Background: Growth oriented entrepreneurial businesses need funding for the development of their idea, technology, product etc. However, for the businesses in the very earliest stages of development, access to funding is very limited. Growing young ventures are important job creators and positively affect growth in an economy. Bridging the gap of funding to these companies is therefore on the agenda of governments around the world. Purpose: To describe the situation facing seed stage investing venture capitalists. I will emphasize difficulties and evaluate venture capitalists ability in addressing them. Effects of the difficulties in form of access to financing for entrepreneurs and a possible need for government intervention will be examined. Method: Empirical information from seed stage investing venture capital organizations have been collected in the form of face-to-face interviews, email- questionnaires and a telephone interview. Organizations from Sweden, Denmark and Germany are included in the study. Result: Several factors make seed stage investing unattractive compared to later stages. Important difficulties are higher risks, high costs for fund management, goal incongruence in the investor – venture capitalist relation and lack of bargaining power for seed venture capitalists. Environmental factorsthat have an impact on seed investing are the deal flow, the investment climate and access to soft funding. Seed stage investing is a very challenging business and the difficulties are to a large extent hard to overcome. The investors more likely have to accept them and I conclude that long term profitability of seed funds is unlikely, at least in absence of government support in form of soft funding towards the entrepreneurial businesses.

The need to deal with accountability is fundamental in every organisation’s struggle to survive. When external demands must be fulfilled in order to receive necessary funding, the organization continuously has to adapt internal processes and outputs to meet those demands. This thesis seeks to explore such adaptations and their short and long term effects. Funding and Accountability: Studies of a Swedish and a British Chamber Orchestra examines two organizations with an unusually complex context of stakeholders with diverse and conflicting interests. Adding to the unusualness of an orchestra is the nature of the orchestra’s basic output: autonomous music cannot be measured in quantified terms, rendering accountability a more difficult and elusive idea than ever. In addition, the orchestra is characterized by the performance of highly specialised skills executed collectively and with exceptional simultaneity, requiring particularly stable and predictable working frames. With two intriguing cases and with an innovative combination of theoretical perspectives, this thesis illustrates how external accountabilities influence an organisation’s core through internal adaptations over time, and highlights issues of organisational identity and future possible directions. / Diss. Stockholm : Handelshögskolan, 2009

This study was designed to investigate concerns with respect to the delivery of special education services in reserve schools, to identify the special needs of children attending these schools, and to study means of identifying and assessing children with special needs. The information obtained was used to develop a special education funding formula which would be more sensitive and responsive to the specific needs of Indian students in schools on reserves in Saskatchewan.<p> The study which was an exploratory field study involved two or more days of intensive discussion between the researcher and various groups of people on each of six reserves. At the conclusion of the study, a committee comprised of representatives of each band met with the researcher to review the findings and to make recommendations.<p> The study addressed three main areas of concern-the identification and assessment of special education students, the special needs of students in reserve schools, and funding arrangements. Results indicated that current procedures for identifying and assessing special education students are vague, costly, and time-consuming. As well, bands do not have easy access to the qualified personnel to do the identification and/or testing. It was also discovered that large numbers of students in reserve schools are handicapped because they are severely disadvantaged, seriously age-grade misplaced, and/or severely emotionally deprived. These categories of handicap, although not recognized by the the special education funding formulas, do interfere with the academic achievement and success of the students. Bands are experiencing problems with the current funding arrangements. Inadequacy of funds to cover the costs of delivering appropriate programming, lack of firm policies and procedures for accessing and allocating funds or to direct the process of delivering funds to the band level, and ineffective systems at the band level for administering special education funds are the chief problems.<p> It was recommended that the funding formula should consist of three components--a low cost component to offset the costs of programming for the mildly to moderately handicapped; a special needs component to cover the costs of programming required beyond what is provided through the low cost component; a support services component to cover the costs of education psychologists, classroom consultants, speech therapists, and other consultant services. As well, it was stressed that for such a formula to be truly functional, well-defined policies and procedures would have to be developed and implemented.

Sammanfattning   Titel:                            Externt kapital i samband med investeringar                             - En studie om framgångsrika företag i Gästrikland   Nivå:                     C-uppsats i ämnet företagsekonomi   Författare:            Madelene Bergström                             Mikael Pettersson   Handledare:           Per-Arne Wikström   Datum:                       2012 – 06   Syfte: Syftet är att undersöka vilken inställning framgångsrika företag har till olika externa kapitalkällor vid en investering samt hur dessa företag har finansierat tidigare investeringar.   Metod: Datainsamling har skett dels via en egen webbenkät till 229 stycken framgångsrika företag i Gästrikland samt genom en sammanställning av redan insamlat material från åren 2005 – 2011. Materialet har sammanställts och redovisas i diagramform. Analysen har sedan gjorts genom att jämföra empiri och teori vilket sedan är utgångspunkt för diskussion.   Resultat &amp; slutsats: Studien visar att företagen prioriterar internt kapital framför externt kapital samt att deras inställning till externt kapital varierar med marknadens konjunktursvängningar. Det finns även en skillnad mellan företagens inställning till olika kapitalkällor och de kapitalkällor de faktiskt använt när de har genomfört investeringar.   Förslag till fortsatt forskning: En studie som på ett djupare plan belyser bakomliggande orsaker till skillnaderna i inställning till olika kapitalkällor och vilka källor som faktiskt har använts vid en investering.   Uppsatsens bidrag: Studien bidrar till en ökad förståelse för hur företag finansierar investeringar.   Nyckelord: Pecking order, finansiering, kapitalkällor, externt kapital, internt kapital / Abstract   Title:                               External capital for investments                                       - A study of successful firms in Gästrikland   Level:                             Bachelor-essay in business science   Author:                          Madelene Bergström                                      Mikael Pettersson   Supervisor:                     Per-Arne Wikström   Date:                             2012 - 06   Objective: The aim is to examine successful companies and their attitude towards different sources of external capital in an investment situation, we also exam how these companies have funded previous investments.   Method: Data collection has been made in two steps, we have conducted a web survey to 229 successful companies in Gästrikland and we have used already existing data from the years 2005 - 2011. This data is then compiled and presented in graphical format. The analysis has been done by comparing the empirical evidence and theory which then forms the basis for discussion.   Results &amp; conclusion: This study shows that the companies prioritize internal capital rather than external and that their attitude towards external capital varies with market fluctuations. There is also a difference between the companies attitude to different sources of capital and the capital sources they actually have used for investments.   Suggestions for future research: A study on a deeper level that highlights the underlying causes of differences in attitudes towards different sources of capital and which sources who actually been used for an investment.   Essay contributions: The study contributes to a better understanding of how companies finance investments.   Keywords: pecking order, funding, capital sources, external capital, internal capital

The global financial market has been under a lot of stress in the past years. With the financial crisis that started in 2008, in the US and spread around the world, it created awareness that the world’s financial market requires more regulation to withstand such a crisis. Therefore a new recommended framework for the global financial market was developed by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision; Basel III. Basel III presented a new era with stricter supervision of banks and tighter regulations. As the European Union is one of the world’s most integrated regions, it strives to be the first to implement the Basel III framework. In order to achieve this, the European Union created its own legislative package, the Capital Requirement Directive IV.The research purpose of this dissertation is to examine how divergences in Sweden, Denmark and Germany’s national financial markets will affect their ability to implement the new CRD IV regulations. Based on the research the conclusion is that our Swedish respondent is most prepared in meeting the new regulations of our three respondents; the characteristics of the Swedish financial market seem well fit to meet the new requirements. Both Germany and Denmark seems to be experiencing problems; the characteristics of their financial markets create obstacles when implementing the new regulations. Denmark has difficulties with their mortgage lending market due to their unique mortgage model. Germany will have problems with the leverage ratio and their inflexible three pillar banking system. Germany’s government has been skeptical to the new CRD IV regulations and this might also have affected our German respondent in a negative way. With the implementation of the regulations the European Commission aims to improve the banking sector in the member states, so that they will be able to endure stress periods better and help to prevent another financial crisis. However, the implementation of the new regulations puts a lot of pressure on the banks and how well they can perform during the implementation process. With this research a questionnaire is created that will help understand how three major banks in Sweden, Denmark and Germany will be affected by the new regulations and if the characteristics of their national financial markets will give them advantages or disadvantages when implementing them. The answers also give us a conclusion to which of the new regulations each respondent will have the most difficulty of implementing. Future research is suggested to be done into the Danish mortgage lending market and their unique mortgage model, to see if it can co-exist with the new CRD IV regulations. Also an in-depth research into the German three pillar banking system can be interesting, to find out if they are able to maintain it or if they have to restructure it.

This study was designed to investigate concerns with respect to the delivery of special education services in reserve schools, to identify the special needs of children attending these schools, and to study means of identifying and assessing children with special needs. The information obtained was used to develop a special education funding formula which would be more sensitive and responsive to the specific needs of Indian students in schools on reserves in Saskatchewan.<p> The study which was an exploratory field study involved two or more days of intensive discussion between the researcher and various groups of people on each of six reserves. At the conclusion of the study, a committee comprised of representatives of each band met with the researcher to review the findings and to make recommendations.<p> The study addressed three main areas of concern-the identification and assessment of special education students, the special needs of students in reserve schools, and funding arrangements. Results indicated that current procedures for identifying and assessing special education students are vague, costly, and time-consuming. As well, bands do not have easy access to the qualified personnel to do the identification and/or testing. It was also discovered that large numbers of students in reserve schools are handicapped because they are severely disadvantaged, seriously age-grade misplaced, and/or severely emotionally deprived. These categories of handicap, although not recognized by the the special education funding formulas, do interfere with the academic achievement and success of the students. Bands are experiencing problems with the current funding arrangements. Inadequacy of funds to cover the costs of delivering appropriate programming, lack of firm policies and procedures for accessing and allocating funds or to direct the process of delivering funds to the band level, and ineffective systems at the band level for administering special education funds are the chief problems.<p> It was recommended that the funding formula should consist of three components--a low cost component to offset the costs of programming for the mildly to moderately handicapped; a special needs component to cover the costs of programming required beyond what is provided through the low cost component; a support services component to cover the costs of education psychologists, classroom consultants, speech therapists, and other consultant services. As well, it was stressed that for such a formula to be truly functional, well-defined policies and procedures would have to be developed and implemented.

Bakgrund: Läkemedelsbranschen är idag en av de mest reglerade branscherna på marknaden. Forskning och utveckling har en stor betydelse för läkemedelsföretagen. För att lansera ett läkemedel krävs det att företagen genomför kliniska prövningar, deras utfall kan mycket väl avgöra företagens framtid. Problemformulering: hur stor inverkan har de olika faserna inom produktutvecklingen på aktiekurserna för företag i läkemedelsbranschen. Syfte: Syftet med uppsatsen är att undersöka hur marknaden reagerar när läkemedel som är under utveckling går in i de tre olika kliniska faserna.Metod: Studien baseras på kvantitativ data där ett bekvämlighetsval gjorts på sju stycken läkemedelsföretag. PR meddelanden där läkemedel i utveckling går in i fas-1, fas-2 och fas-3 kliniska prövningar har valts ut som enskilda händelsen i eventstudien som genomförts. Vi har studerat vad som händer 5 dagar före och 5 dagar efter att händelsen utspelar sig. Därefter har vi mätt marknadens reaktion genom beräkning av den anormala avkastningen. Slutsatser: Studien visar på att aktiemarknaden reagerar positivt på alla de tre kliniska faserna. Marknaden har en förmåga att övervärdera fas-1 studiers betydelse. Det finns tecken på att marknaden har svårt att värdera forskningen och utvecklingens riktiga värde. / Background: The pharmaceutical industry is a heavily regulated market. Costs for research and development are of utmost importance for the industry. To successfully launch a new drug requires clinical trials, and their outcomes could well determine the future of the company’s business. Problem formulation: how much influence do the various stages of product development have on the stock prices for companies in the pharmaceutical industry. Purpose: How does the market react when a drug under development undergoes the three different clinical phases. Method: The study is based on quantitative data. Seven pharmaceutical companies have been selected for this study. PR messages for when drugs in development go into phase-1, phase-2 and phase-3 clinical trials, have been selected as the event in focus for our study. We have studied what occurs five days before and five days after an event takes place. Next we measure the markets reaction by calculating the abnormal return. Conclusion: The study shows that the stock market reacts positively to all three clinical phases. The market has a way to overestimate phase-1 studies importance. There are signs that the market has difficulties evaluating R&amp;Ds real value.

Bakgrund: Tidigare studier faller väl i linje med den bakomliggande teorin, att det förvärvande företagets avkastning ska sjunka i samband med offentliggörandet av förvärv. Dock har detta samband ifrågasatts av studier genomförda på senare tid som inte kunnat visa på signifikanta samband och i vissa fall även påvisat positiva avkastningar. Utfallet tycks vara beroende av många variabler varpå konjunkturen, finansieringen av förvärvet och förvärvsstorleken varit återkommande i flertalet studier inom ämnet. Syfte: Studiens syfte är att analysera om och hur företagsförvärv påverkar aktiekursen för det förvärvande företaget vid offentliggörandet av förvärv på den svenska marknaden januari 2004 till december 2014, samt hur konjunkturläget, finansieringen och det förvärvade företagets relativa storlek påverkar avkastningen. Genomförande: För att uppnå syftet med uppsatsen genomförs empiriska studier. Analysen av förvärvs påverkan på aktiekurs är av typen eventstudie som utgår från historiska tidsserier över prisutvecklingen för det förvärvande bolagets aktie. Studien utgår från en deduktiv ansats. Resultat: Studien visar att tio dagar kring offentliggörandet av ett företagsförvärv sjunker det förvärvande företagets aktiekurs. Dagsvisa abnormala avkastningar uppvisade signifikant negativ avkastning, förutom dagen för offentliggörandet som inte visade på något statistiskt samband. Det positiva sambandet mellan de abnormala avkastningarna och konjunkturläget visar att det i lågkonjunktur uppstår positiv avkastning och att det i högkonjunktur uppstår negativ avkastning. Valet av finansieringsalternativ har signifikant påverkan då aktier används som finansieringsalternativ, vilket ger i en positiv utveckling av aktiekursen. Denna studies resultat visar även att det finns ett positivt samband mellan förvärvets relativa storlek och den kumulativa avkastningen. / Background: Previous studies falls well in line with the underlying theory that the acquiring company’s return will fall at the announcement of acquisition. However, this correlation is challenged by recently conducted studies that have not been able to show significant relationships between acquirers return and announcement of acquisition, and some studies have also demonstrated positive returns. The outcome appears to be dependent on many variables on which economic conditions, funding and target size have been recurrent in many studies within the subject. Aim: The study aims is to analyze if and how the announcement of acquisition affects the stock price of the acquiring company on the Swedish market from January 2004 to December 2014, and how the economic cycle, the funding and the acquired company’s relative size affects the said returns. Completion: In order to achieve the aim of the thesis empirical studies are concluded. The analysis of the acquisition’s impact on the share price is of the type of event study based on the historical time series of the price changes of the acquiring company’s stock. Results: This study shows that, during ten days around the announcement of an acquisition, the acquiring company’s stock price falls and produces negative returns. Daily abnormal returns shows significant negative returns, except for the date of announcement which showed no statistical relationship. The positive relationship between the abnormal returns and the economic condition in the country shows that positive returns occur in recession and negative returns occur in times of economic growth. The choice of funding has significant influence on the abnormal return when the acquirer’s shares are used as funding, providing an increase of the share price. The results also show that there is a positive correlation between the relative size of the acquired company and the acquirer’s return.

This item contains the agenda, minutes, and attachments for the Faculty Senate meeting on this date. There may be additional materials from the meeting available at the Faculty Center.

What does the prevalence of stress and burnout in community-based work reveal about the impacts of welfare state withdrawal? Drawing on the experiences of frontline community organizers in Toronto, this research argues that welfare state withdrawal is subsidized by a ‘Currency of Caring’ whereby frontline community organizers are expected to fill gaps in the social safety net, working to a point of burnout if necessary, because they care. This research investigates how funders operating within this context can promote health and wellness in community-based work. Broadly, research findings provide insights into how neoliberalism and welfare state withdrawal shape frontline community work in ways that exacerbate stress and burnout, and impede systemic change efforts. In addition, research findings describe the limitations and possibilities for funders to be allies in collective change efforts by being invested in the health and wellness of frontline community organizers.