Doctor of philosophy (PhD) / Abstract As one of the most culturally diverse countries in the world, Australia has a high proportion of minority communities. However, its ageing population, particularly within these ethnic minorities, faces a range of barriers or difficulties in gaining access to and using health and aged care services. This study aims to identify the acculturation factors that affect the health status of Iranian-born elderly immigrants to Australia and their utilisation of health and community aged care services. The results of this study will be of value to Iranian elders, their families, and Australian aged health care service providers. The findings could also contribute towards enriched multicultural policy and improved social fairness, access to services, and equity for the aged from different ethnic backgrounds. 302 Iranian migrants aged 65 years who had lived in the Sydney Metropolitan area for at least six months were surveyed via a written questionnaire, face-to-face interviews, and telephone interviews. The results were analysed using SPSS and then compared to the findings from a 1999 survey of NSW elderly. The results indicate that Iranian migrants suffer higher levels of psychological distress and are more limited in their physical functioning than the general population of older Australians. They are in greater need of assistance with activities of daily living, have a lower sense of wellbeing, and are far less likely to utilise aged care services. Iranian migrant who do not speak English at home experience these disadvantages to an even greater extent English language proficiency was the only acculturation factor found to affect whether Iranian elderly utilised health and community aged care services, while ability to engage in activities of daily living (ADL) was the only health variable associated with their utilisation of community supportive aged care services. This variable did not predict the use of community aged care services in the broader sample of NSW respondents. Since limited proficiency in English placed elderly Iranian migrants at greater health risk and impeded their access to necessary assistance, the findings suggest that they would clearly benefit from English classes and from access to health and community care services and information regarding these services in the Farsi language.

<p>Since the year 2005 listed companies are supposed to use international accounting standards when they set up their group accountancy. One thing that has changed with the new standards is the accounting of goodwill and long-lived intangible assets. Earlier companies were supposed to write of their goodwill during the years they had expected the extra profit to arise. According to the new regulation, an impairment test shall be done annually, as well as when there is an indication of decreased value. According to IAS 36 point 134, the company shall provide information in their accountancy about the impairment test.</p><p>The aim of this study is to find out if some companies may be willing to reveal less information in their accountancy, and if there are any factors that affect this. We will investigate if there is any relation between how much the three largest owners in each company hold both in equity- and vote share and how much information that is provided in the accountancy. We will also investigate if there is any relation between the expectations of returns from the market and how much information that is provided. The first hypothesis is: If companies are expected to get a high future cash flow, which implies a high market value in relation to book value of equity, then the company will reveal less information conveying much knowledge about the market to their competitors. The second hypothesis claim that if the three largest owners together holds a large equity- vote share, where small asymmetric information exists, then the company should want to disclose less information in their accountancy.</p><p>In this research we analyse the accountancy of each company listed at the OMX exchange by 31 Dec 2005. To see how much information that is disclosed in the accountancy, we have chosen to analyse how and if the companies accomplish their accounting according to IAS 36 point 134. To be able to compare how much information the companies provided about this, we have created a score structure. Furthermore we have used SPSS to make a regression analysis, which should show if there are any relations. Our results however show that there is no relation between how much information that is given and how large the market value compared to book value of equity is. Neither did we find any relation between how large the three largest owners where and how much information that was provided. Our results differ from earlier studies. One cause for that might be that we only picked three variables, while their studies could have included a lot more variables. Our study only focuses on a small part of the accountancy; if we had analyzed the entire accountancy we might have arrived to a different result. The year 2005 was furthermore the first year that the companies were obliged to follow the standard, which also could have had a certain impact on the result.</p>

<p>Denna undersökning behandlar frågan om vilka faktorer som påverkar nedskrivningen av goodwill. Vi har valt tre faktorer utifrån redan existerande teorier och ställt upp hypoteser kring dessa med syfte till att kunna hitta samband mellan de och nedskrivning av goodwill. De undersökta faktorerna är lågkonjunktur, VD-byte och negativt resultat och urvalet av företag är hämtat från OMX Stockholm index för perioden 2006-2008. Företagens årsredovisningar har analyserats för att få fram nödvändig empiri och sedan har chi2- och Fisher-test utförts för att kunna testa trovärdigheten hos hypoteserna. Resultaten visar att goodwill endast skrivs ned vid negativt resultat.</p>

<p>Sammanfattning</p><p>Den internationella redovisningen har genomgått stora förändringar under de senaste åren. Allt fler länder i världen använder sig numera av International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). Alla noterade företag inom EU måste tillämpa IFRS från och med 2005. Ett av de områden som förändrats under de senaste åren är redovisningsreglerna kring goodwill. Före år 2005 fick företag använda sig av olika metoder vid redovisning av företagsförvärv. Möjligheterna för företag att använda sig av olika redovisningsmetoder skapade enligt vissa forskare incitament att anordna transaktioner endast för att dra fördelar av skillnaderna som uppstod i de olika redovisningsmetoderna.</p><p>Vid redovisning av goodwill ska företagen testa om ett nedskrivningsbehov föreligger. För att testa detta måste företagen använda sig av flera subjektiva uppskattningar och antaganden. Dessa antaganden kan öppna dörrarna för kreativ bokföring, vilket innebär att ledningen missleder intressenter om det ekonomiska läget. Nedskrivningar av tillgångar kan skapa incitament för kreativ bokföring i form av stålbad eller resultatutjämning, eftersom ledningen kan välja att göra nedskrivningar då deras resultat är ovanligt högt, resultatutjämning, eller ovanligt lågt, stålbad. Tidigare forskning har också visat att det kan förekomma skillnader i hur stor utsträckning små och stora företag använder sig av stålbad.</p><p>Vårt syfte var att se om kreativ bokföring i form av stålbad påverkar ett företags beslut om nedskrivning av goodwill. Vårt delsyfte var att studera om en eventuell förekomst av stålbad förekommer i både små och stora svenska företag. Studien avgränsar sig till att studera förekomsten av stålbad i svenska koncerner för år 2008. Uppsatsen baseras på 203 publika koncerner som har haft goodwill som ingående balans under året 2008.</p><p>Vi har gjort regressionstester för att testa om nedskrivningar av goodwill påverkas av stålbad och om det förekommer i små respektive stora företag. Studiens empiri visar att det finns ett statistiskt signifikant samband att stålbad påverkar ett företags beslut om en nedskrivning. Vi fann även statistiska signifikanta samband för att stålbad både förekommer i små och stora företag. Slutsatserna vi fann är därmed att kreativ bokföring i form av stålbad förekommer i företag som skriver ned goodwill och att det förekommer i både små och stora företag.</p>

Sammanfattning Den internationella redovisningen har genomgått stora förändringar under de senaste åren. Allt fler länder i världen använder sig numera av International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). Alla noterade företag inom EU måste tillämpa IFRS från och med 2005. Ett av de områden som förändrats under de senaste åren är redovisningsreglerna kring goodwill. Före år 2005 fick företag använda sig av olika metoder vid redovisning av företagsförvärv. Möjligheterna för företag att använda sig av olika redovisningsmetoder skapade enligt vissa forskare incitament att anordna transaktioner endast för att dra fördelar av skillnaderna som uppstod i de olika redovisningsmetoderna. Vid redovisning av goodwill ska företagen testa om ett nedskrivningsbehov föreligger. För att testa detta måste företagen använda sig av flera subjektiva uppskattningar och antaganden. Dessa antaganden kan öppna dörrarna för kreativ bokföring, vilket innebär att ledningen missleder intressenter om det ekonomiska läget. Nedskrivningar av tillgångar kan skapa incitament för kreativ bokföring i form av stålbad eller resultatutjämning, eftersom ledningen kan välja att göra nedskrivningar då deras resultat är ovanligt högt, resultatutjämning, eller ovanligt lågt, stålbad. Tidigare forskning har också visat att det kan förekomma skillnader i hur stor utsträckning små och stora företag använder sig av stålbad. Vårt syfte var att se om kreativ bokföring i form av stålbad påverkar ett företags beslut om nedskrivning av goodwill. Vårt delsyfte var att studera om en eventuell förekomst av stålbad förekommer i både små och stora svenska företag. Studien avgränsar sig till att studera förekomsten av stålbad i svenska koncerner för år 2008. Uppsatsen baseras på 203 publika koncerner som har haft goodwill som ingående balans under året 2008. Vi har gjort regressionstester för att testa om nedskrivningar av goodwill påverkas av stålbad och om det förekommer i små respektive stora företag. Studiens empiri visar att det finns ett statistiskt signifikant samband att stålbad påverkar ett företags beslut om en nedskrivning. Vi fann även statistiska signifikanta samband för att stålbad både förekommer i små och stora företag. Slutsatserna vi fann är därmed att kreativ bokföring i form av stålbad förekommer i företag som skriver ned goodwill och att det förekommer i både små och stora företag.

Since the year 2005 listed companies are supposed to use international accounting standards when they set up their group accountancy. One thing that has changed with the new standards is the accounting of goodwill and long-lived intangible assets. Earlier companies were supposed to write of their goodwill during the years they had expected the extra profit to arise. According to the new regulation, an impairment test shall be done annually, as well as when there is an indication of decreased value. According to IAS 36 point 134, the company shall provide information in their accountancy about the impairment test. The aim of this study is to find out if some companies may be willing to reveal less information in their accountancy, and if there are any factors that affect this. We will investigate if there is any relation between how much the three largest owners in each company hold both in equity- and vote share and how much information that is provided in the accountancy. We will also investigate if there is any relation between the expectations of returns from the market and how much information that is provided. The first hypothesis is: If companies are expected to get a high future cash flow, which implies a high market value in relation to book value of equity, then the company will reveal less information conveying much knowledge about the market to their competitors. The second hypothesis claim that if the three largest owners together holds a large equity- vote share, where small asymmetric information exists, then the company should want to disclose less information in their accountancy. In this research we analyse the accountancy of each company listed at the OMX exchange by 31 Dec 2005. To see how much information that is disclosed in the accountancy, we have chosen to analyse how and if the companies accomplish their accounting according to IAS 36 point 134. To be able to compare how much information the companies provided about this, we have created a score structure. Furthermore we have used SPSS to make a regression analysis, which should show if there are any relations. Our results however show that there is no relation between how much information that is given and how large the market value compared to book value of equity is. Neither did we find any relation between how large the three largest owners where and how much information that was provided. Our results differ from earlier studies. One cause for that might be that we only picked three variables, while their studies could have included a lot more variables. Our study only focuses on a small part of the accountancy; if we had analyzed the entire accountancy we might have arrived to a different result. The year 2005 was furthermore the first year that the companies were obliged to follow the standard, which also could have had a certain impact on the result.

Incentive for this research stems from the fact that Business-to-Consumer electronic commerce sector is going to oligopoly and the new actors have relatively less chance to accomplish in the current market if they follow the same ways that the old companies have already paved. Considering this challenge, the aim is to understand the adoption process of customers by analyzing the contemporary perceptions of individuals against e-shopping. Initially, business-to-consumer electronic commerce adoption model is developed. Proposed model and hypotheses are tested with Partial Least Squares as a Structural Equation Modeling technique using data collected from 1115 respondents via an online survey. Then, semi-structured open-ended interviews are conducted in order to grasp the perceptions of customers. The results are interpreted following a systematic mixed methodology involving Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis to elucidate the antecedents and causal relations of constructs in an inductive and exploratory way to illuminate a socio-technical phenomenon as complementary to deductive and confirmatory quantitative perspective. Findings and implications are asserted to be utilized as a roadmap especially for start-up companies that challenge to survive and succeed in current market conditions. Trust is found to be the predominant factor in e-shopping adoption. It is proved that, after almost two decades shopping via Internet had been invented, contemporarily, definitions for the dimensions of Enjoyment, Perceived Usefulness, Store Familiarity, Perceived Ease of Use and Subjective Norm have evolved into new semantics and customers perceive each factor according to their actual cognition contexts.

In Sweden approximately 25000 distal radius fractures occur annually, which is 37 % of all fractures related to osteoporosis. In this thesis, risk factors for osteoporosis, bone mineral density (BMD) and health-related quality of life (the SF-36) were compared in patients who suffered a distal radius fracture after low energy trauma with a control group matched on the basis of age, gender, and municipality of residence. The aim was also to analyse, among these patients, whether a risk factor questionnaire, tests on dynamic and static balance and a one-leg rise test could identify those, who have osteopenia or osteoporosis, and run a risk of new falls. Moreover, in a three-year follow-up, mortality, the need for in- and outpatient care, and health-related quality of life after radius fracture were investigated and compared between the patients and matched controls. Finally, the effect of a preventive intervention program including patient education and self-training was evaluated. Falls were reported in a risk factor questionnaire and in a fall diary. The patients aged 45-64 years showed lower, although not statistically significant, BMD, compared with the controls of the same age, but there was no difference concerning their history of falls. In contrast, the patients aged 64 years or older had a history of falling more often than the corresponding controls, but no difference in BMD was found. For all other risk factors, except falls, no differences were found between the patients and the controls. The results of the one-leg rise test were associated with those of dynamic and static balance, but none of the functional tests were associated with the number of falls. Decreased height and cigarette smoking were the only risk factors, which predicted osteopenia and osteoporosis. Five patients, although none of the controls, died during the study time. The patients needed statistically significantly more episodes as inpatients than the controls. The patients also had lower SF-36, Role Physical scores, than the controls at three months. This difference disappeared by the time of the follow-up. Both the patients, who participated in a four-week intervention program, “the osteoporosis school” followed by a one-year home-based exercise program, and the controls showed statistically significantly improved dynamic and static balance, ability to walk backwards and to stand on one leg with eyes open and closed at the end of the study. However, no significant differences were found between the patients and the controls in any of the tests, in BMD or in the number of the falls. The thesis shows that, except for the falls in patients aged over 64 years, there were no significant differences between patients and controls with respect to BMD and other risk factors related to osteoporosis. Consequently, in patients aged 45-64 years and older, the underlying cause of a distal radius fracture is more related to falls than to osteoporosis. Furthermore, the thesis shows that the functional tests and the risk factor questionnaire seem to be of limited value for identifying 8 people with a radius fracture, who are at risk of falling or have osteopenia or osteoporosis. If, in spite of this, functional tests on musculoskeletal function are considered for testing of functional ability in patients with a recent radius fracture, the one leg-rise test may be sufficient. There seems to be an increased mortality and morbidity necessitating inpatient care among patients with a recent radius fracture. The osteoporosis school had no significant effect on BMD, balance, muscle strength or falls in this thesis. Therefore, the lack of proven efficacy of the osteoporosis school for the secondary prevention of distal radius fractures highlights the need for more and long-term randomised controlled follow-up studies in this specific population.

Denna undersökning behandlar frågan om vilka faktorer som påverkar nedskrivningen av goodwill. Vi har valt tre faktorer utifrån redan existerande teorier och ställt upp hypoteser kring dessa med syfte till att kunna hitta samband mellan de och nedskrivning av goodwill. De undersökta faktorerna är lågkonjunktur, VD-byte och negativt resultat och urvalet av företag är hämtat från OMX Stockholm index för perioden 2006-2008. Företagens årsredovisningar har analyserats för att få fram nödvändig empiri och sedan har chi2- och Fisher-test utförts för att kunna testa trovärdigheten hos hypoteserna. Resultaten visar att goodwill endast skrivs ned vid negativt resultat.

In this thesis, identification of periodically varying orders of univariate Periodic Autoregressive Moving-Average (PARMA) processes is mainly studied. The identification of the varying orders of PARMA process is carried out by generalizing the well-known Box-Jenkins techniques to a seasonwise manner. The identification of pure periodic moving-average (PMA) and pure periodic autoregressive (PAR) models are considered only. For PARMA model identification, the Periodic Autocorrelation Function (PeACF) and Periodic Partial Autocorrelation Function (PePACF), which play the same role as their ARMA counterparts, are employed. For parameter estimation, which is considered only to refine model identification, the conditional least squares estimation (LSE) method is used which is applicable to PAR models. Estimation becomes very complicated, difficult and may give unsatisfactory results when a moving-average (MA) component exists in the model. On account of overcoming this difficulty, seasons following PMA processes are tried to be modeled as PAR processes with reasonable orders in order to employ LSE. Diagnostic checking, through residuals of the fitted model, is also performed stating its reasons and methods. The last part of the study demonstrates application of identification techniques through analysis of two seasonal hydrologic time series, which consist of average monthly streamflows. For this purpose, computer programs were developed specially for PARMA model identification.