The aim of this study was to investigate people’s ability to detect deception and if variables such as birth order, personality and suspiciousness affect this ability. The study was conducted at Växjö University with students as participants (n = 278). A film of two people arguing both for and against their own personal opinions was constructed and participants assessed credibility on a categorical scale (Honest/Dishonest). Neither birth order nor level of suspiciousness revealed significant differences as pertains to credibility attribution. In this study, personality traits showed small differences in that a low degree of Conscientiousness and possibly a high degree of Openness can predict lie bias (more correct classified lies). This study also showed that a truth and lie bias is predicted by positive respectively negative opinions. / Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka eventuella skillnader mellan människor och deras förmåga att upptäcka vilseledande information. Syskonplacering, personlighet och misstänksamhet ställdes mot deltagarnas trovärdighetsklassificeringar. Studien genomfördes på Växjö universitet och deltagarna bestod av studenter (n = 278). En film med två personer vilka argumenterade för och emot sina personliga åsikter konstruerades där deltagarna bedömde trovärdighet genom en kategorisk skala (Ärlig/Oärlig). Inga skillnader fanns mellan varken syskonplacering eller misstänksamhet och trovärdighetsbedömning. Personlighet gav små skillnader i trovärdighetsbedömning genom att låg grad av Conscientiousness och eventuellt hög grad av Openness predicerade lögnbias (fler korrekt klassificerade lögner) i denna studie. Studien visade även att sannings- och lögnbias prediceras av positiva respektive negativa åsikter i talarens påståenden.

Day-ahead spot electricity markets are the most transparent spot markets where one can find integrated supply and demand curves of the market players for each settlement period. Since it is an indicator for the market players and regulators, in this thesis we model the spot electricity prices. Logarithmic daily average spot electricity prices are modeled as a summation of a deterministic function and multi-factor stochastic process. Randomness in the spot prices is assumed to be governed by three jump processes and a Brownian motion where two of the jump processes are mean reverting. While the Brownian motion captures daily regular price movements, the pure jump process models price shocks which have long term effects and two Ornstein Uhlenbeck type jump processes with different mean reversion speeds capturing the price shocks that affect the price level for relatively shorter time periods. After removing the seasonality which is modeled as a deterministic function from price observations, an iterative threshold function is used to filter the jumps. The threshold function is constructed on volatility estimation generated by a GARCH(1,1) model. Not only the jumps but also the mean reverting returns following the jumps are filtered. Both of the filtered jump processes and residual Brownian components are estimated separately. The model is applied to Austrian, Italian, Spanish and Turkish electricity markets data and it is found that the weekly forecasts, which are generated by the estimated parameters, turn out to be able to capture the characteristics of the observations. After examining the future contracts written on electricity, we also suggest a decision technique which is built on risk premium theory. With the help of this methodology derivative market players can decide on taking whether a long or a short position for a given contract. After testing our technique, we conclude that the decision rule is promising but needs more empirical research.

2008 is a special year for the global financial market. The global financial tsunami ignited from the U.S sub-prime mortgage crisis has caused Wall Street financial giants to collapse. The credit crunch in turn caused a contraction in the real economy and the world paid a heavy price for this financial tsunami. Charles Dickens quote¡G "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times ". Compared to European and the United States large-scale banks, China's banks are less opened and have relatively small exposure to derivative financial products. Consequently, these barriers have led them to limit their losses and write-downs from the sub-prime mortgage crisis. This thesis studies the major China-based banks¡¦ profitability by comparing these banks¡¦ financial and operational structures, and correlations to several economic factors. At the same time, Fama-French three-factor model was used to verify the efficiency of the China¡¦s stock market. The conclusions of this study are presented as follows¡G(a) Although these Chinese banks do have economies of scale, but the relationship between scale and profitability is not proportional. (b) Chinese banks are less affected by the financial crisis as a result of the high level of protection and control of the Chinese government, coupled with the fact that most of the Chinese banks¡¦ core operations are net interest income (c) lending activity¡B net interest margin¡B and asset quality are the key drivers for Chinese banks, and these three factors are mostly negatively correlated to the economic condition. (d) Based on the regression result of the Fama-French three factors model and the result of the T test, the relation of the excess return of the Chinese banks¡¦ Shanghai-listed A-shares to both the market value and the ratio of book to market value is significant while that of the Chinese banks¡¦ Hong Kong-listed H-shares is insignificant.

<p>The aim of this study was to investigate people’s ability to detect deception and if variables such as birth order, personality and suspiciousness affect this ability. The study was conducted at Växjö University with students as participants (n = 278). A film of two people arguing both for and against their own personal opinions was constructed and participants assessed credibility on a categorical scale (Honest/Dishonest). Neither birth order nor level of suspiciousness revealed significant differences as pertains to credibility attribution. In this study, personality traits showed small differences in that a low degree of Conscientiousness and possibly a high degree of Openness can predict lie bias (more correct classified lies). This study also showed that a truth and lie bias is predicted by positive respectively negative opinions.</p> / <p>Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka eventuella skillnader mellan människor och deras förmåga att upptäcka vilseledande information. Syskonplacering, personlighet och misstänksamhet ställdes mot deltagarnas trovärdighetsklassificeringar. Studien genomfördes på Växjö universitet och deltagarna bestod av studenter (n = 278). En film med två personer vilka argumenterade för och emot sina personliga åsikter konstruerades där deltagarna bedömde trovärdighet genom en kategorisk skala (Ärlig/Oärlig). Inga skillnader fanns mellan varken syskonplacering eller misstänksamhet och trovärdighetsbedömning. Personlighet gav små skillnader i trovärdighetsbedömning genom att låg grad av Conscientiousness och eventuellt hög grad av Openness predicerade lögnbias (fler korrekt klassificerade lögner) i denna studie. Studien visade även att sannings- och lögnbias prediceras av positiva respektive negativa åsikter i talarens påståenden.</p>

The aim of this study is to evaluate the difference in performance and management fees between ethical and conventional mutual funds registered in Sweden. Our dataset consists of 49 ethical and 254 conventional funds, estimated on a 10-year period of time between January 2005 to January 2015. Jensen’s alpha is used as a measure for risk-adjusted performance and estimated through CAPM single-index model as well as by Carhart’s four-factor model. By adding back the management fees to the net returns and then estimate Jensen’s alpha by Carhart’s four-factor model once again, evidence of any differences in the impact on return between ethical and conventional funds is found. The results obtained from the study show that there is no difference in neither the risk-adjusted returns nor management fees between ethical and conventional funds. It is concluded that Swedish mutual fund investors are not paying a specific price in terms of reduced returns or higher management fees for putting social and ethical values into their financial investment decision.

Why do we observe such dramatic differences in labour productivity across countries in the macro data? This thesis argues that the growth empirics literature oversimplifies the complexity of the production process across countries and neglects data cross-section and time-series properties, leading to bias in the empirical estimates. Chapter 1 presents two general empirical frameworks for cross-country productivity analysis and demonstrates that they encompass the growth empirics literature of the past decades. We introduce our central argument of cross-country heterogeneity in the impact of observables and unobservables on output and develop this against the background of the pertinent time-series and cross-section properties of macro panel data. Chapter 2 uses data from 48 countries to estimate manufacturing production functions. We discuss standard and novel estimators, focusing on their treatment of parameter heterogeneity and data time-series and cross-section properties. We develop the Augmented Mean Group (AMG) estimator and show its similarity to the Pesaran (2006) Common Correlated Effects (CCE) approach. Our results confirm parameter heterogeneity across countries in the impact of observable inputs on output. We check the robustness of this finding and highlight its implications for empirical measures of TFP. Chapter 3 investigates the heterogeneity of agricultural production technology using data for 128 countries. We develop an extension to the CCE estimators which allows us to suggest that TFP is structured such that countries with similar agro-climatic environment are influenced by the same unobserved factors. This finding offers a possible explanation for the failure of technology-transfer from advanced countries of the temperate 'North' to developing countries of the arid/equatorial 'South'. Our Monte Carlo simulations in Chapter 4 investigate the performance of the AMG, CCE and standard (micro-)panel estimators. Failure to account for cross-section dependence is shown to result in serious distortion of the empirical estimates. We highlight scenarios in which the AMG is biased and offer simple remedies.

The construct of perfectionism is related to many important outcome variables. However, the term “perfectionism” has been defined in many different ways, and items comprising the different existing scales appear to be very different in content. The overarching aim of the present set of studies was to help clarify the specific unidimensional constructs underlying what is called “perfectionism”. First, trained raters reliably sorted items from existing measures of perfectionism into nine dimensions. An exploratory factor analysis, followed by a confirmatory factor analysis on an independent sample, resulted in a 9 scale, 61 item measure, called the Measure of Constructs Underlying Perfectionism (MCUP). The nine scales were internally consistent and stable across time, and they were differentially associated with relevant measures of personality and psychosocial functioning in theoretically meaningful ways.

Arguments have been made for dimensional models over categorical for the classification of personality disorder, and for the five-factor model (FFM) in particular. A criticism of the FFM of personality disorder is the absence of measures designed to assess pathological personality. Several measures have been developed based on the FFM to assess the maladaptive personality traits included within existing personality disorders. One such example is the Five-Factor Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory (FFOCI). The current study applied item response theory analyses (IRT) to test whether scales of the FFOCI are extreme variants of respective FFM facet scales. It was predicted that both the height and slope of the item-response curves would differ for the conscientiousness-based scales, due to the bias towards assessing high conscientiousness as adaptive in general personality inventories (such as Goldberg’s International Personality Item Pool; IPIP). Alternatively, the remaining FFOCI scales and their IPIP counterparts were predicted to demonstrate no significant differences in IRCs across theta. Nine hundred and seventy-two adults each completed the FFOCI and the IPIP, including 377 undergraduate students and 595 participants recruited online. A portion of the results supported the hypotheses, with select exceptions. Fastidiousness and Workaholism demonstrated the expected trends, with the FFOCI providing higher levels of fidelity at the higher end of theta, and the IPIP demonstrating superior coverage at the lower end of theta. Other conscientiousness scales failed to demonstrate the expected differences at a statistically significant level. In this context, the suitability of IRT in the analysis of rationally-derived, polytomous scales is explored.

Syftet med studien var att undersöka samband mellan personlighetsdimensioner och upplevd stress på arbetsplatser utifrån fem-faktormodellen samt krav-kontrollmodellen. 128 deltagare deltog i enkätundersökningen; 58 män och 66 kvinnor mellan åldern 20-69 år. Studien var en tvärsnittsstudie med självskattningsfrågor och urvalet gjordes genom ett bekvämlighetsurval. Enkäterna besvarades på arbetsplatser i Örebro, Eskilstuna, Västerås och Stockholm. Tidigare forskning påvisar samband mellan personlighet och stress, men få undersöker detta utifrån krav-kontroll-stödmodellen. Föreliggande studie undersöker detta utifrån graden av krav och kontroll. T-test visade skillnader utifrån kön, envägs ANOVA visade skillnader i yrkestitel och ålder. Korrelationsanalyser visade positivt samband mellan krav och upplevd stress samt negativt samband mellan kontroll och upplevd stress. Resultatet visade positivt samband mellan agreeableness, openness, conscientiousness och krav samt positivt samband mellan openness och kontroll. / The purpose of the study was to examine correlations between personality traits and perceived stress at work places based upon the Five Factor model and demand-control model. 128 participants attended; 58 men and 66 women aged 20-69 years. The study was cross-sectional with self-report measures and convenience sampling. Surveys were answered at work places in Örebro, Eskilstuna, Västerås and Stockholm. Previous research show correlations between personality and stress, but few examine this through the demand-control-support model. Present study examine this through the demand-control model. T-test showed differences between gender, one-way ANOVA showed differences in occupation and age. There was a positive correlation between demand and perceived stress and a negative correlation between control and perceived stress. The results showed positive correlations between agreeableness, openness, conscientiousnness and demand, positive correlations between openness and control.

Ο αντικειμενικός σκοπός της συγκεκριμένης εργασίας είναι να διερευνηθεί κατά πόσο και αν ισχύει η θεωρία της αποτελεσματικότητας των αγορών που πρωτοεισήχθη από τους Fama και French σε εβδομαδιαία δεδομένα που προέρχονται από το Χρηματιστήριο Αξιών της Μ. Βρετανίας για την περίοδο 1/1/2000 μέχρι 1/1/2010. / The investigation of the efficient market hypothesis with daily U.K. data, testing period from 1/1/2000 to 1/1/2010.