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In the following papers I propose to construct economic models that incorporate the disastrous effect of conflict. I model conflict theoretically in a Solow growth model and empirically in a GDP per worker growth model, in a civil war onset model and a model for civil war’s severity. The first chapter theoretically and empirically analyzes economic growth with conflict in the context of the Mankiw et al. (1992) adaptation of the Solow growth model and the natural resource growth model by Sachs and Warner (1995). I incorporate a variable of capital destruction in the physical and human capital accumulation equations and derive coherent theoretical and empirical results. The second chapter considers the onset of civil war across all countries and specific subsamples of countries from 1970 to 2007. The onset of war is modeled using economic and financial variables in addition to grievance variables from the political science literature to ascertain the extent to which financial crises and hyperinflation can bring about civil war. I estimate using panel time-series logistic regression techniques and discover the risk of conflict in Africa, Asia, highly-indebted poor countries, and low income countries. Some civil wars are fought for government control and others are fought over local issues - both types of war are controlled for with their own determinants. The third chapter determines factors that significantly affect the severity of civil wars from year to year. I employ the same IV/GMM estimation techniques from Chapter 1 to discover the role of financial crises, hyperinflation, unemployment, and development assistance and aid in the severity of war.

Various types of business and social networks are discussed as crucial to overcome obstacles of internationalization in order to compensate insufficient findings related to the accessibility of resources through different types of networks. This knowledge is important to generate because resources are even considered to have positive impacts on international performance and growth of companies. Overcoming obstacles of internationalization is achieved through the sharing of various resources that are beneficial for internationalization processes. A web-based survey is conducted among companies operating in the health technology industry in order to gain additional insights related to the accessibility of resources through business networks, that are either self-established or founded by a third party, and social networks. Moreover, it is evaluated what type of resources improves the outcome of international performance and growth best. It is found that self-established business networks offer sufficient access to resources whereas third-party founded business networks and social networks provide only limited access. Financial resources are not provided through any of the discussed networks. However, especially smaller companies founded after the year 2000 profit from the accessibility of resources through networks. Moreover, market, reputational, human and physical resources are identified to have the most significant impact on the outcome of a company’s international performance. The size of the research sample does not allow any analysis related to the impact of resources on international growth. / Going Global - Innovative strategies for international growth

Bakgrund: Det blir allt vanligare att banker vänder sig till förvärv och sammanslagningar för en internationell tillväxt. Då banker inte enbart agerar som en finansiell intermediär samtidigt som globaliseringen skapar allt större bolag ställs högre krav på banker, där dessa utvecklas mot att vara universella med bl.a. bredare produktutbud och kundsegment. Storbankerna är centrala för det finansiella ståndet och är hårt övervakade och komplexa varelser. Förvärv och sammanslagningar kan inneha en stor påverkan på en storbank vilket kan påverka samhället i en större grad än vid andra branscher. Internationell etablering med förvärv är generellt snabbare och innebär fler konkurrensfördelar än en organisk tillväxt. Dock tilltalar många studier att en extern tillväxtmetod sällan är lönsam och organisk tillväxt bör följaktligen föredras. Erkända forskare hävdar även att finansiella nyckeltal även inte förbättras i de flesta fall. Dock tas ingen hänsyn till om målen bakom M&A är direkt finansiella eller ej. Syfte: Att identifiera de effekter som uppstår vid internationella förvärv och sammanslagningar, mätt i finansiella nyckeltal samt att skapa en fördjupad förståelse för vilka bakomliggande faktorer, motiv och målsättningar anses vara viktigast för Handelsbanken och Nordea vid valet av att utföra en internationellt horisontell M&A. Metod: Metodtriangulering tillämpats vilket innebär att både en kvalitativ- samt kvantitativ ansats appliceras. Samtliga globala M&A mellan 1995-2013 har observerats och bearbetats med kvartalsrapporter i kvantitativ metod, där ROE, ROA, ETA samt ETR beräknats med kvartalsrapporter. Öppna intervjuer med väsentliga respondenter från Handelsbanken och Nordea tillämpas för att besvara delsyftet med kvalitativ metod. Slutsats: Inom Sveriges storbanker kan det inte med säkerhet konstateras att varken aktieägare eller ledningen gynnas av M&A. Räntabiliteten på det egna kapitalet och tillgångarna tenderar att avta snarare än tillta, samtidigt som det motsatta förhållandet upplevs inom kostnadseffektivisering. Ses bankerna över individuellt står Nordea för den större delen av en försvagning i nyckeltalen, men detta är eftersom Nordea prioriterar en starkare förhandlingsstyrka och större marknadsandelar, vilket innebär tillväxtförklaringar som önskad synergi och följaktligen är målen mer långsiktiga än Svenska Handelsbankens där dessa önskar en finansiell förbättring omedelbart. Generellt förbättras kostnadseffektiviteten men inte räntabilitet på eget kapital samt tillgångar i samband med M&A. Individuellt skiljer dock resultaten åt p.g.a. bankernas olika strategier. De banker som dock förbättrar nyckeltalen avsevärt är SEB samt Swedbank. / Background: It is becoming increasingly common for banks to turn on acquisitions and mergers for global growth. Since banks are acting much more than only financial intermediary, while globalization is making large companies even greater, the demands are becoming higher on banks where they develop towards being universal, including broader range of products and customer segments. Great banks are central to the financial state and are tightly monitored and complex creatures. Acquisitions and mergers are likely to possess a large impact on a major bank, which later can affect the community in a greater degree than in other industries. International establishment of acquisition is generally faster and offers a more competitive edge than organic growth. However, many studies and scholars claim that an external growth method is rarely profitable and organic growth should therefore be preferred. Many scholars also argue that financial ratios do not improve in most cases. However, no consideration is taken if the goals behind M&A are directly financial or not. Purpose: To identify the effects that arise in international M&A, measured in financial ratios and to create a deeper understanding of the underlying factors, motives and objectives that are considered to be most important for Handelsbanken and Nordea in the choice of performing an internationally horizontal M&A. Method: Method triangulation is applied, which means that both a qualitative- and quantitative approach is applied. Global M&A between 1995-2013 preformed by Swedish banks have been observed and processed with quarterly reports in the quantitative method, in which ROE, ROA, ETA and ETR are calculated quarterly. Open interviews with essential respondents from Handelsbanken and Nordea are applied to answer the second aim in the study with a qualitative method. Conclusion: In Sweden's major banks, it cannot be stated with certainty that shareholders or management benefit from M&A. The return on equity and assets tend to diminish rather than grow, while the opposite occurs in the cost efficiency. If we analyse the banks individually, then Nordea stands for the most of a weakening in the financial ratios, but this is because Nordea prioritize a stronger bargaining power and a larger market share. This means growth explanations is the desired synergy effects and therefore financial targets are more long term than the Swedish Handelsbanken's where they want a financial improvement immediately. Generally, the cost efficiency does improve, but not the return on equity and assets. Individually, however, the results differ due to the banks different strategies and goals. However, the banks that improve the ratios most significantly are SEB and Swedbank.