Tennis är en sport som ständigt förändras. Nya data som analytikern Craig O'Shannessy tagit fram visar att en klar majoritet av alla poäng är korta, det vill säga poäng som innehåller fyra eller färre slag. Den spelare som vinner flest av dessa tenderar även att stå som segrare i slutet av matchen. Målet med det här arbetet är att undersöka WTA-turneringen Sydney International 2018 för att se om samma mönster går att hitta där och, om så är fallet undersöka om det finns några skillnader mellan hur olika grupper presterar. Ett par exempel på grupper är matchvinnare mot förlorare och seedade mot oseedade spelare. Det visade sig att poänglängderna nästan var identiska med O'Shannessys resultat och de hade påverkan på utgången av matcherna. Vidare så låg matchvinnarna högre i de flesta kategorierna som exempelvis andelen servar och returer in och andelen vunna. Gällande serve+1 så höll de en jämn nivå både på forehand- och backhandsidan, jämfört med de förlorande spelarna som hade problem med backhanden. Däremot gick det inte att se några tydliga skillnader i serve- och returmönster, bortsett från andraservar till deuce court. Utifrån resultaten så verkar kvaliteten på slagen vara mer avgörande än var i banan som de landar. / Tennis is an everchanging sport. New data from tennis analyst Craig O'Shannessy show that a vast majority of points are short, i.e. points decided in four or fewer shots. The player who wins most of them also tends to be the winner. The purpose of this paper is to examine the WTA tournament Sydney International 2018 to see if the same pattern occurs there and if that is the case investigate if there is any difference between how different groups are performing. A few examples of groups are match-winners against losers and seeded against unseeded players. It turns out that the lengths of the points were almost identical to O'Shannessy’s results and they influenced the matches outcome. Furthermore, match winners performed better in most categories, for example, the ratio of serves and returns in play and won. Regarding serve+1 they were able to keep an even level on both forehand and backhand side, while the losing players had some problems with their backhands. With that said, there were no clear differences in serve and return patterns, apart from second serves to the deuce court. From the results, it seems like the quality of the shots is more important than where they are landing.

There is an ongoing trade war between the two largest economies in the world. Since the trade war is still ongoing, few studies have been done to investigate how it affects the global economy. The purpose of this thesis is to analyze the trade war’s effect on the Swedish stock market between the 2nd of March 2018 when U.S. president Donald Trump first threatened to impose tariffs on Chinese imports to the 15th of January 2020 when the phase one deal was signed. Data is collected from Donald Trump’s official twitter account and by statements from the U.S. and Chinese governments. An event study is then made by using the market model to find abnormal returns for different sectors and stocks on OMXS large cap. The study shows that the sectors react differently to the announcements. Some sectors were not affected at all and others were heavily affected. Telecommunication is a sector that had an average cumulative abnormal return close to zero both when there was positive news and negative news about the trade war. Contrarily, a sector that seems to be highly correlated to the news about the trade war is the Technology sector. Basic Resources is the most affected sector in the study when bad news occurred. From our study, we can conclude that the Swedish stock market is affected by the trade war.

With product returns, reverse logistics management is causing a big environmental impact, especially product returns from online shopping provided by the third-party logistics (3PL) companies. There is a need for understanding in what ways 3PL companies could reduce the environmental impact and at the same time stay competitive. This thesis qualitative method is based on semi-structured interviews with the objective to highlight the management of return transportation. Specifically, the challenges for third-party logistics (3PL) companies to reduce their environmental impact by managing the transportation of product returns and keeping their economic performances. Supporting the study, 3PL companies and end-customers, in Sweden, proposed long-term organized advice (as additional service) to the 3PLs customers for helping them reducing cost and their impact on the environment. The study suggested that 3PL companies are required to emphasize the management of transportation agreements, not only to include adequate economic clauses but also the terms for achieving environmental performances. In the long-term, these agreements will allow 3PL companies to achievetheir environmental performances and remaining competitive. The study recognized that implication for managers might be, for them to keep updated on environmental changes applying that customer’s new demands could require a different way (than today) for managing their logistics organizations. For example, these changes could have great implications for early and consistent managerial actions, impacting the reverse logistics processes, like the transportation of the returned products.

[pt] Usualmente as avaliações de desempenho de fundos de investimento utilizam os índices tradicionais de desempenho, baseados na normalidade dos retornos. Por ter como base a normalidade de retornos, esses índices tradicionais ignoram as informações contidas nos momentos de ordem superior da distribuição. Embora a teoria clássica de Markowitz (1952) seja considerada de fácil aplicação e eficiente na composição dos ativos das carteiras de investimento, as complicações aparecem quando os ativos apresentam distribuições notoriamente não normais. Recentemente, diversos autores vêm propondo medidas de risco-retorno (conhecidas também como medidas de desempenho) mais consistentes com a distribuição esperada de ganhos observada na prática, isto é, distribuições não normais. Entre elas, a medida Ômega , apresentada por Keating e Shadwick (2002), que leva em conta não apenas os primeiros momentos da distribuição dos retornos dos ativos (média e variância), mas todo o formato da distribuição para avaliar seu risco. O principal objetivo deste trabalho é comparar algumas medidas tradicionais de avaliação de performance de fundos de investimento, no mercado brasileiro, com o Índice Ômega. Para isso, será verificado se os rankings de desempenho dos fundos de investimento no Brasil, dado por estas medidas, são diferentes. No presente trabalho, os parâmetros são calculados consistentemente através dos modelos apropriados, após verificação da não-estacionariedade das séries dos retornos dos fundos de investimentos. / [en] Usually, the performance evaluation of investment funds uses traditional indices of performance, based on the normality of returns. Because it is based on the normality of returns, these traditional indexes ignore the information contained in higher order moments of the distribution. Although the classical theory of Markowitz (1952) is considered easy to use and efficient in the composition of the assets of investment portfolios, complications arise when assets have markedly non-normal distributions. Recently, several authors have proposed measures of risk-return (also known as performance measures) more consistent with the expected distribution of gains observed in practice, that is, non-normal distributions. Among them, the Omega measure, by Keating and Shadwick (2002), which takes into account not only the first moments of the distribution of asset returns (mean and variance), but the whole shape of the distribution to evaluate its risk. The main objective of this study is to compare some traditional measures of performance evaluation of investment funds in the Brazilian market, with the Omega index. This paper will verify if the performance rankings of mutual funds in Brazil, given by these measures are different. In this study, the parameters are calculated consistently through appropriate models, after the verification of the non-stationarity of the series of returns of investment funds.

Cette thèse analyse les ressorts de la solidarité entre la diaspora sénégalaise en France et le Sénégal à travers la question d’une dette fondatrice. Les transferts d’argent sont devenus un sujet incontournable pour divers acteurs et éclairent un peu plus l’importance des immigrés dans leur pays. Ce prisme économique, de l’immigré œconomicus & donator, au risque de déformer la totalité de ce qui circule, de restreindre le spectre des échanges, de minorer la part de l’inévaluable, reste pourtant dominant dans les lectures institutionnelles. Cette étude inverse la perspective en révélant le primat du sens, en questionnant in fine, celui de la migration, qu’elle réinstitue au cœur de la problématique. Elle analyse la recomposition d’une géographie humaine, avec l’analyse des temporalités et discours, à l’aune de l’Histoire, des structures, des rationalités, des conjonctures et des valeurs socio-culturelles, et ce, à travers la solidarité entre deux cultures. A partir des transferts d’argent, jusqu’à l’entreprenariat des immigrés en passant par leur engagement associatif, et à travers une démarche qualitative, il semble exister une dette originelle, souple et plurielle, au fondement du geste solidaire. Donner à son pays c’est ainsi lui rendre. Cette dette inscrit l’immigré dans une forme d’urgence permanente, qu’il réinvestit tout de même de sa souveraineté et que son don, son engagement, son envie de rentrer, d’entreprendre et de « faire », pour son pays, tentent d’acquitter. C’est ce fil de l’immigration et cette permanence du lien que cette thèse explore, de la violence symbolique du départ comme agent de la dette éprouvée, au retour, dans ses différentes expressions, physique ou symbolique, comme quête d’un ré-enracinement. / This thesis analyses the mechanisms of solidarity existing between the Senegalese diaspora in France and Senegal. Through the question of the founding debt, it seeks to explore how important migrants’ money transfers are in their home country. Though in many institutional reports, the economic approach still prevails, with the figure of the oeconomicus & donator migrant, this study offers a different perspective in the sense that it privileges the meaning of the donation. In doing so, it also questions the phenomenon of immigration and examines the remaking of human geography and the series of discourse it implies. From its analysis of money transfers to the one of migrants’ entrepreneurship, passing by their commitment to social activities, using a qualitative method, this work unveils the existence of an original debt at the source of this solidary gesture. To give to one’s home country is then to simply pay back. This debt, which the migrant is expected to solve, explains his donation, his commitment, his entrepreneurship, and his desire to return. It’s the genealogy of this immigration, its social and cultural fundaments that this thesis intends to establish starting from the symbolic violence of the departure to the return of the migrant while highlighting its various expressions.

Thesis advisor: Laura . Rumbley / Thesis advisor: Hans . de Wit / Internationalization of higher education continues to transform the field of post-secondary education around the world. Student mobility, and specifically study abroad, operates as tool of internationalization that receives a lot of attention from institutions, nations, and students alike. Support for studying abroad is rooted in the many benefits, including but not limited: exposure to new cultures and perspectives, improvement of foreign language skills, development of independence and personal confidence, and expansion of problem solving skills. However, the transition back home after an experience abroad can often be a difficult experience for students who lack intentional and specific support through their institution. This re-entry period is often overlooked by institutions, however, it is a part of a student’s study abroad experience and should be supported as such through resources and programming for returned students. American Jesuit institutions in particular promote participation in study abroad as it aligns with the Jesuit mission and values rooted in serving God through serving others. As institutions that place a high value on engaging with the world and a holistic view of the educational experience, American Jesuit institutions have an obligation to support students through re-entry. This study looks at how these institutions support students as they return from abroad, the major challenges they face, how they integrate Jesuit values into their support, and what can be done in the future. / Thesis (MA) — Boston College, 2019. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Educational Leadership and Higher Education.

GUI testing is expensive to perform manually. Software systems involving a heterogeneous set of components exclude the applicability of specific GUI testing techniques. Visual GUI Testing (VGT) is a test automation technique that combines image recognition with scripts. It applies to almost any GUI driven application. VGT is proven to be cost-effective in comparison with manual testing. Still, it is expensive to maintain. This study investigates if test script design by following specific guidelines positively affects maintenance costs. A case study was conducted to identify best practices for VGT w.r.t. maintenance time. Four VGT versions were developed for each manual test case. These consisted of two design versions, with/without guidelines, for the two VGT-tools EyeAutomate and Sikuli. Data was collected using time measurements, observations, and interviews. Results highlighted differences in initial development time and maintenance time between the two design versions. In total, 44 observations were collected. 17 were related to the design versions, 17 to the VGT-tools, and 10 to VGT in general, initial development, and the system under test. The interviews collected the perceptions of VGT in general, maintenance of the different VGT versions, and guidelines. In conclusion, the combination of the guidelines did not have a positive effect on maintenance in terms of costs and experience. However, some of the individual guidelines did. A rationale why the guidelines did not give the desired result was identified. Future research is necessary to investigate other combinations of guidelines, such as those identified as beneficial.

När covid-19 pandemin bröt ut i Europa tidigt 2020 valde många svenska företag att dra tillbaka sina tidigare föreslagna utdelningar. Hur reagerade investerare på den svenskamarknaden på beskedet om att utdelningarna uteblev? Vi har utfört en eventstudie somundersöker den riskjusterade avkastningen för 31 svenska bolag listade på NASDAQ Stockholm som under våren 2020 återkallade sina tidigare föreslagna utdelningar. Vårtresultat konstaterar en statistisk signifikant genomsnittlig riskjusterad underavkastning isamband med beskedet. Vårt resultat indikerar även att reaktionen var mer negativ för debolag vars pressmeddelande blev offentligt innan regeringens meddelade att bolag som utförutdelningar inte är berättigade permitteringsstöd. Vidare finner vi att bolagens nivå avkassalikviditet har en statistisk signifikant negativ påverkan på den riskjusteradeavkastningen kring eventet.

Magister Artium (Development Studies) - MA(DVS) / Brain drain has been labelled as one of the greatest development challenges facing African countries as it challenges capacity building, retention of skilled workers and sustained growth. Over the past two decades, a large number of Zimbabwean academics have left the country in search of economic opportunity and further academic training. This out-movement of academics has been exacerbated by political crisis and economic crisis in the country over the same period. Although some studies have sought to explain the causes, consequences and recommended policy responses to this human capital flight, they have not been able to critically assess, from the perspective of the emigrated academics, the conditions that would make them repatriate, their willingness to return to their home country and contribute to training, research and development; or their disposition towards engaging with Zimbabwean universities.

Investors herd when they follow the investment decisions of other market participants and ignore their own private information, causing asset valuations to deviate from their fundamentals. This paper examines herding in the South African equity market by examining the impact of investor fear on herding behavior, using a survivorship-bias free daily dataset of companies within the JSE All Share Index over the period: 3 May 2002 to 31 December 2019. Using the cross-sectional absolute deviation (CSAD), this study examines market-wide herding behavior over multiple sub-periods, which consists of before, during and after the global financial crisis of 2007/08. The results suggest no evidence of herding towards the market return; on the contrary there is evidence of ‘anti-herding' behaviour during periods of market stress. However, there is significant herding towards the domestic fear index, which becomes more pronounced during the crisis period. Furthermore, investor herd behaviour appears to be sensitive to spill-over effects from the US investor fear-gauge, suggesting interconnectedness with global financial markets. Therefore, these findings suggest that fear plays an important role in enforcing irrational behaviour.