Background: In the wake of recent spikes of inflationary uncertainty, the phenomenon of“greedflation” has emerged. The phenomenon regards the idea of firms exploiting times of inflationary uncertainty to their benefit at the cost of consumer welfare. Building upon scarce previous literature on the subject, this thesis expands upon established models and contributes to new insights into the topic. Purpose: The primary objective was to investigate whether there were indications of Swedish firms exploiting times of increasing inflation uncertainty to enhance their profitability. The thesis wished to find if there is a relationship between inflation uncertainty and both net profit margins and gross margins. By examining the phenomenon of “greedflation” the goal was to extend the empirical findings and contribute with new methodologies to establish new avenues of exploring the subject. Method: The thesis employed a positivistic, deductive research approach together with a quantitative strategy. The data was collected from databases such as “Thompson Refinitiv Eikon”, “Statistics Sweden” and the “Swedish Central Bank”. The statistical approach was to develop panel data regressions, together with a framework to measure “greedflation”, which allowed for statistical analysis of the data cross-sectionally, over time. Conclusion: Findings reveal that the phenomenon of “greedflation” cannot be entirely proved during the entire sample period. However, dwelling into sectoral and subperiod effects, some signs of exploitative behaviour, or “greedflation” can be seen during 2022 and 2023. Additionally, during periods of high inflationary uncertainty, profit margins tended to rise across sectors, hinting at the presence of "greedflation", although inflation was probably influenced by other effects instead of corporate pricing behaviour.

In calling for the deployment of high-capacity telecommunications infrastructures, the Clinton Administration is relying on market forces to drive demand toward self-sustaining development. There is little doubt that many firms will embrace the new telecommunications services for a variety of reasons including market differentiation, vertical market integration, and other organization-specific factors. However, there is little evidence at the firm level that adopting the use of increased-capacity telecommunications technologies is associated with improvements in firm profitability. This study seeks to identify the presence of impacts on firm income that can be associated with the adoption of T1 telecommunications services.

This thesis studies the relationship between efficient working capital management and firm profitability, and if the global financial crisis has affected the relationship. Previous literature has presented inconsistent results regarding the impact of working capital management on firm profitability, finding both negative and positive effects. It has also been argued that the global financial crisis has increased the attention of and possibly changed the attitude towards working capital management as a strategy in order to increase firm profitability. In the study, the cash conversion cycle is used as a measure for working capital management, and return on assets as a measure for firm profitability. The sample in this thesis consists of 1170 observations from 78 Swedish listed companies over the time-period 2003–2017. Both multiple regression analysis and an independent-sample t-test were conducted in order to examine the given relationship. The findings of this thesis indicate that firms can increase their profitability by implementing efficient working capital management. However, the global financial crisis has not brought a change in companies' working capital management.

This thesis examines the relationship between working capital efficiency and firm profitability, and how this relationship is affected by economic fluctuations. In the existing literature, the relationship between working capital efficiency and firm profitability has been extensively researched. However, the impact of economic fluctuations on the relationship between working capital efficiency and firm profitability is sparsely researched. To the best of our knowledge, only Enqvist, Graham and Nikkinen (2014) have addressed the impact ofeconomic fluctuations on the relationship between working capital efficiency and firm profitability. This thesis is a replication of their study in another geographical setting, another time period and studying different types of firms. Using a sample of 2,589 firm-year observations of listed Swedish firms for the years 2000-2015, this thesis conducts multiple regression analysis to examine the relationship between working capital efficiency and firm profitability. The findings of this thesis propose that firms can enhance profitability by improving their working capital efficiency. However, the relationship between working capital efficiency and firm profitability does not appear to be significantly affected by economic fluctuations. This thesis contributes to the existing literature by further strengthening the understanding of the relationship between working capital efficiency and firm profitability. In addition, it also adds to the existing literature on the relationship between working capital efficiency and firm profitability in a Swedish context.

Submitted by Octavio Augusto Darcie de Barros (oadbarros@gmail.com) on 2018-04-09T22:07:04Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertation - pdf version.pdf: 1285939 bytes, checksum: e737e3b7f89be53fbf7e07186f6275b3 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Debora Nunes Ferreira (debora.nunes@fgv.br) on 2018-04-16T19:28:13Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertation - pdf version.pdf: 1285939 bytes, checksum: e737e3b7f89be53fbf7e07186f6275b3 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Suzane Guimarães (suzane.guimaraes@fgv.br) on 2018-04-17T12:44:36Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertation - pdf version.pdf: 1285939 bytes, checksum: e737e3b7f89be53fbf7e07186f6275b3 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-04-17T12:44:36Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertation - pdf version.pdf: 1285939 bytes, checksum: e737e3b7f89be53fbf7e07186f6275b3 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-03-26 / We improve upon existing literature on institutional reforms by analyzing a different type of reform that is very common in Latin American countries: the transitory market reforms. Under transitory market reforms, uncertainty lasts longer due to the more frequent shifts between opposing market orientations, thus reducing firms’ capacity to estimate their risk. We hypothesize that transitory reforms have a negative effect over firms’ profitability, and that this relationship is negatively moderated by institutional convergence, in which market agents have already comprehended the new institutional rules but are still internalizing them in their strategies. We test these relationships in a sample of 22,066 observations from 1,005 Brazilian firms and find support to our hypotheses. Reforms mechanisms are further analyzed and discussed, as well as their implications for theory. / Desenvolvemos a literatura existente relativa a reformas institucionais a partir da análise de um tipo diferente de reforma que é bastante comum nos países da América Latina: as reformas de mercado transitórias. Durante reformas transitórias, o período de incerteza é mais duradouro devido às oscilações mais frequentes entre orientações de mercado opostas, reduzindo assim a capacidade das firmas de estimarem seus níveis de risco. Nossas hipóteses propõem que reformas transitórias possuem um efeito negativo sobre a lucratividade das empresas e que essa relação é negativamente moderada pela convergência institucional, durante a qual os agentes de mercado já compreenderam as novas regras institucionais, mas ainda não as internalizaram plenamente em suas estratégias. Testamos essas relações em uma amostra de 22.066 observações de 1.005 empresas brasileiras e encontramos suporte para nossas hipóteses. Mecanismos de reformas são posteriormente analisados e discutidos, bem como suas implicações para a teoria.