Teenagers are the group that spends most money on clothing. When choosing clothes, the so called internal and external signals could affect the perceived quality of the teenagers. The external signals are for example price, brand and place of purchase while the internal signals are the physical composition of the product as for example garment and size. The perceived quality is the attributes that the teenagers perceive that the specific article of clothing has. Today’s marketing, within the fashion line, is mostly to present the design of the product and aim the marketing for curtain segments and to keep a distance to others that are not within the segment group. To understand what the teenagers perceived as quality is therefore of high importance, which leads us to the following problem: What factors affect high school student’s perception of quality when buying clothes? The survey was conducted with a questionnaire at two different high schools in the city of Umeå. The survey was carried out with 187 respondents of which 105 were female and 82 were male students. What we found in our survey was that there are differences between male and female concerning the perceived quality and that affects there choice of clothing. We also found that female has a higher interest of fashion and clothing which could be a reason that there are differences in perceived quality and choice of clothes between the genders. The internal signal had the highest influence on perceived quality when buying clothes and are highly valued among the respondents. The external signals that influenced the respondents the most are the place of purchase and that the brand of clothing fits with their personality.

Sammanfattning Att investera i långfilmprojekt är riskfyllt. Därför är det mycket sällsynt att en långfilm i Sverige produceras utan ekonomiskt stöd från det Svenska Filminstitutet, SFI. Branschen har hamnat i en beroendeställning vilket gjort att makten koncentrerats hos Institutet. För att höja totala publiktillströmningen och filmkvalitén bestämde SFI år 2006 att öka storleken på stöden, men att detta skulle ske på bekostnad av ett mindre antal produktioner. Utvecklingen innebär att färre bolag i framtiden kommer ha en ekonomisk möjlighet att producera långfilm, att färre anställda behövs och att filmernas mångfald försämras - alla dessa är händelseförlopp som SFI en gång grundades för att motverka. Men är det verkligen så enkelt att det räcker med större budgetar för att höja den totala publiktillströmningen och kvalitén? Är detta verkligen den rätta metoden? För produktionsbolagen är det här en viktig fråga, det är en fråga om existens, för andra är det en fråga om vilken riktning utvecklingen av filmkonsten kommer att ta. De frågeställningar som uppsatsen har för avsikt att besvara är: Har budgetstorleken någon effekt på avkastningen? Har budgetstorleken någon effekt på kvalitén? Bör SFI kvarhålla sin strategi för att nå de uppsatta målen om högre total publiktillströmning och höjd kvalité? Avkastningen är i denna uppsats en kvot som visar billjettintäkter per investerad krona. Kvalitén mäts efter filmpublikens egna preferenser. Undersökningens data kommer från SFI: s hemsida, www.sfi.se, och filmdatabasen The Internet Movie Database, IMDb.com. Med hjälp av regressionsmodeller har följande resultat framkommit: En större budget genererar en lägre avkastning än vad en mindre budget gör. Effekten visar att varje investerad miljon sänker marginalintäkten med 52 600 kronor. Budgetstorleken har ingen effekt på kvalitén. SFI borde satsa på fler filmer med lägre budgetstöd i syfte att öka den totala publiktillströmningen. Möjligen kan också kvalitén höjas av detta genom en ökad konkurrens och mångfald, men också genom att de yrkesutövande tillåts arbeta frekventare och på så sätt kan utvecklas. Vidare forskning behövs dock för att utreda vad som påverkar kvalité.

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Författarna har i denna studie tagit reda på om överavkastning kan påvisas i samband med tiden före och efter genomförandet av en aktiesplit. Efter ett avstamp i den effektiva marknadshypotesen och tidigare forskning inom området så har en eventstudie med hjälp av marknadsmodellen satts upp. Författarna har valt att använda data för en period på tio år bakåt i tiden och därefter rensat för felaktiga eller inkompletta observationer. Man kan därefter i resultatet statistiskt säkerställa att det föreligger överavkastning under perioden på ett år innan split-dag. Dock kan man inte påvisa överavkastning under någon av perioderna efter split-dagen. Något som till viss del överrensstämmer med tidigare forskning.

In this thesis I will examine active equity mutual fund managers’ ability to outperform an index, which is done by utilizing a sample of four equity mutual funds that mainly invest in large Swedish quoted companies. In order to measure the risk-adjusted performance of the funds, a model created by Michael Jensen will be used. Furthermore, I will investigate whether the managers of the mutual funds increase/decrease the risk level, or rather the beta, when the stock market is bullish/bearish. Hence, two time spans have been chosen, 2001-2003 and 2004-2006, where the previous represents a bearish stock market and the later represents a bullish stock market. The empirical evidence indicates that one fund in each period was significantly outper-formed by the comparable index. Furthermore, the result also suggests that two significant funds were talking more risk than the index in the bearish time period while three signifi-cant funds decreased the risk level during the bullish time period. / Denna kandidatuppsats undersöker aktiva fondförvaltares förmåga att upptäcka och inve-stera i fonder som presterar bättre än deras jämförekse index. Undersökningen är baserad på fyra aktiefonder som huvudsakligen investerats i Svenska börsnoterade företag. Fonder-nas riskjusterade prestation kommer att mätas med hjälp av en modell som är utformad av Michael Jensen. Vidare kommer uppsatsen att undersöka om fondförvaltarna ökar eller minskar risk nivån, eller betavärdet, baserat på börsens utveckling under åren 2001-2003 och 2004-2006. Det förgående intervallet representerar en sjunkande börsperiod och det senare en stigande börsperiod. Det empiriska resultatet indikerar att en signifikant fond i varje tidsintervall presterade säm-re än index. Utöver detta visade även resultatet att två signifikanta fonder ökade risk nivån, jämfört med index, i den sjunkande börsperioden medan tre signifikanta fonder minskade risk nivån i den stigande börsperioden.

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Abstract Title: Accounting firms´ view on the (new law) in joint-stock companies Course: Business Administration, Financial Accounting in Corporations and Groups, Ad-vanced Course, 15 ECTS Authors: Mikaela Uveby, Shadi Nourbehesht, Almira Dizdarevic Advisor: Kent Trosander Problem: During the last few years, more importance and emphasis has been put on auditors and accounting in general due to a number of company and business scandals on both national and international levels. The United States as well as the EU consid-ered it a necessity to make regulations stricter when it comes to auditing and ac-counts in order to increase the public trust to accounting. At January 1st, 2007, Sweden also changed its law concerning accounting firm challenges. The new law states that as soon as someone of the auditor’s co-workers assists a client with some part of the basic bookkeeping, the main bookkeeping or the drawing-up of the an-nual account, the challenge situation becomes a fact. Purpose: The purpose of the essay is to examine and inquire into how the renewed law con-cerning accounting firm challenges, that was established and put to action at Janu-ary 1st, 2007, has affected accounting firms. Method: The writers have chosen to complete qualitative interviews in order to get a deeper insight to and an understanding of the topic. Conclusion: One year after the renewal of the law, the writers have reached the conclusion of that the new law has not had a great impact on the accounting firms. There are laws, rules and controls that the auditor has to adjust his work to and these are enough to keep the high level of capacity and quality that is required and do not depend on the accounting itself. As a result of the renewal of the law, the costs will increase for the clients while the charge per hour for the firms will remain the same regardless of whether it is a private or a combination assignment.

Most policy-makers and academics acknowledge that new firms are vital for the prosperity and renewal of economies and the generation of new innovations. However, scholars and practitioners alike still have limited knowledge about how new firms are able to develop and launch innovations. This is surprising given that innovation is an important means of competition and growth for new firms, especially in industries where customer demands and technology fluctuate frequently. This dissertation examines why some new firms are able to innovate while others are not. In doing so, the study builds upon conceptual arguments concerning the absorptive capacity of firms (i.e. their knowledge acquisition, assimilation, transformation, and exploitation activities) and longitudinal empirical data from over 300 new firms in the Swedish TIME sector. The detailed findings help to open up the “black box” relationships among different capabilities and types of knowledge (e.g. market and technological) in order to explain innovation, as well as how growth willingness and environmental dynamism affect these relationships The results thus shed light on central questions in Entrepreneurship research as well as how entrepreneurs can purposefully affect the innovative behaviour of their firms.

This dissertation deals with founding visions in the venture capital setting. It is the story of two contrasting initiatives for venture capital as they unfold in the turbulence surrounding the millennium. It is the story of these contemporary initiatives seen in the light of what was originally intended, as we uncover the founding vision for an initiative that pioneered a venture capital phenomenon of global dimensions. It is the story of people and the reasons for their commitment. The research draws on the complexity of human nature to problematise the venture capital phenomenon, by studying founding visions for unfolding initiatives in terms of intended purpose, intended beneficiaries, and psychic income. Three distinct visions are found in the rich stories of meaning and practice. By interpreting such visionary elements and their manifestations, implications of particular venture capital initiatives on the strategic and human levels are discussed. Streamlining, fraternity and pioneering visions involve different implications for affiliates as well as the socio-economic landscape as a whole. Such reflections on what is and what has been give food for thought as we look towards the future. As a pioneering vision loses its spark to a streamlining landscape, tensions between venture and capital bring forth the question of who will provide venture capital in its original meaning of venturing into the unknown. This study contributes to our understanding of visions by bringing three dimensions to a concept that is typically treated one-dimensionally. In this sense, it gives a higher resolution of the vision concept which may refine our reasoning regarding such issues. The study also contributes to our understanding of the value that lies in seeking affiliates and partners with visions that harmonise with one’s own. This is particularly relevant for a business founder who is considering the avenue of venture capital, or a venture capitalist who is striving to bring a pioneering or a fraternity vision to life.