Många svenska hushåll fondsparar och 2018 uppgick fondsparandet i genomsnitt till 434 000 kronor per person. Nobelpristagaren Fama (1970) påvisade att det inte är möjligt att generera en högre riskjusterad avkastning än marknadens. Samtidigt finns det fortfarande mängder av aktivt förvaltade fonder som utlovar högre avkastning än marknaden. Därmed är det alltjämt otydligt för småsparare om passivt eller aktivt förvaltade fonder genererar störst avkastning. Till skillnad från liknande tidigare studier, har denna studie ett större urval av fonder. Syftet är att undersöka vilket fondalternativ som mest gynnar investerares avkastning på den svenska marknaden. Syftet uppfylls genom att prestationsmåtten Sharpekvot och Jensens Alfa, för utvärdering av fondernas avkastning, undersöks. Resultaten visade att det inte är möjligt att generera en högre riskjusterad avkastning över den valda tidsperioden. Generellt hade indexfonderna bland de högre riskjusterade avkastningarna, jämfört med de aktivt förvaltade fonderna. Vilket även tyder på att en högre fondavgift är omotiverad. / Many Swedish households are investors, in 2018 investments in funds reached an average of 434 000 Swedish Crowns per person. The Nobel laureate Fama showed that yielding a higher risk-adjusted return than the market is not possible. Simultaneously, a great amount of actively conducted funds that pledges a higher return than the market is still launched today. Which arises a disorientation among small savers if passive or active conducted funds generate higher returns. Unlike previous studies, the range of funds were increased in this study. The purpose is to examine the returns of the funds with the performance measures Sharpe-ratio and Jensen’s Alpha. The results indicate that it is not possible to outperform a higher risk-adjusted yield than the market for the chosen time period. Overall, the passive funds had higher risk-adjusted returns compared to the active funds, which indicates that a higher fee for the funds is unjustified.

Ansökan om lagfart som blir vilandeförklarad vid köp av del av fastighet kan användas för att säkra ägandet. En expeditionsavgift à 825 kronor skall erläggas av köparen när vilandebeslutet tas. Ytterligare en expeditionsavgift à 825 kronor skall erläggas av köparen när den vilande lagfarten blir en beviljad lagfart eller avslagen. Vid motbeslutet uppskov skall ingen expeditionsavgift erläggas för när beslut om uppskov tas. En expeditionsavgift à 825 kronor skall erläggas av köparen när uppskovet blir en beviljad lagfart eller avslagen.  Denna studie är begärd av Lantmäteriet och grundar sig i frågan om ett avskaffande av expeditionsavgiften skall ske. Syftet med denna studie är att öka kunskapen kring vilande lagfart vid köp av del av fastighet. Studien undersöker även om expeditionsavgiften påverkar köparens tillvägagångssätt vid köp av del av fastighet. Målet med denna studie är att klargöra hur fastighetsmarknaden ser på expeditionsavgiften för lagfartsansökan som får ett vilandebeslut.    För att ta reda på svaret till studiens vetenskapliga frågeställningar har två metoder tillämpats. En kvalitativ studie där intervjuer med tre olika målgrupper har valts ut samt en kvantitativ studie där statistik ur Fastighetsregistret har undersökts.    Studiens resultat visar på brist i kunskap om vilande lagfart hos studiens målgrupper. Resultatet visar även att fastighetsmäklare och banktjänstemän sällan rekommenderar försäljning av del av fastighet. Det brister även i informationen ut till kunder och berörda parter om i vilket skede en lagfartsansökan kan göras vid köp av del av fastighet. Handläggare från Fastighetsinskrivningen letar efter orsaker till att lagfartsansökan skall få ett uppskov istället för ett vilandebeslut för att kunden skall slippa den dubbla expeditionsavgiften, vilket tyder på ett ohållbart system. Studiens diskussion omfattar de åsikter som framkommit från studiens resultat. Dessutom diskuteras hur ett avskaffande av expeditionsavgiften för vilande lagfart skulle påverka köp av del av fastighet.    Slutsatsen för studien är att fastighetsmarknaden överlag ser på vilande lagfart vid köp av del av fastighet som ett misstag eller som att något saknas istället för en trygghet. Samt att användning av vilande lagfart vid köp av del av fastighet inte skulle ändras vid köp av del av fastighet. / An application for registration of ownership that is dormant declared when buying a part of a property can be used to secure ownership. An expedition fee of SEK 825 must be paid by the buyer when the dormant registration of ownership is taken. An expedition fee of SEK 825 is to be paid by the buyer when the dormant registration of ownership becomes a registration of ownership or becomes rejected. In the case of a respite decision no expedition fee is paid for the respite decision. An expedition fee of SEK 825 shall be paid by the buyer when the respite decision becomes a registration of ownership or becomes rejected.  This study is requested by Lantmäteriet and is based on the question of whether an abolition of the expedition fee should take place. The purpose of this study is to increase the knowledge of dormant registration of ownership during the process of buying a part of a property. The study also examines whether the expedition fee affects the buyer's approach when buying a part of a property. The aim of this study is to clarify how the real estate market looks at the expedition fee for the application for registration of ownership that receives a dormant decision. To find out the answer to study's research questions, two methods have been applied. A qualitative study in which interviews with three different target groups have been selected and a quantitative study in which statistics from the Real Property Register have examined. The results of the study show a lack of knowledge of dormant registration of ownership among the study's target groups. The result also shows that realtor and bank clerk rarely recommend sale of a part of a property. It is also a lacking information to customers and interested parties about the stage at which an application for registration of ownership can be made when buying part of a property. Registration clerks at Registration of real property are looking for reasons why the application for registration of ownership should receive a respite decision instead of a dormant decision for the customer to avoid the double expedition fee, which indicates an unsustainable system. The study's discussion covers the opinions that emerged from the study's results. In addition, it is discussed how the abolition of the expedition fee for dormant registration of ownership enforcement would affect the purchase buying a part of a property. The conclusion for the study is that that real estate market generally looks at dormant registration of ownership during the process of buying a part of a property as a mistake or as something missing instead of a security. And that the use of dormant registration of ownership when buying a part of a property should not be changed.

Africa has a high rate of revenue under-collection in public water utility companies. This rate currently averages 20-50%, and the rate is 18% for Malawi alone. The purpose of this single-case study was to explore credible business strategies senior managers of water utilities use to address inefficiencies in collecting water fee revenues. The conceptual framework for this study was revenue management, which includes strategic constructs for increasing amounts of revenue collection. The target population for this study was 5 senior managers of a public water utility in Malawi, which is located in the southeastern part of Africa. Data collection included semistructured, face-to-face interviews and a review of company documents. The data analysis process involved the use of thematic analysis, including methodological triangulation, to identify 4 themes: innovative strategies, effective metering and billing, customer relationship management, and disconnection of water supply from customers with overdue bills. These themes highlighted credible business strategies that, for these 5 senior managers, were effective in revenue collection. Addressing inefficiencies in collecting water fee revenues will facilitate positive social change by increasing profits, growing the water business, reducing the crime rate by employing more people, providing potable water to reduce waterborne diseases, and contributing to the sustainable social and economic development of the people of Malawi.

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act mandates public companies to establish internal control systems and assess their effectiveness. Quarterly reports by all companies and annual reports by companies with less than $75 million public float (non-accelerated filers) do not require auditor’s attestation while annual reports by companies with $75 million or more public float (accelerated filers) do require such auditor attestations. Quarterly reports should provide early warning of any impending material weakness (MW) to be disclosed in subsequent annual filings. This dissertation explores three types of “surprise” MW disclosures—positive, negative and no surprise—and consequences of such surprise disclosures. In part one, I document the frequency of surprise MW disclosures and internal control factors that are associated with each surprise type by filer status. Results show that 78 (77) percent of accelerated (non-accelerated) MW disclosures are negative surprise MW disclosures during 2004-2016. Entity level MWs are more associated with no-surprise rather than negative or positive surprise MW disclosures. In part two, I examine some consequences of surprise MW disclosures. The results show that companies with MW disclosures are more likely to dismiss their auditors and CFOs, and experience more shareholder voting against auditor ratification, compared to companies that issue clean reports. Auditor dismissal and CFO turnover are equally likely at negative and no-surprise MW disclosure companies. However, negative surprise accelerated filer companies’ shareholders are more likely to vote against auditor ratification than no-surprise accelerated filer companies. The third essay investigates the association between MW disclosures and audit fees. The results indicate that there is a significant positive association between audit fees and MW disclosures. Further, the results show that audit fees are higher at no-surprise companies than at negative surprise companies. The fourth essay focuses on audit report lag. The results indicate that MWs are associated with increased audit report lags, for both accelerated and non-accelerated filers. Further, surprise MW firms are more likely to experience increased audit report lag than no-surprise MW firms. Overall the results suggest that adverse internal control reports have consequences, and that the consequences vary between surprise and no-surprise MW firms. The results provide relevant empirical evidence to the ongoing debate on the necessity and efficacy of SOX Section 404 requirements.

社會主義市場經濟的推行對中國大陸產生極大的影響，社會上下海經商的風氣日盛，這股浪潮也影響到圖書館。由於圖書館是一種純消費性的文化事業，所有的經費都來自國家的撥款，但卻因經費的短缺，造成圖書館事業發展的阻礙。在市場經濟推行之後，圖書館也希望試圖藉此潮流獲得經費，改善圖書館缺錢又缺人的窘境。大陸圖書館提出經營創收，作為因應之道，其中包括對讀者收費的「圖書館有償服務」否與圖書館業務無關的商業活動。在有關圖書館業務的收費為面，包括了收費借閱、文獻檢索服務、諮詢服務、編譯服務、資訊調查服務等；至於圖書館所經營的商業活動則是五花八門，只有圖書館有辦法，即使不合法，為了經費卻仍然從事。這樣的收費服務，對圖書館產生極大的影響。圖書館原本的職能是作為社會的文化保存、社會教育、提供休閒娛樂等，但目前大陸圖書館所施行的經營創收，卻影響了圖書館事業未來整體的發展。施行創收對圖書館經營形式與服務概念都將產生衝擊，有不同的聲音主張將圖書館辦成成經濟實體；也有主張圖書館辦成半商半文的「一館兩制」；也有堅決反對圖書館沾染任何的商業色彩的。也由於經營形式產生變化，讀者轉變成「消費者」，因此「讀者至上」、「服務至上」的觀念進入圖書館，這帶給圖書館對技術服務方式和讀者服務的方面不同的思考方向。但經營創收是不是真的就解決了圖書館的問題？事實上卻也是因館而異。但就整體的統計數字看來，館員依然在流失，有的圖書館依然喊窮。圖書館是屬於非營利的事業單位，本來就應由國家全力的支持，圖書館經費不足，應該要從整個圖書館事業的體制重新檢討，而非讓圖書館自生財路。但在大陸全面經商的熱潮下，圖書館商業化卻已是不爭的事實，這是值得大陸注意與我們借鏡的。

<p><p><p><strong>Syfte:</strong> Syftet med denna studie är att utreda månadsavgiftens inverkan på bostadsrätters försäljningspris och få en indikation på hur rationellt den studerade marknaden fungerar. Den formella hypotesen är: Leder låg månadsavgift till högt försäljningspris och vice versa? Dessutom undersöks hur månadsavgiften kapitaliseras in i bostadsrätters försäljningspris.</p></p></p><p><p><p><strong>Metod:</strong> Denna studie baseras på information om bostadsrättsförsäljningar i Gävle under år 2008. En omfattande manuell databehandling har utförts för att kunna genomföra studien. De prispåverkande faktorerna har klassificerats utifrån deras förmodande inverkan på priset. Metoden som används är den hedoniska metoden, som gör det möjligt att beskriva försäljningspriset som en funktion av ett antal faktorer. För att estimera månadsavgiftens effekt på försäljningspriset har fyra regressionsekvationer utformats och beräknats i dataprogrammet Microsoft Excel. Utifrån regressionsresultatet har en värderingsformel skapats som använts för att urskilja det avkastningskrav med vilket marknaden kapitaliserat avgiften.</p></p></p><p><p><p><strong>Resultat & slutsats:</strong> Samtliga regressionsresultat visar att korrelationen mellan månadsavgift och försäljningspris är negativ. Det intressanta är dock hur månadsavgiften kapitaliseras in i bostadsrättens försäljningspris. Resultatet visar att avkastningen är som lägst när månadsavgiften är låg och tilltar i takt med att månadsavgiften ökar. Detta kan tala för att en fokusering på den låga månadsavgiften kan leda till för höga försäljningspriser.</p><p><strong>Förslag till fortsatt forskning: </strong>När vi i studien har bedömt huruvida marknaden handlar rationellt eller ej har vi inte tagit hänsyn till hur köpet är finansierat av de enskilda köparna. Detta är en faktor som komplicerar bedömningen och är värt att undersöka vidare.</p></p></p><p><p><p><strong>Uppsatsens bidrag:</strong> Studien har gett en inblick i hur månadsavgiften påverkar bostadsrätters försäljningspris. Dessutom har åskådliggjorts huruvida marknadens värdering av månadsavgiften ändras vid olika avgiftsnivåer.</p></p></p> / <p><p><p><strong>Aim:</strong> The purpose of this study is to investigate the monthly fees impact on tenant-owner<strong> </strong>flats market and get an indication of how rational the studied market is. The formal hypothesis is: Does a low monthly fee lead to high selling price and vice versa? Moreover investigates how the monthly fee capitalizes into tenant-owner flats selling price.</p></p></p><p><p><p><strong>Method:</strong> This study is based on sales of tenant-owner flats in Gävle during year 2008. An extensive manual data processing has been implemented to perform the study. The priceinfluencing factors have been classified according to their prospective impact on the price. The method used is the hedonic method, which makes it possible to describe the selling price as a function of a number of factors. To estimate monthly fees effect on the sales price, four regression equations has been designed and calculated in the computer program Microsoft Excel. Based on the regression result a valuation formula has been created and is used to identify the return of which the market has capitalized the fee.</p><p><strong>Result & Conclusions:</strong> All regression results show that the correlation between the monthly fee and selling price are negative. What is interesting is how the monthly fee is capitalized into the tenant-owner flats selling price. The result shows that the yield is at its lowest when the monthly fee is low and increases as the monthly fee increases. This may demonstrate that a low monthly fee can lead to a high selling price.</p><p><strong>Suggestions for future research:</strong> When we assessed whether the market is rational or not, we have not taken account of how the purchase is financed by the individual buyers. This is a factor that complicates the assessment and is worth exploring further.</p></p></p><p><p><p><strong>Contribution of the thesis:</strong> The study has given an insight into the monthly fees affect on tenant-owner flats selling prices. In addition, we illustrate how the market's valuation of the monthly fee changes at different levels of the fees size.</p></p></p>

Syfte: Syftet med denna studie är att utreda månadsavgiftens inverkan på bostadsrätters försäljningspris och få en indikation på hur rationellt den studerade marknaden fungerar. Den formella hypotesen är: Leder låg månadsavgift till högt försäljningspris och vice versa? Dessutom undersöks hur månadsavgiften kapitaliseras in i bostadsrätters försäljningspris. Metod: Denna studie baseras på information om bostadsrättsförsäljningar i Gävle under år 2008. En omfattande manuell databehandling har utförts för att kunna genomföra studien. De prispåverkande faktorerna har klassificerats utifrån deras förmodande inverkan på priset. Metoden som används är den hedoniska metoden, som gör det möjligt att beskriva försäljningspriset som en funktion av ett antal faktorer. För att estimera månadsavgiftens effekt på försäljningspriset har fyra regressionsekvationer utformats och beräknats i dataprogrammet Microsoft Excel. Utifrån regressionsresultatet har en värderingsformel skapats som använts för att urskilja det avkastningskrav med vilket marknaden kapitaliserat avgiften. Resultat &amp; slutsats: Samtliga regressionsresultat visar att korrelationen mellan månadsavgift och försäljningspris är negativ. Det intressanta är dock hur månadsavgiften kapitaliseras in i bostadsrättens försäljningspris. Resultatet visar att avkastningen är som lägst när månadsavgiften är låg och tilltar i takt med att månadsavgiften ökar. Detta kan tala för att en fokusering på den låga månadsavgiften kan leda till för höga försäljningspriser. Förslag till fortsatt forskning: När vi i studien har bedömt huruvida marknaden handlar rationellt eller ej har vi inte tagit hänsyn till hur köpet är finansierat av de enskilda köparna. Detta är en faktor som komplicerar bedömningen och är värt att undersöka vidare. Uppsatsens bidrag: Studien har gett en inblick i hur månadsavgiften påverkar bostadsrätters försäljningspris. Dessutom har åskådliggjorts huruvida marknadens värdering av månadsavgiften ändras vid olika avgiftsnivåer. / Aim: The purpose of this study is to investigate the monthly fees impact on tenant-owner flats market and get an indication of how rational the studied market is. The formal hypothesis is: Does a low monthly fee lead to high selling price and vice versa? Moreover investigates how the monthly fee capitalizes into tenant-owner flats selling price. Method: This study is based on sales of tenant-owner flats in Gävle during year 2008. An extensive manual data processing has been implemented to perform the study. The priceinfluencing factors have been classified according to their prospective impact on the price. The method used is the hedonic method, which makes it possible to describe the selling price as a function of a number of factors. To estimate monthly fees effect on the sales price, four regression equations has been designed and calculated in the computer program Microsoft Excel. Based on the regression result a valuation formula has been created and is used to identify the return of which the market has capitalized the fee. Result &amp; Conclusions: All regression results show that the correlation between the monthly fee and selling price are negative. What is interesting is how the monthly fee is capitalized into the tenant-owner flats selling price. The result shows that the yield is at its lowest when the monthly fee is low and increases as the monthly fee increases. This may demonstrate that a low monthly fee can lead to a high selling price. Suggestions for future research: When we assessed whether the market is rational or not, we have not taken account of how the purchase is financed by the individual buyers. This is a factor that complicates the assessment and is worth exploring further. Contribution of the thesis: The study has given an insight into the monthly fees affect on tenant-owner flats selling prices. In addition, we illustrate how the market's valuation of the monthly fee changes at different levels of the fees size.

The Texas state gas tax has been 20.0 cents per gallon since 1991, and the federal gas tax has been 18.4 cents per gallon since 1993. The gas tax is not only stagnant, but depreciating in value due to inflation. Thus, damage is being done to the infrastructure but the money needed to maintain and improve roadways is not being adequately generated. One proposed alternative to the gas tax is the creation of a vehicle miles traveled (VMT) fee; with equity being a crucial issue to consider. This research used 2009 National Household Travel Survey (NHTS) Texas data to consider the equity impacts surrounding four VMT fee scenarios. Data were filtered and weighted to reflect results representative of Texas vehicle-owning households in 2008. Each scenario was run both statically and dynamically under the assumption that the VMT fee would replace the state gas tax. An assessment of the relative vertical equity of each scenario was made by calculating the Gini Coefficient associated with the proportion of state gas tax or VMT fee revenue generated by each household income level quintile. Results indicate that all VMT fee scenarios are essentially as equally vertically equitable than the current state gas tax system. Scenario 4 was designed to be inherently horizontally equitable because the per mile fee associated with each roadway type (urban or rural) was assessed to all vehicles driven on these roadway types at a rate calculated to generate needed funds to address the mobility and infrastructure needs of that roadway type. Scenario 3, a scenario favoring vehicles with high fuel efficiency, was found to be the least horizontally equitable. Scenarios 2-4 were able to generate additional revenue desired to meet the infrastructure and mobility needs of Texas set forth by the 2030 Texas Transportation Needs Committee. The large fee increase necessary to achieve the desired additional revenue may not be popular or possible. However, an evaluation of the philosophy governing each scenario designed to generate additional revenue is informative when it comes to equity impacts. No one VMT fee scenario affects all household income levels and geographic locations uniformly and it was not the goal of this research to design an equitable VMT fee scenario. Rather, the effect of each scenario on 2008 Texas vehicle-owning households disaggregated by household income level and geographic location are presented and left to the discretion of elected officials to decide which VMT fee, if any, would be best for their constituents.

Syfte: Syftet med studien är att undersöka hur aktivt förvaltade fonder presterar jämfört med indexfonder, när avkastningen har justerats för förvaltningsavgiften. Indexfonden representeras av ett jämförelseindex och studien omfattar en tioårsperiod, 2000-2009. Det faktum att en apa vann aktie SM 1993, framför professionella placerare, visar att aktiekurser är slumpmässiga. Varför ska en investerare då lita på att en förvaltare är bättre på att utvärdera marknaden och dess placeringsmöjligheter än andra? Metod: En kvantitativ metod har använts i uppsatsen, där data har erhållits från Morningstar och SIX Telekurs. Det insamlade materialet har bearbetats i Microsoft Excel för att beräkna fondernas avkastning och prestationsmått. Resultatet har redovisats i tabeller och diagram i empirikapitlet, för att sedan analyseras och jämföras med den teoretiska referensramen. Resultat &amp; slutsats: Endast en av tio aktivt förvaltade fonder överträffar index, därmed dras slutsatsen att indexfonder är ett bättre investeringsalternativ än aktivt förvaltade fonder. Resultatet visar därmed att den högre förvaltningsavgiften som fondbolagen kräver från sina kunder inte är berättigat. Förslag till fortsatt forskning: Baserat på de resultat som kommit fram i uppsatsen, voredet intressant att genomföra en kvalitativ studie där fondförvaltarens åsikter är i fokus. Hur motiveras den höga förvaltningsavgiften, när de inte överträffar index? / Aim: The fact that a monkey won the Swedish Championship in stocks in 1993, ahead of professional investors, shows that stock prices are random. Why should an investor trust that a professional manager is better on evaluating the market and its investment opportunities than others? The purpose with this thesis is to investigate how active managed funds perform compared to index funds, after subtraction of the management fee. The index fund is represented by a “comparison index” and the research covers a period of ten years, between 2000 and 2009. Method: A quantitative method has been used in this study, where the information has been received from Morningstar and SIX Telekurs. Microsoft Excel has been used to process the collected data in order to calculate the expected return and the risk measures. The result is presented in diagrams and charts in order to analyse and compare it with the theory. Result &amp; Conclusions: Only one out of ten active managed funds outperform index,therefore draws the conclusion that index funds is a better investment option than active managed funds. The result shows that the higher management fee that stock exchange companies claims is not appropriate. Suggestions for future research: Based on the results in this thesis, it would be interesting to do a qualitative research where the focus is on the fund managers’ opinions. How can they motivate the high management fee, when they don’t outperform index?

In "American Callings" I argue that late-nineteenth and early-twentieth-century American literature dealing with cross-cultural humanitarianism contains a strand that sought to rectify the potentially oppressive shortcomings of humanitarian practice. The authors whose work I examine--novelists William Dean Howells and Albion Tourgeé, reformer Jane Addams, humorist George Ade, and memoirists Mary Fee and George Freer--grappled in their writing with two reciprocal questions. First, they meditated on how humanitarianism shapes, changes, and constitutes the self. Second, they theorized how increased self-awareness and self-criticism might help the humanitarian actor avoid the pitfalls of humanitarian practice that critics, in their time and ours, have seized upon. "American Callings" thus challenges three critiques that have been instrumental to American literary studies for decades: critiques of sentimental humanitarianism's complicity in projects of cultural domination, realism's investment in the status quo, and reform's role in maintaining social discipline through surveillance. The dissertation disputes the prevalent assertion that literature dealing with cross-cultural humanitarianism constitutes a sentimental, imperialistic, and ultimately violent discourse. I accomplish this by looking to instances of what Gregory Eiselein (1996) has called "eccentric" reform, efforts articulated from within a culture but in opposition to certain aspects of it. Drawing on narratives of what I call "humanitarian selfhood" in three historical contexts--industrializing urban centers in the North, the South during Reconstruction, and the Philippines during the U.S. occupation--"American Callings" traces an "eccentric" literary genealogy, one that offers up the humanitarian dynamic as a heuristic wherein the humanitarian agent arrives at a new kind of self-understanding by way of wrestling with the questions raised by service to others. The literature written by and about these humanitarians, I suggest, then provides an opportunity for readers to be transformed, as well. / text