Denna studie undersöker hur aktivt förvaltade BRIC-landsfonder (Brasilien, Ryssland, Indien och Kina) som erbjuds på den svenska fondmarknaden har presterat i förhållande till respektive jämförelseindex (MSCI) utifrån avkastning och riskjusterad prestation under perioder av upp- och nedgångar 2006 till 2011. Vidare undersöker vi hur BRIC-landsfondernas prestationer har hållit i sig jämfört med index och varandra över tiden. Vi finner att majoriteten av Brasilien-fonderna slår index i både upp- och nedgång, samt håller i prestationerna över tid. Riskjusterat presterar fonderna över index två av tre perioder. Ryssland-fonderna slår index i uppgång, men inte i nedgång. Fonderna håller dock inte i prestationerna över tid. Riskjusterat presterar fonderna generellt sett under index, framförallt i perioder av nedgång. Indien-fonderna slår index i nedgång, men inte i uppgång. Fonderna håller inte i prestationerna över tid och underpresterar index på riskjusterad basis i perioder av nedgång. Slutligen finner vi att Kina-fonderna slår index i både upp- och nedgång, men att de inte håller i prestationerna över tid. Riskjusterat presterar fonderna över index i uppgång, men inte i nedgång.

The overall objective of this research was to identify the levels of national and international comparability of BRIC countries companies financial reports. Brazil, Russia, India and China have in common large territories, populations, significant economic growth and important presence in international economics and politics. The global accounting convergence is seen as a process necessary for the proper development of capital markets, can be defined as a procedure applied to increase the comparability of accounting practices adopted by companies. Through a descriptive study about their goals, using the techniques of documentary research and classical content analysis, 298 financial statements prepared between 2006 and 2010 were analyzed, in accordance with IFRS and U.S. GAAP standards locations of the BRIC (CPC, RAS, AS, ASBEs). The study sample consisted of a total of 66 listed companies belonging to the sectors of Oil & Gas, Steel and Mining and Energy. It´s calculated indices of comparability (Index T) national and international developed from Taplin (2004) studies and employed recently by Cairns et al. (2010). The results show a decline in the index of International Index, consolidated the BRIC countries. Compared to the comparability of National Index, China achieved a maximum degree of comparability in all evaluated items, India grew and Brazil and Russia showed a drop in performance indicator. Moreover, the results confirm, for the sample, the size of the companies directly influences the degree of comparability of accounting practices in use. As regards audit firms, the fact that the financial statements were audited by global audit companies, known as the Big Four, was determinant in strengthening the comparability accounting. Finally, concerning the accounting principles used, the companies that use IFRS and U.S. GAAP showed comparable behavior falling within the accounting period. / O objetivo geral da presente pesquisa foi identificar os níveis de comparabilidade internacional e nacional dos relatórios financeiros das empresas oriundas dos países do BRIC. Brasil, Rússia, Índia e China possuem em comum grandes territórios, populações, crescimentos econômicos significativos e presenças importantes na economia e política internacional. A convergência contábil mundial é encarada como um processo necessário para o bom desenvolvimento dos mercados de capitais, podendo ser definida como um procedimento aplicado para o aumento da comparabilidade das práticas contábeis adotadas pelas empresas. Por meio de uma pesquisa descritiva, quanto aos seus objetivos, utilizando-se das técnicas de pesquisa documental e de análise de conteúdo clássica, foram analisadas 298 demonstrações financeiras elaboradas entre os anos de 2006 e 2010, de acordo com os IFRS, USGAAP e normas locais dos BRIC (CPC, RAS, AS, ASBE). A amostra da pesquisa foi composta de um total de 66 empresas listadas pertencentes aos setores de Petróleo e Gás, Siderurgia e Mineração e Energia. Calcularam-se os índices de comparabilidade (T Index) internacional e nacional desenvolvidos a partir dos estudos de Taplin (2004) e empregados, recentemente, por Cairns et al. (2010). Os resultados apontam uma queda do índice de comparabilidade internacional (International Index), consolidado dos países do BRIC. Em relação aos índices de comparabilidade nacional (National Index), a China obteve grau de comparabilidade máximo em todos os itens avaliados, a Índia apresentou crescimento e Brasil e Rússia evidenciaram comportamento de queda no indicador. Além disso, os resultados confirmam, para a amostra, que o tamanho das empresas influi diretamente no grau de comparabilidade das práticas contábeis em uso. Em relação às empresas de auditoria, o fato de as demonstrações financeiras serem auditadas pelas empresas globais de auditoria, conhecidas como Big Four, foi determinante no fortalecimento da comparabilidade contábil. Finalmente, no tocante aos princípios contábeis em uso, as empresas que recorrem ao IFRS e USGAAP revelaram comportamento de queda de comparabilidade contábil dentro do período analisado. / Mestre em Administração

Submitted by Eliene Soares da Silva (eliene.silva@fgv.br) on 2013-09-03T19:45:54Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Final_Version_FGV_1 - Com Ficha Catalográfica.pdf: 1379479 bytes, checksum: ad1499495265dde04f6483c08b8931e2 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Eliene Soares da Silva (eliene.silva@fgv.br) on 2013-09-03T20:39:54Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Final_Version_FGV_1 - Com Ficha Catalográfica.pdf: 1379479 bytes, checksum: ad1499495265dde04f6483c08b8931e2 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2013-09-03T20:40:12Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Final_Version_FGV_1 - Com Ficha Catalográfica.pdf: 1379479 bytes, checksum: ad1499495265dde04f6483c08b8931e2 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-08-21 / Uma vez que as perspectivas de crescimento económico nos países mais desenvolvidos, como a Europa, os EUA eo Japão estão diminuindo, os mercados emergentes têm se tornado cada vez mais importante para muitas empresas multinacionais. Brasil, Rússia, Índia e China (BRICs) são agora os principais mercados em crescimento em todo o mundo e as empresas estão buscando estratégias para explorar ao máximo o potencial de consumo promissor nessas regiões. Um dos modos mais elaborados de prosseguir essa estratégia é conhecida como 'localização' - uma adaptação das práticas de negócios (ao longo de toda a cadeia de suprimentos) com as preferências e condições locais. Este artigo é projetado para analisar as atividades de localização de empresas multinacionais no Brasil. O foco da análise é o de investigar as características do mercado brasileiro, que induzem as multinacionais a localizar o seu marketing mix (composto de produto, preço, colocação e promoção). Em dois estudos de casos com a empresa Suiça Nestlé e a empresa Alemã Volkswagen vários padrões de localização foram no mercado consumidor brasileiro. Os quatro resultados mais significativos da análise são os diferentes padrões sociais o Brasil, que forçar as empresas a reformular certas funções do seu mix de marketing (por exemplo, a colocação no caso da Nestlé), a aceitação dos consumidores brasileiros a pagar preços relativamente elevados (por exemplo, taxas de Volkswagen até 100% mais por seus produtos em relação à Alemanha); o enorme tamanho do Brasil ea infra-estrutura deficiente, que exigem uma abordagem de distribuição localizada; eo caráter atualmente ainda menos exigente dos estratos de consumidores brasileiros emergentes, que permitem às empresas oferecer produtos menos sofisticados em comparação aos mercados europeus.

LL.M. (International Commercial Law) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

The BRIC nations are Brazil, Russia, India and China, for the purpose of this thesis I concentrate on Brazil and India. Potential is the word that springs to mind when Brazil and India are mentioned. Brazil and India are developing countries with low GDP per capita (PPP). I demonstrate that Brazil and India have the potential to become world economy leaders in the very near future. This thesis therefore focuses on aspects that have a significant if not a crucial impact on fulfilling the potential of Brazil and India as world economical leaders.

This master thesis examines mutual relations between components of the balance of payments and the foreign exchange rate. The first part briefly describes the structure of the balance of payments and the theory of the foreign exchange rate as a macro-economical variable, which can be seen in many different systems. The next part brings the characteristics of historic and recent economic conditions and challenges of four selected countries: Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC). In the empirical part, relations between components of the balance of payments and the development of the exchange rate are analyzed by methods of the linear regression. The time-series consisted of annual data for a period of fifteen to seventeen years.

The aim of the thesis is to discuss the position of China within the "BRICS" economies (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa). China is the strongest member of the group, which is shortly introduced from the economic point of view in comparison to each other. China managed to keep high paces og economic growth even in times of global economic downturn caused by the global financial crisis. Based on it's economic strength, China gains more and more influence in the global economy and international affairs. China is also a dominant member of the grouping. The thesis analyses the position of China within BRICS and in the broader context of the global economy at the same time. It contains a complex analysis of the economic reforms and structural changes, which led to the shift of China's position towards becoming a world economic power. It also contains an analysis of the impacts of the world crises on the group and compares, how the members dealt with it. It also tries to answer the question if the crisis could cause a change in the existing global economic order in favour of China.

This dissertation examines the relative importance of country of manufacturing and country-of-brand versus the functional attributes for industrial products. The study examines country of origin, country-of-brand origin, and how they affect the purchasing team, or what is referred to in this study as the decision-making unit, when purchasing commercial refrigeration compressors. The literature reveals that the international marketing community has been looking at the country-of-origin and what effect it has on the purchasing decision-making process. Even though the world seems to be becoming smaller, purchasing people may still be valuing the country or brand effect before making final purchasing decisions. A conjoint analysis experiment was performed with a group of people who have purchased commercial refrigeration compressors in the past 5 years. The QuestionPro web page was used to collect the data from global users, where they were asked to rank the 36 conjoint analysis cards and a questionnaire which was to determine the respondents' demographic characteristics.

Research shows the professional benefits of strong mentoring relationships. However, the majority of the extant mentoring research is either mentor-centric or Western-oriented. Even with the increasing trend of protégé-centric research, relatively little research exists that examines mentoring in India and what protégés from that country would most desire from the mentoring relationship and their mentors. This chapter uses the countries in the emerging economies group represented by the acronym BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China), combined with Hofstede’s classification system for cross-cultural comparisons. Findings from mentoring studies from countries economically and culturally similar to India are then generalized to suggest criteria Indian protégés would find most appealing in their mentors. Finally, the chapter concludes with a discussion of future areas for research on mentoring in India.

The main purpose of this thesis is to develop methodological and practical improvements on robust portfolio optimization procedures. Firstly, the thesis discusses the drawbacks of classical mean-variance optimization models, and examines robust portfolio optimization procedures with CVaR and worst-case CVaR risk models by providing a clear presentation of derivation of robust optimization models from a basic VaR model. For practical purposes, the thesis introduces an open source software interface called “RobustRisk”, which is developed for producing empirical evidence for the robust portfolio optimization models. The software, which performs Monte-Carlo simulation and out-of-sample performance for the portfolio optimization, is introduced by using a hypothetical portfolio data from selected emerging markets. In addition, the performance of robust portfolio optimization procedures are discussed by providing empirical evidence in the crisis period from advanced markets. Empirical results show that robust optimization with worst-case CVaR model outperforms the nominal CVaR model in the crisis period. The empirical results encourage us to construct a forward-looking stress test procedure based on robust portfolio optimization under regime switches. For this purpose, the Markov chain process is embedded into robust optimization procedure in order to stress regime transition matrix. In addition, assets returns, volatilities, correlation matrix and covariance matrix can be stressed under pre-defined scenario expectations. An application is provided with a hypothetical portfolio representing an internationally diversified portfolio. The CVaR efficient frontier and corresponding optimized portfolio weights are achieved under regime switch scenarios. The research suggests that stressed-CVaR optimization provides a robust and forward-looking stress test procedure to comply with the regulatory requirements stated in Basel II and CRD regulations.