Living conditions in periods of transitions. Changing working conditions of the log-driver during the 1930s. Petrus Forsgren, Economic History Bachelor Degree, Umeå University Autumn 2020. The working terms, salary and conflicts between the workers and the Umeå flottningsförening in log driving-district of Umeåälven has been studied between the period 1928-1939. Although it was a relatively few years that were studied, changes were observed especially for the working terms. The contracts went from hand-written to standardized and a orientation towards the new consensus for collective agreements in the work places occurred during the 1930s. Collective bargaining agreement were written 1935. The employers were expected to take more responsibility for the workers at the end of the period. A specialization of the workers and foremen occurred although no major changes happened to the log driving process. The working conditions in log-driving were still the same as in early industrialization. There was a diversification to hourly wages although they remained similar in the studied period. Conflicts occurred during the years 1933-34. The log drivers usually combined the work with farming, forestry or later also road construction. Other branches did the same transition but usually earlier such as railway workers during the 1910-1920s or forest workers during the 1960-1970s. This work gives a clue to why the changes happened relatively late in the log driving industry in Umeälven. The internal factors for change were weak due to the background of the workers, pull from other industries in the area and small extent of rationalization within the organization, but the external factors became more and more apparent during the studied period. The new institutional changes ignored the old industries which also lost influence but they were never the less affected indirectly by the changes and the Swedish economy as a whole.

Tidigare forskning har visat på att länder vars export till stor del utgörs av råvaror riskerar att ha en lägre ekonomisk utveckling. Detta på grund av ett ofördelaktigt prisförhållande där priset stiger snabbare för tillverkade varor än vad det gör för råvaror. Syftet med uppsatsen är att undersöka om det finns något samband mellan råvaruexport och ekonomisk utveckling. Därför genomförs att antal regressionsanalyser i paneldata som inkluderar exportdata från 45 länder, med stor geografisk och ekonomisk spridning, under tidsperioden 2001–2020 för att se hur korrelationen ser ut mellan andelen av exporten som utgörs av råvaror och variabler som anses representera ekonomisk utveckling, det vill säga BNP- och löneökning. Resultatet påvisar ett tydligt samband mellan råvaruexport och BNP-tillväxt, som blir ännu starkare när en regression genomförs med laggade variabler, vilket skulle kunna peka mot en kausalitet. Analysen visar dock att det inte verkar finnas något samband mellan råvaruexport och löneökning. / Earlier studies have shown that countries whose export is highly dependent on primary goods tend to show slower economic development. That is because of disadvantageous terms of trade where prices are rising faster for manufactured goods than primary goods. The purpose of this paper is therefore to examine if there is a relationship between primary export and economic development. Therefore, a number of regressions are performed with panel data that include export data from 45 countries, with a large geographic and economic distribution, during the time period 2001–2020 to see what the correlation looks like between the share of exports that is made up by primary goods and variables that represent economic development, namely GDP growth and wage increase. The result demonstrates a clear correlation between primary exports and GDP growth, which become even clearer when a regression is performed with lagged variables, which could indicate causality. However, the analysis does not seem to show a correlation between primary exports and wage increases.

<p>The economic development and industrialization that has taken place in many parts of the world during the past century has brought about a huge increase in economic welfare. During this process, it has repeatedly been debated whether the gains from economic development are shared by everyone or just a few. In the field of economics, vast research has been conducted on this particular subject ever since the 1950’s. The most famous contribution might be said to be Simon Kuznets article, Growth and Income Inequality from 1955 and the ”inverted U”-hypothesis that was formulated on the basis of that article. The essence of the hypothesis is that a country, during its development, moves from agricultural to industrial production. At first, income inequality increases and then, at the end of the process, decreases.</p><p>The aim of this paper has been to investigate the relationship between income distribution and economic development in a particular region, namely the countries of the former Soviet Union, during 1992-2003. Also, we have tested whether Kuznets theory and the “inverted U”-hypothesis hold true for our sample. The investigations method is a survey, which uses secondary data collected from the World Bank’s database of World Development Indicators. Regression-analysis has been employed to conduct cross-sections between 20 countries over 4 periods in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. The number of observations equals to 62. The variables that we use are: the Gini index, GDP per capita and the agricultural sector’s share of GDP.</p><p>The results of the regression do not indicate any resemblance to the pattern of the “inverted U”-hypothesis. The curve we get is that of a “positive U”. Countries with high GDP per capita as well as countries with low GDP per capita have high income inequality. Countries with mediate GDP per capita levels have low income inequality. Our analysis concludes that the countries in our sample might have had a very unique economic development following the fall of the Soviet Union. Only 7 countries partly follow the Kuznets theory if tested individually. Since these seven countries seem to have a reversed development with increasing agricultural sector and the remainder of the countries show increasing income inequality, we reject the “inverted U”-hypothesis and question the ability of Kuznets’ theory to explain income distribution for our sample.</p>

The economic development and industrialization that has taken place in many parts of the world during the past century has brought about a huge increase in economic welfare. During this process, it has repeatedly been debated whether the gains from economic development are shared by everyone or just a few. In the field of economics, vast research has been conducted on this particular subject ever since the 1950’s. The most famous contribution might be said to be Simon Kuznets article, Growth and Income Inequality from 1955 and the ”inverted U”-hypothesis that was formulated on the basis of that article. The essence of the hypothesis is that a country, during its development, moves from agricultural to industrial production. At first, income inequality increases and then, at the end of the process, decreases. The aim of this paper has been to investigate the relationship between income distribution and economic development in a particular region, namely the countries of the former Soviet Union, during 1992-2003. Also, we have tested whether Kuznets theory and the “inverted U”-hypothesis hold true for our sample. The investigations method is a survey, which uses secondary data collected from the World Bank’s database of World Development Indicators. Regression-analysis has been employed to conduct cross-sections between 20 countries over 4 periods in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. The number of observations equals to 62. The variables that we use are: the Gini index, GDP per capita and the agricultural sector’s share of GDP. The results of the regression do not indicate any resemblance to the pattern of the “inverted U”-hypothesis. The curve we get is that of a “positive U”. Countries with high GDP per capita as well as countries with low GDP per capita have high income inequality. Countries with mediate GDP per capita levels have low income inequality. Our analysis concludes that the countries in our sample might have had a very unique economic development following the fall of the Soviet Union. Only 7 countries partly follow the Kuznets theory if tested individually. Since these seven countries seem to have a reversed development with increasing agricultural sector and the remainder of the countries show increasing income inequality, we reject the “inverted U”-hypothesis and question the ability of Kuznets’ theory to explain income distribution for our sample.

Bakgrund: Den 1 januari 2011 infördes Lag (2010:879) om allmännyttiga kommunala bostadsaktiebolag. Lagen innebär en förändring för de kommunala bostadsaktiebolagen i form av att de nu inte omfattas av självkostnadsprincipen och förbudet mot att driva företag i vinstsyfte, utan skulle nu agera enligt affärsmässiga principer. De kommunala bostadsaktiebolagen ska nu agera både affärsmässigt och vara allmännyttiga. En problematik kring tolkning av affärsmässiga principer påverkar bostadsbolagens agerande. Beroende på kommun och bostadsbolags tolkning av affärsmässiga principer sker anpassningen olika och begreppet får olika betydelser i olika bolag. Otydligheten i tolkningen av lagen ligger till grund för vidare studier inom ämnet. Syfte: Syftet med studien är att förklara hur de kommunala bostadsaktiebolagen har tolkat och anpassat sig till kravet på affärsmässighet sedan Lag (2010:879) om allmännyttiga kommunala bostadsaktiebolag trädde i kraft. Syftet uppnås genom att analysera ägardirektiv och finansiella nyckeltal. Metod: För att kunna svara på frågeställningen, hur de kommunala bostadsaktiebolagen har tolkat och anpassat sig till kravet på affärsmässighet granskades bostadsbolagens ägardirektiv både innan och efter lagändringen. Vi gjorde en finansiell analys över bostadsbolagens ekonomiska utveckling under tidsperioden 2008 till 2018 för att undersöka ifall bostadsbolagen har påverkats ekonomiskt av lag SFS 2010:879. Vi har i vår studie gjort en fallstudie som omfattar både kvalitativ samt kvantitativ metod vid insamling av sekundärdata i from av ägardirektiv, årsredovisningar och utfallet i den finansiella analysen. Slutsats: Vi har i vår studie visat att de kommunala bostadsaktiebolagen inte har anpassat sig efter affärsmässiga principer sedan införandet av lag SFS 2010:879 eftersom de agerat på detta sätt redan innan 2011. Vi kan inte genom den finansiella analysen påvisa att det har skett väsentliga förändringar i bolagens ekonomiska utveckling och därav inte påvisa att de agerar annorlunda idag mot vad de gjorde innan lagändringen. / Background: On January 1, 2011, “Lag (2010:879) om allmännyttiga kommunala bostadsaktiebolag” was introduced. The law means a change for the municipal housing limited companies in the form that they are now not covered by “självkostnadsprincipen” and the prohibition on running companies for profit, but would now act according to "affärsmässiga principer”. The municipal housing limited companies must now act both “affärsmässigt” and "allmännyttigt”. A problem of interpreting "affärsmässiga principer” affects the behavior of the housing companies. Depending on the municipality and housing companies' interpretation of "affärsmässiga principer”, the adaptation is different and the concept has different meanings in different companies. The ambiguity in the interpretation of the law forms the basis for further studies within the subject. Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explain how the municipal housing limited companies have interpreted and adapted to “affärsmässighet” since “Lag (2010:879) om allmännyttiga kommunala bostadsaktiebolag” made an appearance. The purpose is attained by analysing their owner directives and financial ratios. Methods: In order to be able to answer the question, how the municipal housing limited companies have interpreted and adapted to the requirement of "affärsmässighet”, the housing companies' owner directive was examined both before and after the change in the law. We did a financial analysis of the financial development of the housing companies during the period 2008 to 2018 to investigate whether the housing companies have been financially affected by the law “SFS 2010: 879. We have in our study made a case study which includes both qualitative and quantitative method at the collection of the secondary data in the form of owner directives, the annual reports and the outcome of the financial analysis. Conclusion: We have in our study found that municipal housing limited companies have not adapted to “affärsmässiga principer” since entry of the new law “SFS 2010:879” since they have acted this way already before 2011. We cannot through the financial analysis show that there have been essential changes in the companies' financial development and because of that not show that they act differently today than what they did before the entry of the law.

Human-induced climate change alters global weather patterns, increasing the frequency and severity of droughts. Acting as drivers of land degradation, droughts negatively impact the environment, exacerbating food and water insecurity and threatening livelihoods. However, the complex relationship between drought events and subsequent changes in land cover on a global scale remain insufficiently explored, necessitating further research. This study aims to address this research gap by examining the correlation between global drought events and land cover changes, while also exploring variations between countries' different levels of economic development.  To accomplish this, global precipitation data and the 12-month Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI-12) were employed to identify areas affected by drought, followed by an analysis of changes in land cover within these regions. Utilising the capabilities of Google Earth Engine (GEE) allowed for the evaluation of the relationship between drought events and land cover change.  The findings revealed a correlation between drought events and changes in land cover, with variations observed across different world regions. These results were strengthened by the comparison of land cover changes in non-drought areas. When examining trends regarding types of land cover alterations, it appears that Tree cover, as well as Shrub-, and Grassland, has reduced in regions impacted by drought. Conversely, increases are observed in Cropland and Urban areas. When assessing countries based on economic development, the overall trends were consistent with the global results, although with variations between Advanced Economies and Emerging-, and Developing Economies.  Overall, this study acknowledges drought as a driver of land cover change, while also emphasising the influence of other factors such as anthropogenic activities. These findings offer insights into the complex interactions between droughts and terrestrial ecosystems, and emphasises the importance of strategies for sustainable land management and adaptation efforts, globally. / Människans påverkan på klimatet förändrar globala vädermönster och ökar både frekvensen och omfattningen av torka. Torka orsakar förändringar i markanvändning, påverkar miljön negativt, leder till bristande tillgång på livsmedel och vatten samt hotar möjligheter till försörjning. Det komplexa sambandet mellan torka och markanvändningsförändringar på global nivå är i stort sett outforskat och kräver därför ytterligare forskning. Denna studie syftar till att fylla detta kunskapsgap genom att undersöka sambandet mellan globala perioder av torka och markanvändningsförändringar, samt hur faktorer såsom ekonomisk utveckling påverkar markförändringar.  Detta uppnåddes genom att använda global nederbördsdata och 12-månaders ‘Standardized Precipitation Index’ (SPI-12). Områden som har påverkats av torka identifierades, varpå en analys av markanvändningsförändringar inom dessa områden utfördes. Analysen gjordes med hjälp av det geospatiala analysverktyget Google Earth Engine (GEE).  Resultatet visade på en korrelation mellan torka och markanvändningsförändringar, samtidigt som regionala variationer observerades. Detta samband förstärktes genom att undersöka korrelationen mellan markanvändningsförändringar inom områden ej utsatta för torka. Gällande trender i typer av markanvändningsförändringar verkar trädbevuxna områden samt busk- och gräsmark ha minskat i regioner påverkade av torka. Åkermark och urbana områden verkar däremot ha ökat. Vid bedömning av länder baserat på ekonomisk utveckling var de övergripande trenderna i linje med de globala resultaten, även om variationer noterades mellan avancerade ekonomier och tillväxt- och utvecklingsekonomier.  Sammanfattningsvis identifierar denna studie torka som en drivkraft för förändringar i markanvändning, samtidigt som den betonar betydelsen av mänskliga aktiviteter. Dessa resultat ger insikt i de komplexa interaktionerna mellan torka och terrestra ekosystem, samt understryker vikten av strategier för hållbar markförvaltning och anpassning insatser på global nivå.