Bakgrund: Kommuninvest är en medlemsorganisation som finansierar en stor andel av den svenska kommunsektorns upplåning. Detta möjliggörs genom att Kommuninvest emitterar obligationer på finansiella marknader för att sedan låna ut kapital till kommunerna. Finansiella institut som Kommuninvest hanterar en rad olika risker i sin verksamhet och eftersom det saknas tidigare forskning angående Kommuninvests exponering mot och hantering av marknadsrisk är detta intressant att studera för att fylla kunskapsluckan. Det är också intressant eftersom kommunerna är en viktig aktör i det svenska samhället och Kommuninvest spelar en stor roll i den kommunala upplåningen. Syfte: Syftet med denna studie är att analysera Kommuninvests marknadsriskexponering när de lånar upp pengar på den finansiella marknaden för att låna ut dessa till medlemskommunerna, samt att analysera företagets marknadsriskhantering. Syftet är också att analysera hur marknadsriskexponeringen och marknadsriskhanteringen påverkar medlemskommunerna. Genomförande: Studien är designad som en fallstudie. Fallet har definierats som Kommuninvests marknadsriskexponering och -hantering. Det empiriska materialet utgörs av nio semistrukturerade intervjuer och en dokumentstudie. Det empiriska materialet har använts för att kunna dra slutsatser om Kommuninvests marknadsriskexponering och -hantering samt dessas potentiella påverkan på medlemskommunerna. Slutsats: Flera slutsatser kan dras från denna studie. Kommuninvest hedgar främst sin marknadsrisk med derivat och naturlig matchning. Den monetära effekten på låneportföljen konstateras vara relativt liten. Räntemarginalen är så pass låg att de små kommunerna väljer att alltid låna av Kommuninvest och de stora väljer att göra det ibland. Kommunerna i studien har över lag högt förtroende för Kommuninvest och majoritet upplever att de inte påverkas så mycket av bolagets riskexponering eller riskhantering. Denna studie bidrar med ny kunskap om Kommuninvests marknadsriskexponering och -hantering till det företagsekonomiska forskningsfältet såväl som till de svenska kommunerna. / Background: Kommuninvest is a member organisation that finances a large part of the borrowing of Swedish local governments. This is made possible by emitting bonds on the financial markets and then lending capital to the local governments. Financial institutions like Kommuninvest deal with several different risks and since no previous research has been conducted on the subject of the market risk exposure and the market risk management of Kommuninvest, this is a pertinent case to study in order to fill the gap. It is also a pertinent case since the local governments of Sweden are a very important part of the society and since Kommuninvest plays a great role in the borrowing of these local governments. Aim: The aim of this study is to analyse the market risk exposure of Kommuninvest when the company borrows capital on the financial markets to lend to their members, Swedish local governments, as well as to analyse the market risk management of the company. A secondary aim is to analyse how the market risk exposure and the market risk management affect the local governments that are members of Kommuninvest. Completion: The study is designed as a case study. The case has been defined as The market risk exposure and market risk management of Kommuninvest. The empirical data consists of nine semi-structured interviews and one document study. The empirical data is used to draw conclusions about the market risk exposure and the market risk management of Kommuninvest, as well as their potential effects on the Swedish local governments that are members of Kommuninvest. Conclusion: Several conclusions can be drawn from this study. Kommuninvest primarily hedges its market risk with derivates and natural hedges. The monetary effect on the loan portfolio is found to be relatively small. The interest margin is low enough so that the small local governments choose to always borrow from Kommuninvest, and the big local governments choose to sometimes do so. The local governments that participated in the study generally have high confidence in Kommuninvest and most of them experience that they are not very affected by the company’s risk exposure or risk management. This study contributes with new knowledge about the market risk exposure and market risk management of Kommuninvest to the research field as well as to the Swedish local governments.

abstract: ABSTRACT Early childhood education (ECE) teacher professional development refers to the various modalities of providing new and or additional content knowledge to the teachers who work with children birth to five. The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of an Arizona United Way-administered intervention project designed to provide focused professional development activities to 15 ECE teachers at seven high-need, center-based early care and education settings. Specifically, this study determined if these interventions influenced the teachers to undertake formative career path changes such as college coursework. In addition, the study also sought to understand the views, beliefs, and attitudes of these ECE teachers and if/how their perspectives influenced their educational career paths. Data were gathered through the triangulated use of participants' responses to a survey, face-to-face interviews, and a focus group. Findings demonstrate that the teachers understand that professional development, such as college coursework, can increase a person's knowledge on a given topic or field of study, but that they feel qualified to be a teacher for children birth to five even though 12 of the 15 teachers do not hold an AA/AAS or BA/BS degree in any area of study. Further, the teachers suggested that if they were to earn a degree it would most likely be in another field of study beside education. These responses provide another reason professional development efforts to encourage ECE teachers to seek degrees in the field of education may be failing. If ECE teachers wanted to invest time, energy and funds they would acquire a degree, which provided more financial reward and professional respect.  / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Curriculum and Instruction 2011