The number of investmentfunds have dramatically increased in the last years and so have the interest in funds. 94% of the Swedish population between 18-74 years are investing in some kind of mutual fund. In 2005 the total fund capital was approximately 1.4 billion SEK. That makes this an important topic to investigate further. Therefore this thesis purpose is to analyse if there is any relationship between administrationfees, returns, the risk-adjusted performances. Furthermore, does the performance of the Swedish mutual funds differ dependent on whether they are managed by banks or if they are listed as Premiepensionsmyndigheten (PPM) funds, or run by other mutual fund companies? To analyse the problem a panel least square regression was used. The population consisted of 63 Swedish mutual equity funds over 20 quarters. Dummy variables were used to separate the banks- and PPM funds from the total population. The findings are mixed compared to previous research. There seem to be no relationship between the return, the risk-adjusted return and the administration fee. This indicates that the fund companies do not set their administration fee based on the expected return. However, a negative relationship was found between the market-adjusted return and administration fee. In general, the banks, on average, outperformed, the mutual fund companies that were not bank and/or PPM funds, in return, risk-adjusted return and market-adjusted return. Further, the funds with some additional fee had the on average second lowest efficiency in terms of return on the market.

Installed photovoltaic nameplate power have been growing rapidly around the worldin the last few years. But how much energy is returned to society (i.e. net energy) by this technology, and which factors contribute the most to the amount of energy returned? The objective of this thesis was to examine the importance of certain inputs and outputs along the solar panel production chain and their effect on the energy return on (energy) investment (EROI) for crystalline wafer-based photovoltaics. A process-chain model was built using publicly available life-cycle inventory (LCI) datasets. This model has been kept simple in order to ensure transparency. Univariate sensitivity analysis for processes and multivariate case studies was then applied to the model. The results show that photovoltaic EROI values are very sensitive to assumptions regarding location and efficiency. The ability of solar panels to deliver net energy in northern regions of the earth is questionable. Solar cell wafer thickness have a large impact on EROI, with thinner wafers requiring less silicon material. Finding an alternative route for production of solar-grade silicon is also found to be of great importance, as is introduction of kerf loss recycling. Equal system sizes have been found to yield an primary EROI between approximately 5.5-19 depending on location and assumptions. This indicates that a generalized absolute EROI for photovoltaics may be of little use for decision-makers. Using the net energy cliff concept in relation to primary EROI found in this thesis shows that primary EROI rarely decreases to less than the threshold of 8:1 in univariate cases. Crystalline photovoltaics under similar system boundaries as those in the thesis model does not necessarily constrain economic growth on an energetic basis.

Background In 2010, the Swedish government introduced a system of subsidies for occupational health (OH) service interventions, as a part in a general policy promoting early return to work. The aim of this study was to analyse the implementation of these subsidies, regarding how they were used and perceived. Methods The study was carried out using a mixed-methods approach, and comprises material from six sub-studies: a register study of the use of the subsidies, one survey to OH service providers, one survey to employers, one document analysis of the documentation from interventions, interviews with stakeholders, and case interviews with actors involved in coordinated interventions. Results The subsidized services were generally perceived as positive but were modestly used. The most extensive subsidy – for coordinated interventions – was rarely used. Employers and OH service providers reported few or no effects on services and contracts. OH service providers explained the modest use in terms of already having less bureaucratic routines in place, where applying for subsidies would involve additional costs. Information about the subsidies was primarily communicated to OH service providers, while employers were not informed. Conclusions The study highlights the complexity of promoting interventions through financial incentives, since their implementation requires that they are perceived by the stakeholders involved as purposeful, manageable and cost-effective. There are inherent political challenges in influencing stakeholders who act on a free market, in that the impact of policies may be limited, unless they are enforced by law. / <p>Funding Agencies|Swedish Social Insurance Agency||Ministry of Health and Social Affairs||</p>

Nowadays, there is a debate about the possibility that sin stocks bring higher returns than other ones to the investors. This thesis is a case study on a mutual fund: The Vice Fund. This US fund has a specific investment strategy: it invests in sin stocks. We compared this mutual fund to The Timothy Fund because they have similar characteristics such as – date of inception, total assets, home country and investment universe, expect the investment strategy. Indeed, The Vice Fund invests in sin stocks and The Timothy Fund does not. Two benchmarks are also used in the study: the S&amp;P 500 Index as a domestic benchmark and the MSCI World Index as an international benchmark. This thesis is a case study using a deductive approach on a quantitative ground. The study is done on ten years long from 2003 to 2012. We divided the entire period into three different sub-periods depending of the S&amp;P 500 Index trend. The first and the last sub-periods are bullish and the second one is bearish. In order to analyse both the financial performances and the risks of The Vice Fund we use several tools. We calculated returns and risk-adjusted ratios: the Treynor’s ratio, the Sharpe’s ratio and the Jensen’s ratio. Because these ratios are less accurate in bearish markets, we calculated the normalized Sharpe ratio by doing linear regressions and we also calculated the modified Sharpe ratio. In order to perform these calculations, we used DataStream as a database to obtain prices and dividends for the two mutual funds and the prices for the two benchmarks. We got also the one-month T-bill to have a risk-free rate. We found that The Vice Fund had a better average returns performance whatever the market conditions over the period studied. However the difference between weekly results with The Timothy Plan Fund and the benchmarks is not statistically significant. The risk- adjusted ratios confirmed the superiority of the risk-adjusted financial performance of the sin fund.

Bakgrund: Börsen ger en möjlighet för företag att erhålla kapital och för placerare atttillgodogöra sig avkastning. Personer med insyn i det egna företaget, så kalladeinsiders, kan dock i egenskap av sin position inneha kurspåverkande information somövriga aktörer på marknaden inte har möjlighet att ta del av. Tidigare forskning harpåvisat att insiders utnyttjar denna informationsasymmetri för att på så sätt tillgodogörasig överavkastning. Syfte: Syftet med studien är att undersöka om insiders kan tillgodogöra sigöveravkastning genom handel med aktier på Nasdaq OMX. Vidare ämnar studienutröna eventuella skillnader i överavkastning beroende på företagsstorlek,transaktionsstorlek samt tidsperiod. Metod: I denna studie har en kvantitativ forskningsstrategi i form av en eventstudietillämpats. Studien har en deduktiv ansats och undersöker insidertransaktioner från 90företag på stockholmsbörsen under tidsperioden 2006-01-01 till 2011-12-31. Förberäkning av överavkastning har den justerade marknadsmodellen använts. Kursdata förrespektive företag har hämtats från databasen Thomson Reuters EcoWin Pro.Information om insidertransaktioner har hämtats från finansinspektionensinsynsregister. Resultat: Resultatet visar att insiders tillgodogör sig överavkastning genom handel medaktier i det egna företaget, främst i samband med säljtransaktioner. / People with insight into their own company, also known as insiders, can have access toprice-sensitive information which other investors are not able to access. Previousresearch has shown that insiders exploit this asymmetric information to thereby obtainabnormal returns. The purpose of this study is to investigate whether insiders can obtain abnormal returnsby trading shares on Nasdaq OMX. Furthermore, the study aims to investigate if thereare any differences in the abnormal return depending on company size, transaction size,and time period. This study investigates insider transactions of 90 companies on the Stockholm StockExchange during the time period 2006-01-01 to 2011-12-31. The results show that insiders obtain abnormal returns by trading shares in their owncompany. The abnormal returns occur primarily related to sales transactions.

Climate change is predicted to increase rates of fire activity in boreal forests. A shortened fire return interval may result in different outcomes of community structure in the northern boreal forest, since the age of a forest influences seed production and potential post-fire regeneration. With two closely timed fires, dominant boreal conifers such as black spruce (Picea mariana) may be vulnerable to regeneration failures after fire because of the long time required to reach reproductive maturity. I report on the relationship between stand age and seed productivity of black spruce in northern Yukon Territory and central Alaska. I used fire history maps to select sites of various stand ages, including stand ages that would occur in a short fire return interval (less than 80 years) versus longer fire intervals (up to 200 years). At each site, I measured stand density and basal area using the point-center-quarter method. Ten black spruce trees were randomly selected for cone surveys and age analysis. I also selected a subset of five trees for detailed analyses of cone and seed production within yearly cohorts. The results of this study illustrate the strong relationships between stand age and stand basal area with cone and seed production of northern black spruce. The resulting equations can be used to predict the seed capacity and regeneration potential of black spruce stands with known stand basal area or stand age. I estimate, along with the number of seeds required to produce a two year old black spruce seedling on high quality seedbeds, stands burned at an age less than 50 years will likely have reduced black spruce post-fire density. On low quality seedbeds, black spruce forests are more vulnerable to regeneration failures and fire cycles less than 150 years are likely to result in reduced recruitment. Under a shortened fire return interval these northern black spruce forests are likely to have reduced post-fire density.