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Betalsystemet är en av de viktigaste delarna vi har i den finansiella infrastrukturen, störningar i systemet skulle snabbt kunna leda till allvarliga konsekvenser för både individen, företagen och samhället i stort. Syftet med studien är att ge inblick i hur beredskapen ser ut idag, att hantera dessa störningar. Vidare syftar studien till att reda i vilka åtgärder som behövs för att säkerställa betalsystemets funktion vid en allvarlig störning, där digitala betalmetoder inte är fungerande. För att utföra studien har en kvalitativ metod använts, underlaget för studien har varit intervjuer med sju sakkunniga personer från Finansinspektionen, Riksbanken, Swedbank, Bankomat AB, Regeringskansliet, MSB och Bankgirot. Detta i kombination med relevant teori. Av resultatet kan vi se att genom att skapa en starkare motståndskraft och bättre förmåga för systemen att återhämta sig, blir samhället mer förberett på hanteringen av en framtida kris. Vidare framgår det att samhället inte skulle klara av ett längre avbrott i betalsystemet i dagsläget. Det blir också tydligt att bristande rutiner och en oklar fördelning av ansvaret leder till ett instabilt betalsystem i ett krisläge. Det är oklart vem som står för kostnaderna, om aktörer och myndigheter behöver rusta upp sina system, men detta förväntas bli tydligare i samband med ny kommande lagstiftning. För att säkerställa ett fungerande betalsystem både i ett krisläge och i ett normalläge, behövs ett mer robust system, med tydligare rutiner och ansvarsfördelning. / The payment system is one of the most important functions in our society’s financial infrastructure. Disruptions in the system would rapidly lead to serious consequences for individuals, businesses, and society as a whole. The purpose of the thesis is to provide a better understanding of what the emergency preparedness process looks like in dealing with mentioned disruptions, what actions are needed, and how the different actors address the issue and what risks society faces in the event of prolonged interruptions in the payment system. The study was conducted using a qualitative method, with interviews with seven experts from Finansinspektionen, Riksbanken, Swedbank, Bankomat AB, Government Offices of Sweden, The Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency and Bankgirot as the primary foundation and combining this with the relevant theory. Conclusions that can be drawn are that by strengthening the resilience and preparing society we give our systems a better ability to recover from a future crisis in our payment systems. Furthermore, that the society would not manage to retain control of the payment system in case of extensive disruption. It also became clear that insufficient routines and an indistinct division of responsibilities, lead to an unstable payment system in the event of a crisis. At this time, it is not clear who would pay the costs, if actors and authorities need to enhance their payment systems, but this uncertainty is intended to diminish with forthcoming new legislation. To ensure a functioning payment system in both a crisis and a normal situation, a sturdier system is required, with adequate routines and a division of responsibilities.

I measure the influence of ESG activities on Free Cash flow to the Firm and Free Cash Flow to Equity. I find that ESG activities primarily benefit the cash flows to creditors of firms in developed markets. The ESG effect predominantly comes from the excess spending of the firm on communicating how it integrates the economic (financial), social and environmental dimensions into its day-to-day decision-making processes. For developed market firms, the additional factor of excess spending on conditions for the workforce plays a role in boosting Free Cash Flow to the Firm.

An essential area within every store's environment is the cash wrap area. This study was conducted to identify user needs and expectations of the cash wrap area in retail stores and to develop design recommendations. Women's apparel specialty stores in vicinity of Virginia Tech, and two women's groups at Virginia Tech were selected for the study. The study consisted of (1) a survey to assess employee perceptions of the cash wrap area; (2) a survey to assess the customer perceptions of the cash wrap area; and (3) field measurements of cash wrap areas in participating stores. The surveys were divided into the following four sections: (1) environmental dimensions, (2) ideal conditions for the cash wrap area, (3) open ended questions on the cash wrap area design, and (4) demographic information. Respondents were asked to divide 100 points among the environmental dimensions (ambient conditions, space and function, and signs, symbols and artifacts) to indicate their relative importance; and to agree or disagree on a six - point Likert scale. Mean values for the variables were calculated separately for both employees and customers. Field measurements of the cash wrap areas were documented in seven of the participating women's apparel specialty stores. The data were analyzed descriptively and statistically. A significant finding was that customers regard the environmental dimension of space and function to be most important. Ideal conditions identified by customers and employees were itemized. The results indicated that employees have high expectations about their work environment and what they hope to accomplish within it. Responses to the open-ended questions were categorized and prioritized. Design recommendations were developed and categorized into: general recommendations, cash wrap area size recommendations, design feature recommendations, design recommendations specific to employee needs, and ADA design recommendations. / Master of Science

Politics has often been conceptualized as a conflict between political parties that represent the economic interests of different groups in society. This conception of politics has, however, been considerably weakened by the economic and social transformations of the last decades and by the rise of post-materialist values among newer generations of electors. Indeed, the vote of manual workers for left-wing parties has declined significantly in recent decades as did the impact of left-wing parties on social spending. At the same time, the issue of low-wage work has become prominent in the partisan debates of several countries such as the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom following the mobilization of low-paid workers, unions and community associations. Low-wage workers who mainly work in the service sector have often precarious work and living conditions following decades of labor markets deregulation and are highly dependent on governmental policies to insure decent living and work conditions. One of these policies, the minimum wage, has been at the center of the electoral campaigns of many left-wing parties in recent years. However, the issue of low-wage work has rarely been studied in political science. This thesis seeks to explain the partisan dynamics surrounding the issue of low-wage work. My main argument is that low-wage workers tend to vote for left-wing parties in accordance with their economic interests, especially in countries with a weak degree of corporatism such as the United States and the United Kingdom. In those countries, left-wing parties have strong incentives to make pledges related to low-wage work like increasing the minimum wage in their electoral manifesto, because unions are unable to negotiate decent working conditions for the majority of workers. Indeed, in countries with weak corporatism, low-wage workers are very dependent on governmental interventions to ensure minimum working standards and improve their living conditions. In countries with strong corporatism, however, unions negotiate collective agreements that ensure minimum working conditions for the majority of workers, workers with weaker bargaining power are thus less dependent on government policies to insure decent working conditions. Therefore, left-wing parties should be able to consolidate their vote among low-wage workers in countries with a weak degree of corporatism. Once in power, left-wing parties should also increase the minimum wage and the direct cash transfers to low-income families more than governments led by right-wing parties, especially when corporatism is weak. The emphasis on policies targeted to low-wage workers by left-wing parties in countries with a weak degree of corporatism could also limit the capacity of radical parties to attract the vote of low-wage workers. This thesis is composed of 4 articles, one on electoral pledges related to low-wage work, one on the vote of low-wage workers, one on the impact of left-wing parties on minimum wages and one on the impact of left-wing parties on direct cash transfers received by low-income families. These four articles demonstrate the relevance of a materialist conception of politics and the role of institutions regulating the labor market on partisan dynamics.

This thesis sheds some light on how cash and voucher assistance (CVA) can promote sustainable livelihood outcomes in protracted crisis settings, analyzing the case study of Northeast Syria. It aims to contribute to the design of CVA programming in Syria and similar contexts in a way that fosters sustainable livelihoods and advances self-sufficiency among affected populations. The two core concepts – CVA and livelihoods – are first conceptualized separately, followed by an extensive literature review, which provides an empirical perspective and identifies some channels through which CVA can promote sustainable livelihoods. Eight semi-structured interviews, representing the views of a donor agency, INGOs, the humanitarian coordination architecture, and a CVA network of practitioners, then provide in-depth insights into Northeast Syria specifically. While this thesis identifies four CVA instruments that are implemented by humanitarian organizations to promote livelihoods in Northeast Syria, it equally finds that the context is characterized by structural barriers which cannot be addressed by humanitarian CVA alone. To tackle structural barriers and account for the paradigm shift the Syrian crisis is undergoing, the international community needs to adjust its funding approach in a way that promotes longer-term thinking and sustainable livelihoods both in Syria and other protracted crisis settings.

Выпускная квалификационная работа (магистерская диссертация) посвящена исследованию рынка инкассации в наличном денежном обороте. Предметом исследования выступают экономические отношения в области функционирования рынка инкассации. Целью магистерской диссертации является разработка комплексной концепции совершенствования инкассаторских услуг в условиях внутриотраслевой конкуренции на основе изучения теоретических и практических аспектов конкурентной среды на рынке инкассаторских услуг. В заключении обозначены рекомендации по совершенствованию деятельности служб инкассации. / Final qualifying work (master's thesis) is devoted to the study of the collection market in cash turnover. The subject of the study are the economic relations in the area of the functional of the collection market. The main purpose of the master's thesis is to develop a comprehensive concept for improving collection services in the context of intra-industry competition based on a study of theoretical and practical aspects of the competitive environment in the collection services market. In conclusion, recommendations are given to improve the performance of the collection service.

The objective of this three-essay dissertation are to develop a weighted cash conversion cycle (CCC_EVA) and empirically investigate its commensurability of corporate financial performance. Essay 1, titled "Supply Chain Finance: Developing a Weighted Cash Conversion Cycle to Proxy Operations Liquidity", presents the development and supporting empirical evidence of CCC_EVA measurability of operations liquidity. This essay shows the processes of scaling capital intensity and financing cost into time intervals captured by the traditional metric. Specifically, this essay investigates how accurately CCC_EVA indexes operations liquidity captured working capital, operational cash flow-to-modified working capital ratio, and quick ratio. The sample used in this essay consists of 4,333 firm-year observations of publicly traded industry classified firms listed on the U.S. exchange markets. The results of the empirical testing have statistically supported the essay hypotheses, that is CCC_EVA is a more accurate proxy of operations liquidity in comparison to the traditional metric (CCC_D). Essay 2, titled "Supply Chain Finance: Weighted Cash Conversion Cycle and Corporate Finance", expands the first essay findings by accounting for well-known financial measurements. Specifically, this essay examines the relations between CCC_EVA and operations liquidity and leverage, Market value, operating profitably and growth, and long-term asset management efficiency. This essay paper has used a sample of 24,127 firm-year observations of publicly traded firms listed on U.S. exchange markets from 1994 to 2016. The results support and extend the previous findings, that is CCC_EVA is a robust proxy of operations liquidity and can enhance its resiliency; maximize market value of corporate equity and debt; identify strategies to improve corporate profitability and credibility. Essay 3, titled "Supply Chain Finance: An Advanced Weighted Cash Conversion Cycle", advances the accuracy of CCC_EVA by differentiating between cash and credit forms of corporate sales and purchase transactions, and introducing operational cash flow into CCC_EVA. The advanced metric allows differences in inventory carrying cost and capital costs to be sources of the economic value added (EVA). Within a longitudinal case-based approach, the results show that the advanced metric is a potential decision tool to leverage on supply chain diversity and capitalize on its relation dynamics. Specifically, the implantation of the advanced metric can minimize the overall SC weighted average cost of capital (WACC) and its inventory carry cost (ICC); boost EVA of SC activities; and hedge liquidity risk. This three-essay dissertation has addressed the academic skepticism about CCC_D‘s commensurability by developing an advanced weighted metric (CCC_EVA) that accounts for capital intensity and financing cost. The three essays provide evidence of CCC_EVA testability and its adequacy of presenting corporate financial performance. The findings of this dissertation contribute to both industry and academia. Industry practitioners can implement CCC_EVA as a strategic decision instrument to balance SC liquidity distribution and resilience; hedge default risk of hidden deep-tier SC partners; increase overall SC profitability and creditability; boost equity value; and reveal existing opportunities of SC's EVA sources. Academically, these three essays initiate a fundamental and much-needed step for scholars to advance a systematically published metric, which can contribute to the implications, innovations, and knowledge of the SCF domain.

En el contexto actual, obtener una buena estructura de financiamiento se ha convertido en una dificultad en muchos de los emprendimientos más aún si estos emprendimientos son informales, situación que no es ajena a los acopiadores de miel de abeja en la ciudad de Jaén. Razón por la cual, la presente investigación se propuso como objetivo principal determinar la alternativa de financiamiento que pueda contribuir a la mejora de la rentabilidad de los acopiadores de miel de abeja en la ciudad de Jaén. Se utilizó un enfoque cuantitativo, porque utiliza la recolección de datos en fuentes de análisis documental, en tanto se aplicaron encuestas a un sector de la población de Jaén para conocer las preferencias sobre el producto de miel de abeja con registro sanitario. La investigación es de tipo descriptivo, porque pretende informar el momento presente del fenómeno o la determinación de la frecuencia con que algo ocurre, además, posee un diseño no experimental al observar el objeto de estudio tal como se presenta en la realidad para analizarlo y un corte transversal porque se va a recolectar datos en un solo momento y en tiempo único. La población está determinada por 13 negocios vigentes de acopiadores y 17 entidades financieras que podrían ser fuentes de financiamiento. Encontrando como resultado que una estructura de financiamiento puede generar viabilidades sostenibles de un proyecto con un retorno superior al costo del accionista como ha sido el caso de esta investigación, en el caso de las entidades microfinancieras.

La presente investigación fue realizada con la finalidad de valorizar a la empresa Agrocap bajo los métodos flujo de caja descontados y múltiplos comparables, para ello se ha realizado un análisis de la situación económica y financiera en el que se ha podido identificar que la empresa presenta dificultades de liquidez y solvencia, ocasionando un desequilibrio financiero e inconveniente en su apalancamiento. Según la valorización de flujo de caja descontados, y teniendo en cuenta las proyecciones de sus ventas, el mercado, la producción entre otros datos importantes, se obtiene un valor de 17 millones de dólares, a este valor para poder tener un panorama más neto, también se le han disminuido las deudas financieras que presentaban en ese año. Por otro lado, bajo el método de múltiplos comparables la entidad obtiene un valor de 10 millones de dólares aproximadamente, para esta valorización se han tenido en cuenta empresas relacionadas a la industria que ejerce actualmente la empresa Agrocap.