<p>Bakgrund: Sedan 1988 har svenska aktiebolag haft en lagstadgad skyldighet att få sina räkenskaper granskade av en kvalificerad revisor, något som snart kommer att förändras. I en pågående utredning presenterades den 3 april 2008 ett förslag om att avskaffa revisionsplikten för 96 procent av de svenska aktiebolagen från och med 1 juli 2010. Bakgrunden till detta är att fördelar för små bolag inte anses uppväga nackdelar av revisionen.</p><p>Syfte: Syftet med denna uppsats är att beskriva förändringen hos banker i kreditbedömningsprocessen vid ett avskaffande av revisionsplikten och hur dessa förändringar kommer påverka relationen mellan bank och bolag.</p><p>Referensram och teori: För att analysera det empiriska materialet har intressentteorin, principal-agent teorin och teorin om asymmetrisk information använts varav samtliga är väletablerade och beprövade teorier. Teorin om tillit är en relativt ny teori som även den</p><p>har använts i syfte att förklara betydelsen av tillit i näringslivet. I referensramen ges information om revision och dess grundläggande principer samt en beskrivning av banker som kreditgivare och deras kreditgivningsprocess.</p><p>Metod: För att uppnå syftet har en fallstudie utförts bestående av både en kvalitativ samt en kvantitativ insamlingsmetod. Den kvalitativa delen har bestått av intervjuer med representanter</p><p>från Danske Bank, Handelsbanken, Nordea, SEB samt Swedbank. Ovanstående respondenter har även svarat på en enkät i syfte att komplettera med kvantitativ mätbar information. Utöver detta har litteraturstudier gjorts för att inhämta sekundär data.</p><p>Slutsats: Banker kommer att drabbas av ökade kostnader till följd av revisionspliktens avskaffande. Direkta kostnader på grund av ökad risk kommer överföras på de enskilda bolagen i form av ökade krav medan dolda kostnader på grund av längre handläggningstid kommer spridas på samtliga företagskunder.</p> / <p>Background: Since 1988, Swedish private limited corporations have been prescribed by law to have their accounts reviewed by a qualified auditor, something that soon will be changed. In an ongoing government investigation, a proposal presented the 3rd of April</p><p>2008 suggested that 96 percent of all private limited corporations should be eased from the auditing duty as of 1st of July 2010. The background to this proposal is that advantages for the small corporations are not considered to compensate the disadvantage with auditing.</p><p>Purpose: The purpose with this thesis is to describe the change for banks in the credit rating process in the case of an abolition of the auditing duty and how these changes will affect the relation between bank and corporation.</p><p>Frame of references and theory: To analyse the empirical findings the authors have used the stakeholder theory, the principal-agent theory and information asymmetry theory which all are well established theories. The theory of trust is a relatively new theory that has</p><p>been used in purpose to explain the importance of trust in the business world. The frame of references provides information about auditing and its basic principles as well as describing banks as creditors and their credit rating process.</p><p>Method: In order to achieve the purpose, a case study consisted of both a qualitative and a quantitative collection method, have been conducted. The qualitative part consists of interviews with representatives from Danske Bank, Handelsbanken, Nordea, SEB and Swedbank. The representatives above have also answered a questionnaire in purpose to complement the interview with quantitative measurable information. In excess of this, literature</p><p>studies have been done to gather secondary data.</p><p>Conclusion: As a consequence of the abolition of the auditing duty, the costs for banks will increase. Direct costs due to a greater risk will be transferred to the particular corporations as greater demands while hidden costs due to longer office turnaround time will be</p><p>spread out on all corporation customers</p>

資訊不對稱的問題在股市中一直是受關注的議題，一個完善的市場，理應不應當存在資訊不對稱的現象。中國大陸股市在政府宣布開放B股前，上海交易所與深圳交易所中的A股與B股市場屬於完全區隔的現象，國內投資人（多為散戶）只能在A股市場投資，國外投資人（多為金融機構）只能在B股市場投資，在此種制度底下，價格發現機能易受扭曲，資訊不對稱的問題是容易產生的。然而大陸宣布B股開放後，國內投資人可到B股市場投資，資訊不對稱的程度應逐漸變小，改善同家公司在A股與B股市場上市的股票同權不同值的現象。 本文研究目的即在於探討A股市場與B股市場之間是否存在資訊不對稱問題。利用Hasbrouck（1995）提出的價格發現模型-資訊持有比例法（Information share method），計算何者在價格發現過程中佔有較多的資訊比例。研究對象為上海交易所及深圳交易所內同時有在A股市場與B股市場上市的公司每日股價收盤價。以B股宣告開放日2001年2月19日為中心，將樣本分為開放前與開放後兩階段。進一步在實證中應用Pascual, Pascual-Fuster, and Climent（2006）的研究發現。 本研究實證結果：第一，B股開放前，不論加入成交量與否，B股市場皆為價格發現支配者。說明A股市場與B股市場間的確存在資訊不對稱現象。第二，B股開放後，A股市場為價格發現支配者，B股與H股市場為衛星市場。推論原因乃來自於2002年後B股市場幾乎停止新股掛牌；B股開放後B股流動性改善，外資以往賺取的溢價減少；人民幣升值議題，加入WTO全面開放資本市場的承諾等。 / Information asymmetry is an important issue in the financial market. A perfect market should not exist this phenomenon. Before 2001, domestic investors could only buy A shares while foreign investors could only hold B shares. Under this regulation, the function of price discovery is easily distorted, and information asymmetry occurs easily. Shares with identical rights offered by one company would have different values while they are located in class A and class B. This problem, however, should be improved after the deregulation that domestic investors could buy B shares. The main purpose of this paper is to investigate whether information asymmetry exists between A-share and B-share markets. We use information shares approach (Hasbrouck, 1995) to calculate and compare which market has more information share in the price discovery process. The samples include all firms having stocks trading in A-shares and B-shares market on Shanghai Securities Exchange (SHSE) and the Shenzhen Stock Exchange (SZSE). The sample period, October 6, 1997 to October 31, 2005, is divided into two sub-sample periods. Moreover, the model provided by Pascual, Pascual-Fuster, and Climent (2006) is also implied into this paper. This paper concludes that (1) Before deregulating to allow domestic investors to hold B shares, B-share markets is a dominator in the price discovery process no matter considering trading volume or not. It means that A-share and B-share markets indeed exist information asymmetry. (2) After February 19, 2001, A-share markets become a dominator in the price discovery process while B-share and H- share markets become satellite markets. The possible explanations are that there are seldom companies listing in the B shares markets after 2002; the foreign investor gain less premium than before because of enhancing B-share’s liquidity; Renminbi appreciate and capital markets open completely in the end of 2006.

本研究探討私募宣告事件之資訊內涵，以瞭解私募宣告事件對公司整體價值所造成之影響，進而探討影響私募宣告效果的可能因素，並比較具備投資機會組與不具備投資機會組之累積平均異常報酬。 實證結果發現以股東大會日為宣告日之私募股權宣告具有資訊內涵，而且宣告效果提早反應。影響私募宣告後累積異常報酬之因素包括價格壓力、投資機會、發行價格及資訊不對稱程度。股票流動性高、股價波動程度低、具備投資機會、發行價格高或資訊不對稱程度高時，私募宣告後之累積平均異常報酬會較高。在事件日前，無投資機會組比具備投資機會組有較高之累積平均異常報酬；在事件日之後，具投資機會組比無投資機會組有較高之累積平均異常報酬。 / This study examines the information content of private placement announcement to unveil its impact on firm value, explores the factors affecting the effect of private placement announcement, and compares the market performance of firms with investment opportunities and those without investment opportunities. The results indicate that the information content of private placement announcement exists with early information leakage. Firms with higher stock liquidity, lower stock price variation, more investment opportunity, higher subscribed price or higher degree of information asymmetry will have higher cumulative average abnormal returns after the announcement. The cumulative average abnormal returns of companies without investment opportunity are higher than those with investment opportunity before the announcement date.

2007年美國爆發次級房貸違約潮造成了其經濟、房市和股市的不景氣，也波及到持有美國房貸證券化商品的各國，使其承受重大的損失，因此房屋抵押貸款違約的影響因素和金融資產證券化機制對貸款違約風險的影響又再度成為不動產與金融市場上之重要議題。而以往針對美國次貸危機的研究多指出道德風險是造成此次危機的原因之一，但是較缺乏實證研究的支持。 有鑑於此，本研究以我國的台北市和新北市的房屋抵押貸款市場作為研究對象，探討逆選擇和道德風險這兩個資訊不對稱的問題對貸款違約率的影響。研究結果顯示「貸款成數高、貸款利率高、搭配信貸和設定二胎的貸款比較容易違約」，證實逆選擇和道德風險問題確實存在於房屋抵押貸款市場，而且會增加貸款違約的機率。為了降低違約機率，從降低資訊不對稱的角度來看，本研究建議：一、建立全國房貸資料庫；二、將信貸的金額納入房貸的貸款成數中考慮，以降低款人的道德風險。 再者，本研究認為造成次貸危機的根本原因是不當政策導致的保證機制浮濫，以及高風險的房貸證券化商品的氾濫。為了避免我國發生類似次貸危機的事件，從減少資訊不對稱的角度切入，本研究建議我國的金融資產證券化機制應該：一、將道德風險內部化，消除創始機構自利的動機以減少道德風險；二、使用外部信用增強的方式，以確實發揮分散證券風險的作用。 / The 2007 subprime mortgage crisis has severely struck the stability of the worldwide financial markets. Some researches indicate that moral hazard problems are the main factors causing the crisis. However, few studies support asymmetry problems existing in a mortgage market by empirical evidences. First, using the mortgage samples from Taipei City and New Taipei City this study would like to understand if the mortgage market are information asymmetry problems, adverse selection and moral hazard, and conduct the empirical analysis for these factors’ impact on mortgage default. The results show that mortgage default is influenced significantly by the Loan-to-Value （LTV） ratio, contract interest rates, the existence of second liens and credit loans, and jobs. It shows that adverse selection and moral hazard actually exist in the mortgage market. According to the empirical results, secondly, this study proposes suggestions for mortgage lending and financial asset securitization to reduce adverse selection and moral hazard problems and enhance the regulation environment and market’s stability. It is expected that the results of this study will be applied to avoid the occurrence of similar crisis in Taiwan.

為提升台灣資本市場之競爭力與國際化，我國行政院院會於民國97年3月通過「推動海外企業來台掛牌一二三計畫」，正式宣告開放外國企業來台上市。海外企業於我國第二上市發行台灣存託憑證（Taiwan Depositary Receipt，TDR），甫開放之初，市場反應熱烈，引發股市一陣TDR追價效應，有TDR蜜月期之戲稱。然而，資訊不透明、資訊揭露不對等之問題漸漸浮現，以及隨後發生香港僑威原股停止交易兩天，但僑威TDR仍在台繼續摸黑交易、日本爾必達聲請破產保護，爾必達TDR股價連續跌停板並下市等，種種情形影響市場信心、造成投資人卻步，今年更有萬宇科技TDR及超級咖啡TDR在外流通單位數過少，因流動性不足而下市之情形，顯示TDR之制度監理仍有需要改善的空間。 本文首先介紹臺灣存託憑證之發行組織架構與近期發行現況，並就紐約證券交易所、香港交易所以及新加坡交易所對於其境內存託憑證之事前審核、上市條件、事中監理至事後投資人保護措施之制度與我國制度分析比較，並提出我國制度可參考改善之建議。 目前雖然TDR市場進入冰封期，然而臺灣資本市場仍具TDR發展之利基，為提升臺灣之全球金融證券市場地位，主管機關應全面檢討TDR市場與制度，以利外資企業來臺發展TDR市場。同時，主管機關於推動臺灣證券市場國際化之時，亦應同時兼顧我國投資人之權益保障面向，尋求二者間之平衡點，使臺灣資本市場適應國際化之商品及交易，與國際資本市場接軌。 / To advance the competitiveness and internationalization of Taiwan’s capital market, in march 2008, the Executive Yuan passed the plan for promoting foreign companies to list in Taiwan, and announced officially that welcome the foreign companies to issue TDR. At first, TDR was highly thought of by the investors, however, the TDR’s problem comes up, such as the intransparency of information and information asymmetry. The situation led investors hang back. Obviously the regulation of TDR needs to be improved. This thesis introduced the structure of issuing TDR and recent developments, and analyzed the regulation of NYSE, HKEx and SGX to provide suggestions for Taiwan’s capital market. At the present time, the market for TDR is not lively, but there are still advantages of our capital market, the authorities should modify the regulation of TDR to attract foreign companies, meanwhile, to take both internationalization of capital market and investor protection into consideration, so that allow Taiwan’s capital market in connection with international capital market.

寬恕政策為政府打擊卡特爾不可或缺的重要工具，為了維持市場競爭公平性，各國相繼將其引入法條之中，該政策透過廠商主動揭露涉案行為，使得政府可有效掌握證據將其處置。本文建立兩種賽局模型並分別利用子賽局完全均衡及序列均衡的概念，嘗試討論一般情況下寬恕政策的效率及納入資訊不對稱情形下的政策有效性，並由兩模型推論出：實行寬恕政策且廠商主動申報聯合行為為社會最有效率的均衡、透過政府制定適當的罰鍰區間引導下，主動申報聯合行為的行為可視為一區隔廠商型態的訊號。 / The leniency policy plays an indispensable role in thwarting cartel formation. To maintain the fairness of market competition, most countries successively bring this policy into their antitrust legislation. After the enforcement of the policy, the involved firms may have incentive to self-report and provide evidences to the Antitrust Authority. Therefore, the authorities can get enough evidences to convict those firms of being cartel members. In this paper, we develop two kinds of game theoretical model and use the concept of subgame perfect equilibrium and sequential equilibrium to discuss the efficiency of leniency policy in general conditions, and the effectiveness of the policy under the condition of information asymmetry. We show that it is efficient to the society and the authorities when the cartel members self-report under the enforcement of leniency policy. Moreover, by setting up an appropriate fine payment, self-reporting can be a signal for the authorities to segment the type of the involved firms.

This thesis consists of three self-contained essays. Essay 1: This essay estimates wage assimilation among non-western immigrants in Sweden, controlling for selection into employment by including individual fixed effects. Furthermore, using matched employer-employee panel data covering the complete Swedish labor market, this essay decomposes wage catch-up into relative wage growth within and between workplaces and occupations. The results show that failing to control for selection into employment is likely to underestimate relative wage growth of immigrants, as early entrants in the labor market differ from later entrants along unobservable dimensions. Even after 30 years in the country, the group of non-western immigrants still earns substantially lower wages than natives. Wages catch up mainly within workplaces and occupations, suggesting that improved signals of productivity, rather than improved knowledge of job options, are of importance for the wage growth of non-western immigrants. Essay 2: Earlier research has shown that immigrant- and minority entrepreneurs have difficulties accessing capital through the formal financial markets. This essay studies what role immigrant employees within the local bank sector have for the probability of immigrants to run their own businesses. I use linked employer-employee data covering the whole Swedish labor market for the years 1987 to 2003 and utilize a nationwide refugee dispersal policy to get exogenous variation in the exposure to co-ethnic bank employees. Results suggest that there is a positive relation between co-ethnic bank employees and the probability of being self-employed. This effect is most pronounced for immigrants who arrived with low education, for males and for those residing in metropolitan regions. The effects are substantial and robust to a wide set of controls for labor market characteristics of the ethnic group at the local level. These results provide evidence of an ethnic component in the formal credit markets. Essay 3 (with Oskar Nordström Skans): This essay investigates the impact of a collective agreement stipulating a one shot increase in establishment-specific wage levels in a public-sector setting where wages otherwise are set according to individualized wage bargaining. The agreement stipulated that wages should increase in proportion to the number of low-paid females within each establishment. We find that actual wages among incumbents responded to the share of females with a wage below the stipulated threshold, conditional on the separate effects of the share of low wage earners, and the share of females. We find clear evidence of path-dependence in wages, covered workers remained on higher wage levels 4 years after the agreement took effect. The increase in wages resulted in a reduced probability of exit among young workers with relatively good grades and a lower frequency of new hires at the establishment level.

為了維護全球經濟的穩定與公平，近年來各國無不致力於反壟斷政策的執行，以期有效打擊卡特爾式的企業聯合行為。本文從三種不同的環境條件下，逐一探討採取聯合行為的廠商和反托拉斯政府之間的互動情況。透過本研究可發現，廠商在以利潤為優先考量下，來決定是否採取聯合結盟，以及合法或非法的合作型態。此外，為了朝全社會效率極大的目標邁進，本文針對三種環境設定下的均衡結果進行效率性的比較，得知其差異的成因在於政府和廠商報酬差異的大小。 / In order to keep the stability and fairness of global economy, most of the authorities around the world have been fighting for cutting down cartels by implementing Antitrust/Competition Law. In this paper, we analyze the interaction between joint ventures and antitrust authorities in three different cases. And we find that profit always takes priority in firms’ decision, no matter how the economic environment changes. Finally, in discussing social utility, we compare efficiency among the three cases, and reach our conclusion that the difference of government’s and firm’s return causes the efficiency or non-efficiency of those optimal strategies.

The development of interorganisational cooperation networks is increasingly exalted as a growing alternative. Its importance is strongly visible regarding the small and medium size enterprises that, because of the great competitiveness existent, can t act separately, so, they become ruled by the market. The fact is that the networks only get great advantages if several conditions are fulfilled, which makes the process a little more complex. Anyway, most studies, with some exceptions, asserts that this is an excellent opportunity of stableness and even of increasing in the market where the enterprises are inserted. Even though from the empirical view-point, one can observe an expressive number of enterprises which leave the cooperative process.This exploratory study of qualitative character objective to find out the reasons that lead the enterprise decision to leave the network, because it can be an alternative for minimizing the problems that emerge during the associative process and that make impossible the extent of the stipulated objectives. Therefore, there were interviews with: 1) five enterprises of pharmacy branch which had participated in a specific network; 2) the interorganisational network and; 3) a new format of interorganisational network to which most of enterprises migrated, all of them located in the state of Rio Grande do Sul. From these interviews it could compare and confront different situations and perceptions of enterprise and network, arriving the pertinent analyses regarding the network problems, the associate enterprise profile, the selective process practiced in the associativist movement and the reasons that lead the enterprises to leave the networks. In response to this study problematic the results evidenced some variants, to cite: the size of the participant enterprises, information asymmetry, distrust relationship, managing process developed by networks, and the costbenefit relation that results from that movement. Another conclusion resulting from the research evidences that the network format and verifies that its survival is related to the managing features which are many times argued by associated enterprises: rigid rules and minimal share of purchasing by associate, this guarantee the bargain power which so many enterprises look for in the associativist process. All these variables, according to the evidences from these analyses, influence in the enterprise decisions for staying or not in the network. And they can support the networks which look for the success in their cooperations. This way, the reason diagnosis that lead an enterprise to leave the network to which it belonged, contributes to all stages that constitute the network development. This involves since the creation of its statute, formalization of its contracts and choice of its associates. It has even the possibility to accomplish the withdrawal of some enterprise for dissastisfaction or other motive, in a less disturbed and traumatic way for both parts. / Cada vez mais, o desenvolvimento de redes de cooperação interorganizacional é exaltado como alternativa de crescimento. Sua importância é fortemente visível no que diz respeito às empresas de pequeno e médio porte, que, devido à grande competitividade existente, não conseguem agir isoladamente, e tornam-se dominadas pelo mercado. O fato é que as redes somente conseguem grandes vantagens se várias condições forem preenchidas, o que torna o processo um pouco mais complexo. De qualquer maneira, a maioria dos estudos, com algumas ressalvas, afirmam ser esta uma excelente oportunidade de permanência, e, até mesmo, de crescimento no mercado onde as empresas estão inseridas, mesmo que, do ponto de vista empírico, observe-se um número expressivo de empresas que saem do processo cooperativo. Descobrir os motivos que levam à decisão da empresa de sair da rede, além de ser o objetivo deste estudo exploratório, de caráter basicamente qualitativo, pode ser uma alternativa de minimizar os problemas que surgem no decorrer do processo associativo e impossibilitam o alcance dos objetivos estipulados. Para tanto, foram entrevistadas: 1) cinco empresas do ramo de farmácias, que sairam de uma rede específica; 2) a rede propriamente dita e; 3) um novo formato de rede interorganizacional para a qual a maioria das empresas migrou, todas localizadas no Estado do Rio Grande do Sul. A partir dessas entrevistas, pôdese comparar e confrontar diferentes situações e percepções, de empresas e de redes, chegando a análises pertinentes a respeito dos problemas das redes, do perfil das empresas associadas, do processo seletivo praticado no movimento associativista e das razões que levam as empresas a saírem das redes. Em resposta à problemática deste estudo, os resultados evidenciaram algumas variáveis, a citar: tamanho das empresas participantes, assimetria de informações, relações de desconfiança, processo de gestão desenvolvido pelas redes, e a relação custo benefício resultante desse movimento. Outra conclusão resultante deste estudo, evidencia o formato das redes pesquisadas e constata que sua sobrevivência está relacionada a características de gestão muitas vezes questionadas pelas empresas associadas: regras rígidas e quota mínima de compra por associado, o que vem a garantir o poder de barganha que tantas empresas buscam no processo associativista. Todas essas variáveis, segundo constatações dessas análises, influenciam nas decisões das empresas de permanecer ou não na rede, e podem auxiliar as redes que buscam o sucesso em suas cooperações. Dessa forma, o diagnóstico das razões que levam uma empresa a sair da rede a que pertencia contribui em todas as etapas que constituem o desenvolvimento das redes, o que envolve, desde a criação de seu estatuto, formalização de seus contratos e seleção de seus associados, chegando até mesmo na possibilidade de se efetuar a retirada de alguma empresa, por insatisfação ou outro motivo, de maneira menos conturbada e traumática para ambas as partes.

I tidigare studier har det framkommit att amerikanska företag manipulerar sina finansiella räkenskaper inför en nyemission med hjälp av Earnings Management genom oförklarliga periodiseringar. Detta görs i syfte att reflektera en bättre bild av företagets finansiella ställning gentemot hur det i verkligheten ser ut. Företeelsen tillämpas med avsikt att erhålla ett större finansiellt riskkapital då företaget utfärdar nyemission. Denna studie undersöker om svenska företag agerar likt amerikanska företag vid en nyemission och därför är syftet i studien att undersöka om svenska företag tillämpar Earnings Management genom oförklarliga periodiseringar vid perioden då de utfärdar nyemission. Svenska företag har varit av intresse i följande studie då svenska företag verkar under ett annorlunda redovisnings- och skattesystem än amerikanska företag gör, varpå vi vill testa om teorin Earnings Management genom oförklarliga periodiseringar är tillämpbar på även svenska företag, trots de skillnader som föreligger mellan ländernas lagsystem. Studien har genomförts med hjälp av en kvantitativ metod som vi presenterat med hjälp av en deskriptiv statistisk analys. De resultat som framkommit i studien är att även svenska, såväl som amerikanska, företag tillämpar Earnings Management genom oförklarliga periodiseringar vid de kvartal då ska utfärda nyemission, trots de olikheter i redovisnings- och skattesystem som råder länderna emellan. Förutom detta visar studien på att svenska företag även tillämpar en extrem form av Earnings Management samt att olika branscher tillämpar Earnings Management genom oförklarliga periodiseringar i olika grad då de ska utfärda nyemission. De resultat som framkommer i följande studie visar att det är av stor betydelse att investerare har en medvetenhet om att Earnings Management genom oförklarliga periodiseringar förekommer när svenska företag ska utfärda nyemission. Detta är av vikt då tidigare studier har påvisat att många investerare som förvärvat aktier i företagen som tillämpat Earnings Management genom oförklarliga periodiseringar har känt en besvikelse samt upplevt att de blivit missledda av företagens publicerade finansiella rapporter efter nyemissionen. Besvikelsen grundar sig i att det rapporterade resultatet vanligtvis kraftigt sjunker kvartalen efter nyemission då företagen tillämpat Earnings management genom oförklarliga periodiseringar. / In previous studies, it has been found that US companies manipulate their financial statements before issuing Seasoned Equity Offerings (SEO) using Accrual-based Earnings Management. This is done by the company in order to reflect a better financial position compared to their true underlying financial performance. Accrual-based Earnings Management is applied with the intention of obtaining larger financial capital when issuing SEOs. This study examines whether Swedish companies, consistent with US companies, apply the phenomenon in a similar way while issuing SEOs and the purpose of our study is therefore to investigate whether Swedish companies apply Accrual-based Earnings Management in the period they issue SEOs. Swedish companies have been of interest in the following study, as Swedish companies operate under a different accounting and tax law compared to that of American companies. As a result, we want to test the theory of Accrual-based Earnings Management to see if it is applicable to Swedish companies, despite the differences in tax law that exists between the countries. The study has been conducted using a quantitative methodology which has been presented through a descriptive statistical analysis. Our results imply that Swedish- as well as American companies, apply Accrual-based Earnings Management in the period they issue SEOs. This is found despite differences in accounting and tax law between the two countries. In addition to this, the study also shows that Swedish companies apply an extreme form of Accrual-based Earnings Management, and that it exist industrial differences in the level of Accrual-based Earnings Management that is applied when issuing SEOs. The results found in the following study show that it is of the utmost importance that investors have an awareness regarding Accrual-based Earnings Management and that it occurs when Swedish companies issue a SEO. This is important as previous studies have shown that many investors who acquired shares in the companies who applied Accrual-based Earnings Management when issuing SEOs, have felt disappointed and have found that they have been misled by the companies published financial reports following the SEO. The disappointment is based on the fact that as companies apply Accrual-based Earnings Management, the companies reported earnings usually fall in the period after issuing a SEO.