Titel: Hållbarhetsinformation i VD-ordet- En kvantitativ studie av företag på OMX Stockholm Large CapFörfattare: Magnus Olsson och Karl AmbrosiussonBakgrund: VD-ordet är ett frivilligt avsnitt i årsredovisningen där företagsledningen och den verkställande direktören har möjlighet att uttrycka sig om det gångna året och framtiden. VD-ordet är en av de mest lästa delarna i årsredovisningen. Denna uppsats fokuserar på i vilken utsträckning hållbarhetsinformation framhävs i VD-ordet. Hållbarhetsredovisning är sedan 2016 ett krav för större företag och 2017 års årsredovisningar är de första som måste innehålla en hållbarhetsrapport.Syfte: Syftet med uppsatsen är att utforska om lagändringen med krav på hållbarhetsrapportering har påverkat i vilken utsträckning hållbarhetsinformation presenteras i VD-ordet. Syftet är vidare att förklara om företagets storlek är en faktor som påverkar mängden hållbarhetsinformation som presenteras i VD-ordet.Metod: Kvantitativ innehållsanalys har tillämpats för att mäta i vilken utsträckning hållbarhetsinformation används i VD-ordet genom att räkna hur ofta begrepp som förknippas med hållbarhet förekommer.Slutsats: Mängden hållbarhetsinformation i VD-ordet har ökat mellan 2016 och 2017, men lagändringen har inte medfört någon extra påverkan. Resultatet visar också att ett företags storlek inte påverkar mängden hållbarhetsinformation i VD-ordet hos de undersökta företagen. / Title: Sustainability information in the CEO letter- A quantitative study of companies at OMX Stockholm Large CapAuthors: Magnus Olsson and Karl AmbrosiussonBackground: The CEO letter is a voluntary section in the annual report where the management together with the CEO have the opportunity to express themselves about the past year and future expectations. The CEO letter is one of the most read parts in the annual report. This essay focuses on to what extent the CEO letter presents sustainability information. A Sustainability report has been a requirement for bigger companies since 2016 and the annual reports of 2017 are the first reports that have to contain a sustainability report.Purpose: The purpose of this essay is to find out if the new sustainability reporting requirements has affected the extent of sustainability information presented in the CEO letter. The purpose is further to explain whether the size of the company is a factor that affects the amount of sustainability information presented in the CEO letter.Method: Quantitative content analysis has been applied to measure the extent to which sustainability information is used in the CEO letter. It’s used by counting the frequency of concepts associated with sustainability.Conclusion: The result shows that the amount of sustainability information in the CEO letter has increased between 2016 and 2017, but that the change in the law did not have any additional impact on the amount of sustainability information. The result also shows that size of the companies doesn’t affect the amount of sustainability information in the CEO letter for the investigated companies.

Efter att lagen gällande hur upprättandet av en separat hållbarhetsrapportering infördes år 2016, av den svenska regeringen, har hållbarhet blivit en allt viktigare del ur bolagens verksamhet. Vidare har intresset för hållbarhet fått en bredare samsyn inom finanssektorn, där målet är att nå en hållbar utveckling för landet genom att styra mot investeringar som är hållbara på sikt. Studiens syfte är att analysera hur marknaden reagerar vid offentliggörandet av hållbarhetsnyheter och om det föreligger en skillnad beroende på bolagets storlek. För att undersöka marknadsreaktionen har en eventstudie genomförts med utgångspunkt ur publicering av hållbarhetsnyheter mellan åren 2010–2020. Vidare har multipla regressioner tillämpats för att kunna urskilja signifikanta skillnader och besvara studiens hypoteser och slutligen forskningsfrågan. Resultatet för studiens hypotesprövningar visar att det inte föreligger några signifikanta skillnader i marknadsreaktion gällande hur svenska bolag, listade på Large- och Mid cap, påverkas vid publicering av hållbarhetsnyheter. Slutsatsen av analysen väcker därmed frågan om hållbarhetsnyheter har en påverkan på ett bolags aktieavkastning, eller om intressenter i stället värderar andra faktorer som exempelvis värdemaximering. Begränsningar för studien grundar sig delvis i de få antal nyheter som har studerats. En annan begränsadande faktor ur ett storleksperspektiv är att studien har bortsett från Small cap. En rekommendation för vidare forskning är därmed att ha ett större urval av nyheter samt inkludera Small Cap för att få ett helhetsperspektiv av den svenska börsmarknaden. / Since the law on how the preparation of a separate sustainability report was introduced by the Swedish government in 2016, sustainability has become an increasingly important part of the companies operations. Furthermore, the interest in sustainability has gained a broader consensus in the financial sector, where the goal is to achieve sustainable development for the country by steering towards investments that are sustainable in the long term. The purpose of the study is to analyze how the market responds when publishing sustainability news and whether there is a difference depending on the size of the company. In order to investigate the market reaction, an event study was conducted based on the publication of sustainability news between the years 2010-2020. Furthermore, multiple regressions have been applied to be able do discern significant differences and answer the study ́s hypotheses and finally the research question. The results of the study ́s hypothesis tests show that there are no significant differences in market reaction regarding how Swedish companies, listed on Large- and Mid cap, are affected when publishing sustainability news. The conclusion of the analysis therefore raises the issue of whether sustainability news has an impact on a company ́s stock return, or whether stakeholders instead value other factors such as value maximization. Limitations of the study are partly based on the few news items that have been studied. Another limiting factor from a size perspective is that the study has excluded Small cap. A recommendation for further research is thus to have a wider selection of news and to include Small cap to get a holistic perspective of the Swedish stock market.

Bakgrund: Den ökade populariteten av ESG som investeringsgrund har gett upphov till en intressant diskussion kring huruvida ESG-betyg har en effekt på avkastning eller inte. En del forskning tar ståndpunkten att en hållbar profil med fokus på ESG påverkar avkastning positivt. De som associerar sig med denna ståndpunkt belyser att investerare kan influera arbete mot en hållbar framtid utan att det ska ge en negativ effekt i önskade avkastningskrav. Däremot finns en motpol i en del av forskningen som hävdar att ESG berör avkastning negativt. Därtill hävdar vissa studier att det finns en diskrepans mellan sektorer på marknaden gällande eventualiteten av ESG:s effekt på riskfyllda tillgångar. Därav är ämnet av intresse med anledning av den motstridiga forskningen angående effekten ESG-betyget har på avkastning.  Syfte: Uppsatsens syfte är att historiskt analysera ESG-betygets eventuella effekt på avkastningen för bolag noterade på OMX Stockholm Large Cap, för att utreda om ESG-betyg kan vara en drivande faktor. Studien har som delsyfte att undersöka om det råder några skillnader i hur ESG-betyget påverkar avkastning i olika sektorer. Metod: Studien har antagit en deduktiv ansats med en kvantitativ metod för att uppfylla syftet. Med grund i dessa metodval analyseras urvalet genom teoretiskt grundade variabler. Studien använder balanserad paneldata som karaktäriseras som kort panel. Resultat: Observerade resultat av rapporten understryker att ESG-betyg återger en försumbar effekt på avkastningen i samtliga regressioner. Koefficienterna för ESG-betygen är dock statistiskt icke-signifikanta. Således kan inte författarna fastställa ESG-betygets inverkan på avkastning för bolagen i urvalet. Däremot finns det tidigare forskning på området som finner liknande resultat som denna studie. / Background: The rising popularity of ESG investing has provided for an interesting deliberation whether the ratio influences stock returns or not. There are those who assert that emphasizing upon ESG yields higher stock returns for investors. Hence, reiterating that investors can contribute to a sustainable future without interfering with desired capital gains. However, there is research that indicates that the incorporation of ESG impedes potential stock returns. Furthermore, previous studies have indicated that there is a potential disparity between sectors of the market, meaning that ESG might have a varied effect. The topic is henceforth of interest due to the contradicting results regarding the effects of ESG on stock returns.  Aim: This study aims to analyze and clarify whether ESG-score is a determining factor in the return of stocks listed on OMX Stockholm Large Cap during the time period 2011-2019. The report will also investigate if there is a difference in its possible impact acrossvarious industries.  Methodology: The study has utilized a deductive and quantitative approach to effectuate the aim of the report. Furthermore, the report has used a balanced panel data with a short panel. Results: The results of the report emphasize that the ESG-score has a negligible effect on stock returns across all industries. However, the coefficients for the ESG-score are statistically insignificant, which means that no conclusion can be established regarding its effect on the selection of stocks listed on OMX Stockholm Large Cap. Nonetheless, there is previous research that supports the findings of the report.

Denna studie syftar till att undersöka om sambandet mellan ESG-betyg och lönsamhet ärpositivt för företag i Sverige, samt att jämföra detta samband för företag noterade på Small Cap med företag noterade på Large Cap. För att möta samhällets förväntningar har ESG blivitallt viktigare för företag, dock kan de höga kostnaderna för rapportering av ESG vara ett hinder för implementering. Studien har antagit en deduktiv ansats där hypoteserna utformats utefter tidigare empiriska studier och teorier, för att testa dessa antogs en kvantitativ metod. Den insamlade datan gällande ESG, ROA och ROE för 103 slumpmässigt utvalda företagfrån Nasdaq Stockholm analyserades sedan genom olika tester i statistikprogrammet Excel. Resultatet kunde påvisa ett positivt signifikant samband mellan ESG-betyg och lönsamhet förföretag noterade på Nasdaq Stockholm. Sambandet mellan variablerna för Small Cap respektive Large Cap var båda positiva, dock kunde dessa inte bevisas vara statistiskt signifikanta. Vidare konstaterar studien att företagens storlek har stor betydelse för ESG-betygen, företag på Large Cap tenderar att ha högre ESG-betyg än företag på Small Cap. Ytterligare upptäckt var att sambandet mellan ESG och ROA var starkare för Large Cap medan sambandet mellan ESG och ROE var starkare för Small Cap. / This study aims to investigate if there is a positive relationship between ESG ratings and profitability for companies in Sweden, and to compare this relationship between Small Cap and Large Cap companies. While ESG has become increasingly important for companies to meet societal expectations, the high cost of reporting ESG can be a barrier to implementation. Using a deductive approach and a quantitative method, the study analyzed ESG, ROA, andROE data for 103 randomly selected companies from Nasdaq Stockholm. The results indicated a significant positive relationship between ESG ratings and profitability for companies listed on Nasdaq Stockholm. However, the relationship between variables for Small Cap and Large Cap companies was not statistically significant. The study also found that the size of the companies was a significant factor in ESG ratings, with Large Cap companies having higher ratings than Small Cap companies. Additionally, the relationship between ESG and ROA was stronger for Large Cap companies, while the relationship between ESG and ROE was stronger for Small Cap companies.

<p>Today, gender quotation in the Board of Directors has become an important political question that is being discussed not only in Sweden but in several other countries as well. However, research on gender diversity and, for that matter, other forms of diversity in the corporate world is not something new. Diversity in Board of Directors and Top Management Teams and how it affects firm performance have been the topic of many researches the last two decades. Nevertheless, there are still many unanswered questions in this field that need to be answered. The purpose of this dissertation is to study how diversity in BoDs and TMTs affect firm performance. We used five different diversity variables, tenure, age, education, nationality and gender in our research and we tested them separately to see how they each affect firm performance. Because there is limited previous research conducted on diversity in Sweden and on Swedish firms, this dissertation attempts to fill that gap.</p><p>This study is conducted on Swedish firms that are listed on large cap on Stockholm stock exchange. We used several ways to measure the five different diversity variables in both BoDs and TMTs. Firm performance was measured by using two well established measurements, Return on Equity and Return on Assets. We developed ten hypotheses to test how diversity affects firm performance; some diversity variables had positive effect on firm performance, while others had negative effect. The hypotheses are based on earlier research. There are mixed results from our study; seven out of ten hypotheses had to be rejected due to insignificant relationship between diversity and firm performance. Three hypotheses were rejected, even though they showed a significant relationship between diversity and firm performance, because the relationship was the opposite of our hypotheses. One reason for these results can be that there is low diversity in both BoDs and TMTs, and this makes it difficult to measure and establish a relationship between diversity and firm performance.</p>

This paper examines whether the phenomena of price drift around quarterly earnings re-leases exist among firms listed on the large cap. list at the Stockholm Stock Exchange for a time period ranging from the first quarter of 2003 to the second quarter of 2006. It fur-thermore examines the ability of the variables forecast error, relative to analyst’s estimates, and firms’ size to explain the variation in price drift among firms. A sample of some 30 firms were drawn in the first three quarters of each year between 2003 and 2005, for the year of 2006 only the fist two quarters were included in the study. For each quarter all firms were classified into three different portfolios on the basis of earnings deviations relative to mean analyst’s estimates (forecast error). The returns for each firm in all portfolios were investigated during 20 days post- and pre quarterly earnings release date, resulting in an event window totaling 41 days. In order to clear out effects from general market movements the Capital Asset Pricing Model, CAPM, was used in which betas were estimated for all firms each quarter. The findings from this study indicate that price drift, measured by cumulative abnormal re-turn, occur for firms with both negative forecast error as well as positive. For firms with positive error, statistically significant positive price drift was found for both the pre- and post period. As for the firms with earnings below analyst’s mean estimates, negative prean-nouncement drift was statistically supported. The ability of firms size and forecast error to explain the variation in price drift on a stock level was very weak, R2 measures of below 5% was reported. However, forecast error was a strongly significant independent variable in the context of the regressions run for both pre- and post-announcement drift. The firms below the lower market cap. quartile in the sample show, on average, lower pre-announcement drift than the firms belonging in the largest quartile. Concerning market efficiency among the large cap. firms the price drift found is an indica-tion of market inefficiency both it terms of the semi strong and the strong form. However, care should be taken before generalizing the results from this study but. Possible misspeci-fication of the equilibrium return model will skew the price drift measurement. Moreover, speculation is not explicitly controlled for in this test. Finally, this study is done within a li-mited time span; hence generalization over time is not possible

I dagens samhälle är bolagsstyrningen ett aktuellt ämne. Begreppet bolagsstyrning avser tankegångar och bestämmelser om hur bolag skall ägas och styras. När obalans råder mellan dessa bestämmelser skapas icke-fungerande näringsliv samt marknadens förtroende för bolagen och deras förvaltning drastiskt minimeras. I Sverige implementerades år 2005 Svensk kod för bolagsstyrning – ett ramverk med målet att bidra till en bättre och effektivare bolagsstyrning samt för att stärka förtroendet för bolag på kapitalmarknaden samt den svenska och internationella allmänheten. Syftet med uppsatsen var att undersöka i vilken utsträckning användes Svensk kod för bolagsstyrning i svenska börsnoterade bolag år 2011, samt se om det fanns samband mellan undersökta bolagens ägarstruktur och deras tillämpning av Koden.  För att fullgöra uppsatsens syfte har en kombination av kvantitativa och kvalitativa ansatser används. Den deduktiva metoden bidrog till att studien utgick från de relevanta till bolagsstyrningen teorier för att sedan besvara de aktuella frågorna. Undersökningens slutsats kom fram till att det fanns samband mellan undersökta bolagens ägarstruktur och deras tillämpning av Koden. Främst visade det sig att alla segment valde att avvika från samma punkter i Kodens bestämmelser.

I denna uppsats har vi undersökt möjligheten till övervinster i samband med utdelningar för svenska företag på OMX Stockholm Large Cap och Small Cap mellan åren 2006 och 2010. Genom en statistisk jämförelse mellan aktiekursens förändring i samband med utdelningen undersöker vi marknadens effektivitet. Resultaten tyder på att Large Cap är en effektiv marknad i samband med utdelningar, medan Small Cap visar tecken på ineffektivitet. Resultaten stödjer delvis tidigare studier, som säger att marknaden är effektiv. Vår studie skiljer oss från tidigare forskning eftersom vi undersöker Large Cap och Small Cap som separata marknader istället för hela börsen. Vi undersöker dessutom huruvida utdelningens storlek haft betydelse för marknads­effektiviteten. Resultaten pekar mot att marknaden är mer effektiv vid högre utdelning, men störningar utanför modellen kan ha skapat dessa resultat.

<p>This paper examines whether the phenomena of price drift around quarterly earnings re-leases exist among firms listed on the large cap. list at the Stockholm Stock Exchange for a time period ranging from the first quarter of 2003 to the second quarter of 2006. It fur-thermore examines the ability of the variables forecast error, relative to analyst’s estimates, and firms’ size to explain the variation in price drift among firms.</p><p>A sample of some 30 firms were drawn in the first three quarters of each year between 2003 and 2005, for the year of 2006 only the fist two quarters were included in the study. For each quarter all firms were classified into three different portfolios on the basis of earnings deviations relative to mean analyst’s estimates (forecast error). The returns for each firm in all portfolios were investigated during 20 days post- and pre quarterly earnings release date, resulting in an event window totaling 41 days. In order to clear out effects from general market movements the Capital Asset Pricing Model, CAPM, was used in which betas were estimated for all firms each quarter.</p><p>The findings from this study indicate that price drift, measured by cumulative abnormal re-turn, occur for firms with both negative forecast error as well as positive. For firms with positive error, statistically significant positive price drift was found for both the pre- and post period. As for the firms with earnings below analyst’s mean estimates, negative prean-nouncement drift was statistically supported.</p><p>The ability of firms size and forecast error to explain the variation in price drift on a stock level was very weak, R2 measures of below 5% was reported. However, forecast error was a strongly significant independent variable in the context of the regressions run for both pre- and post-announcement drift. The firms below the lower market cap. quartile in the sample show, on average, lower pre-announcement drift than the firms belonging in the largest quartile.</p><p>Concerning market efficiency among the large cap. firms the price drift found is an indica-tion of market inefficiency both it terms of the semi strong and the strong form. However, care should be taken before generalizing the results from this study but. Possible misspeci-fication of the equilibrium return model will skew the price drift measurement. Moreover, speculation is not explicitly controlled for in this test. Finally, this study is done within a li-mited time span; hence generalization over time is not possible</p>

Today, gender quotation in the Board of Directors has become an important political question that is being discussed not only in Sweden but in several other countries as well. However, research on gender diversity and, for that matter, other forms of diversity in the corporate world is not something new. Diversity in Board of Directors and Top Management Teams and how it affects firm performance have been the topic of many researches the last two decades. Nevertheless, there are still many unanswered questions in this field that need to be answered. The purpose of this dissertation is to study how diversity in BoDs and TMTs affect firm performance. We used five different diversity variables, tenure, age, education, nationality and gender in our research and we tested them separately to see how they each affect firm performance. Because there is limited previous research conducted on diversity in Sweden and on Swedish firms, this dissertation attempts to fill that gap. This study is conducted on Swedish firms that are listed on large cap on Stockholm stock exchange. We used several ways to measure the five different diversity variables in both BoDs and TMTs. Firm performance was measured by using two well established measurements, Return on Equity and Return on Assets. We developed ten hypotheses to test how diversity affects firm performance; some diversity variables had positive effect on firm performance, while others had negative effect. The hypotheses are based on earlier research. There are mixed results from our study; seven out of ten hypotheses had to be rejected due to insignificant relationship between diversity and firm performance. Three hypotheses were rejected, even though they showed a significant relationship between diversity and firm performance, because the relationship was the opposite of our hypotheses. One reason for these results can be that there is low diversity in both BoDs and TMTs, and this makes it difficult to measure and establish a relationship between diversity and firm performance.