This study explores whether students in the mandated Ontario high school community service program consider their service requirement to be meaningful; the relationship between meaningful service and subsequent service; and other factors related to a meaningful experience and future service. A secondary analysis was conducted using a survey of 1,341 first-year university students, collected by a research team led by Steven Brown of Wilfrid Laurier University. The main finding is that meaningful service is a predictor for subsequent service and can contribute to individual and social change. Meaningful service opportunities help address a gap in service learning literature, which is the impact of service on communities, perhaps by underestimating the capacity of youth to contribute to social change. Three policy recommendations emerge: curriculum should be created to enable students to serve more effectively; program structure is necessary for reflection; and nonprofit agencies can meet both of the above needs.

This study explores whether students in the mandated Ontario high school community service program consider their service requirement to be meaningful; the relationship between meaningful service and subsequent service; and other factors related to a meaningful experience and future service. A secondary analysis was conducted using a survey of 1,341 first-year university students, collected by a research team led by Steven Brown of Wilfrid Laurier University. The main finding is that meaningful service is a predictor for subsequent service and can contribute to individual and social change. Meaningful service opportunities help address a gap in service learning literature, which is the impact of service on communities, perhaps by underestimating the capacity of youth to contribute to social change. Three policy recommendations emerge: curriculum should be created to enable students to serve more effectively; program structure is necessary for reflection; and nonprofit agencies can meet both of the above needs.

The topic of the effects of audit quality as a consequence of audit firm rotation has been debated for decades in business science. It has also been discussed in the political arena. In April 2013 the Legal Affairs Committee of the European Union voted for a draft law requiring mandatory audit firm rotation for periods of 14 years. Countries such as Sweden might face the possible changes in audit quality that the mandatory audit firm rotation entails. In the light of these events, we studied how the audit quality changes when audit firms rotate. Because we used the Jones Model and the Modified Jones Model, discretionary accruals were our proxy for audit quality. The initial sample consisted of all publicly listed companies which rotated audit firms from 2008 to 2012 in Sweden. We found that there was a statistically significant change in audit quality, in the form of higher discretionary accruals following the rotation. Based on earlier research claiming that higher discretionary accruals signifies lower audit quality, our results suggest that audit firm rotation in Sweden leads to a diminished audit quality. This might be due to the loss of firm-specific knowledge. Our results also indicate that the new auditing firms are more conservative than the auditor firm prior to the rotation, which might be explained by the increased audit risk that is related to the audit of the first-year client.

Syfte:                        Denna studie syftar till att undersöka huruvida avskaffandet av revisionsplikten fick de effekterna som önskades av EU samt Svenska regeringen, vilket var att minska de administrativa bördor och kostnader för mindre bolag. Det har nu gått en tid sen avskaffandet och det är nu möjligt att se vilka effekter som de berörda företagen har märkt av.  Metod:                        Undersökningen ämnade utföras med en kvantitativ metod med hjälp av enkäter. Men på grund av få respondenter och stort bortfall används istället en kvalitativ metod. Uppsatsen har en induktiv metod.  Slutsats:        Studien visar att alla de företag som ingick i undersökningen upplever en minskning av kostnaderna efter att revisionsplikten avskaffades, samt att majoriteten av företagen även anser att den administrativa bördan minskat. En del av företagen har valt att ta hjälp av konsulttjänster efter att de valt bort revison. / Objective:                  The study aims to investigate whether the abolishment of mandatory audit achieved the desired effects by the European Union and the Swedish government, the goals where to reduce administrative costs and bureaucracy for smaller companies. Some time has past since the abolishment and it is now possible to investigate which effects the companies have laid notice to. Methodology:            The study aimed to follow a quantitative method using surveys. Because of the high number of correspondents who did not answer the surveys, the study follows a qvalitativ method instead. The study also follows an inductive method. Conclusion:               We conclude that all companies who took part in the study experience a reduction in cost after the abolishment of mandatory audit, and that the majority of businesses also find that the administrative burden has decreased. Some businesses have chosen to take use consultancy services after they abolished audit.

Bakgrund och problem: Den 1 november 2010 avskaffades revisionsplikten för små bolag i Sverige vilket innebar att ca 70 % av alla aktiebolag i Sverige inte längre var tvingade till revision. Detta påverkade revisionsbolagens förutsättningar och vi frågar oss hur de har tagit sig an den nya marknaden där en stor del av deras kundstock inte längre är tvingade att revideras. Vi har kommit fram till dessa frågeställningar: Hur har slopandet av revisionsplikten påverkat och förändrat de små revisionsbolagens arbetssätt? Hur förbereder de sig för ett eventuellt förändrat gränsvärde? Syfte: Syftet med vårt arbete är att utifrån revisorns perspektiv belysa vilka förändringar den avskaffade revisionsplikten för små aktiebolag har medfört för de små revisionsbyråerna. Vi vill också belysa hur revisorns roll kan komma att förändras i framtiden om Sverige väljer EU:s maximal tröskelvärde för att slippa revisionsplikt eller att gränsvärdet förändras på annat sätt. Metod: Arbetet är skrivet utifrån en kvalitativ ansats, primärdata har samlats in i form av semistrukturerade intervjuer med grund i en öppen intervjumall. Detta har sedan tolkats utifrån sekundär data i form av vetenskaplig litteratur. Resultat och slutsats: Studiens slutsats visar att revisionsbolagen har genomfört ganska omfattande förändringar för att möta lagändringen. Tappet i form av revisionsuppdrag har kompenserats med att de har tagit in fler redovisningsuppdrag eller börjat erbjuda redovisning som en ny tjänst. Revisionsbolagen tror att det bara är en tidsfråga innan gränsvärdet höjs, de gör ändå inget för att förbereda sig då de anser att påverkan på bolaget kommer bli mindre än vid tidigare lagändring. Detta för att ägarstrukturen i större bolag är annorlunda och en oberoende granskning är mer motiverat i dessa bolag. / Background and problem: On November 1, 2010 the audit requirement was abolished for small companies in Sweden which meant that about 70% of all companies in Sweden were no longer forced to audit. This affected the audit firms prerequisites and we ask ourselves how they have tackled the new market where a large part of their customer base is no longer forced to be audited. We have come up with these questions: How has the removal of mandatory auditing changed the small audit firms ways of working? How do they prepare themselves for a possible change in limit? Purpose: The purpose of our thesis is to highlight the changes that abolishment of the audit requirement for small companies has led to for small accounting firms from an auditor's perspective. We also want to highlight how the auditor's role may change in the future if Sweden closes up to EU:s maximum threshold to avoid audit duties or the limit otherwise changes. Method: The work is written from a qualitative approach, primary data were collected through semi-structured interviews with basis in an open interview template. This has since been interpreted on the basis of secondary data in the form of scientific literature. Results and Conclusion: The study's conclusion indicates that accounting firms have conducted fairly extensive changes to meet legislative change. The drop in the form of audit services is offset by more assignments or started offering accounting as a new service. Audit companies believe that it is only a matter of time before the limit is raised, they don ́t prepare themselves cause they consider the impact on the company will be less than in previous legislative change. This is due to ownership structure of major companies are different and independent verification is more justified in these companies.

Titel: Omvärlden påverkar: En studie av hur revisionsbyråernas marknadsföring har påverkats av den avskaffade revisionsplikten för mindre och medelstora företag. Nivå: Kandidatuppsats i företagsekonomi; Marknadsföring Författare: Reine Haddad och Louise Mattsson Handledare: Jonas Kågström Datum: 2012- Juni Syfte: Med uppsatsen vill vi undersöka om revisionsbyråernas marknadsföring förändrats i samband med att revisionsplikten för mindre bolag avskaffats, det vill säga om marknadsföringen påverkas av omvärldsfaktorer. Metod: I studien används en abduktiv ansats där information samlats in dels via Internet (WayBack Machine) och dels genom att ta del av annonser från en revisionsbyrå. För att tydliggöra materialet sammanställdes det i frekvenstabeller, wordles och diagram. Resultat & Slutsats: I enlighet med vad den valda teorin framställer ser vi att även revisionsbyråerna ändrar delar av sin marknadsföring när förändringar i omvärlden sker. Omfattningen av förändringarnas påverkan på marknadsföringen varierar från revisionsbyrå till revisionsbyrå, bland annat beroende på revisionsbyråernas syn på marknadsföring, hur stora förändringarna i omvärlden är och hur snabbt revisionsbyråerna tar till sig dessa förändringar. Uppsatsens bidrag: Vårt examensarbete har bidragit med att ge en bild av hur revisionsbyråernas marknadsföring påverkas av förändringar i omvärldsfaktorer. Detta kan vara användbart då marknadsföraren måste ta dessa omvärldsfaktorer i akt vid planering och utformning av marknadsföringen. Nyckelord: Revisionsplikt, revisionsbyrå, marknadsföring, påverkan och omvärldsfaktorer. / Title: The influences of the environment: A study of how the marketing of the auditing firms has been affected by the abolishing of the mandatory auditing for smaller companies. Level: Final assignment for Bachelor Degree in Business Administration Authors: Reine Haddad and Louise Mattsson Supervisor: Jonas KågströmDate: 2012 – June Aim: Our aim with this thesis is to investigate if the marketing of the auditing firms has changed as a result of the abolishing of the mandatory auditing for smaller companies. Method: In this study we are using an abductive approach where information has been gathered partly through the Internet (WayBack Machine) and partly through advertisements from PwC, an auditing firm. The results of the study are put together in frequency tables, wordles and diagrams. Result & Conclusion: We can, according to the theoretical representation, draw the conclusion that the auditing firms are changing parts of their marketing due to changes in the environment. The dimension of the changes on the marketing fluctuates from auditing firm to auditing firm, depending on, for example, the size of the changes in the environment, how quick the auditing firms are adjusting to these changes and the auditing firm’s vision of marketing. Contribution of thesis: The contribution of our thesis is to illustrate how the marketing of the auditing firms are changing due to environmental factors. This can be useful when the marketer have to consider these environmental factors when planning and designing the marketing activities. Keywords: Mandatory auditing, auditing firm, marketing, influence and environmental factors.

Bakgrund I november 2010 avskaffades revisionsplikten för små aktiebolag i Sverige. Anledningen till lagändringen var att regeringen ville sänka kostnaderna för små bolag, samt att regeringen ville att Sveriges lagstiftning skulle harmoniseras med EU:s lagstiftning. Regeringen menade att bolagen efter revisionspliktens avskaffande skulle använda den insparade kostnaden till att köpa andra tjänster från revisionsbyråerna. Syfte Syftet är att beskriva hur den avskaffade revisionsplikten för små företag har förändrat kundunderlaget och tjänsteutvecklingen för några utvalda revisionsbyråer. Vidare är syftet att beskriva vilken betydelse revisionsbyråerna anser att revisionen har för de små företagen. Metod I uppsatsen har en kvalitativ metod använts. Intervjuer med 6 olika revisionsbyråer i Sundsvall har genomförts. En litteraturstudie, baserad på vetenskapliga artiklar, andra artiklar, böcker och skrifter från regeringen, ligger till grund för studiens referensram. Slutsats Revisionsbyråerna erbjöd redan innan lagändringen andra tjänster, förutom revision. Revisionsbyråerna har därför inte utvecklat några helt nya tjänster efter lagändringen. Istället fokuserar de på vissa tjänster, såsom redovisning och rådgivning. Respondenterna är positiva till lagändringen, men därtill anser respondenterna att alla företag är i behov av någon slags granskning. Här finns utrymme att erbjuda kunderna andra slags kvalitetsgranskningar istället för en revision, till exempel en särskild granskning.

The final implementation of Mandatory Country-of-Origin Labeling has caused some U.S. packing plants and finishing operations to discontinue using Canadian live hogs and feeder pigs in their operations thereby reducing trade. Using a system of simultaneous equations representing U.S. import demand and U.S. price, this thesis estimates the reduction in trade and any possible price effects in both live hogs and feeder pigs associated with the implementation of the final rule of Mandatory Country of Origin Labeling in the United States. It was found that the implementation of Mandatory Country of Origin Labeling reduced the trade of live hogs between the United States and Canada by 37.8 percent. The reduction in feeder pigs was 24.1 percent. It was also found that the implementation of Mandatory Country of Origin Labeling had no effect on the price of both live hogs and feeder pigs in the U.S. market.

A hybrid and configurable access control model is designed to satisfy the requirements of using different access control models in the same schema. The idea is arised to completely combine and configure the two main access control models, discretionary and mandatory which have been widely used in many systems so far with their advantages and disadvantages. The motivation originates from the fact that / in real life usage, discretionary based systems needs some strict policies and mandatory based systems needs some flexibility. The model is designed to combine these two appoaches in a single and configurable model, with some required real life extensions, in a conflictfree fashion and configurable degree of combination. Implementation of the model has been done and main important cases which shows the power and expressiveness of the model are designed and implemented. The authorization process is in the responsibility of the model which can be combined with secured authentication and auditing schemas. The new approaches as Role-Based, Context-Based and Temporal access control can easily be embedded in the model due to its generic and modular design.

Models based on various types of automata are ubiquitous in modern science. These models allow reasoning about deep theoretical questions and provide a basis for the development of efficient algorithms to solve related computational problems. This work discusses several types of automata used in such models, including cellular automata and mandatory results automata. The first part of this work is dedicated to cellular automata. These automata form an important class of discrete dynamical systems widely used to model physical, biological, and chemical processes. Here we discuss a way to study the dynamics of one-dimensional cellular automata through the theory of two-dimensional picture languages. The connection between cellular automata and picture languages stems from the fact that the set of all space-time diagrams of a cellular automaton defines a picture language. We will discuss a hierarchy of cellular automata based on the complexity of the picture languages that they define. In addition to this, we present a characterization of cellular automata that can be described by finite-state transducers. The second part of this work presents a theory of runtime enforcement based on mech- anism models called Mandatory Results Automata (MRAs). MRAs can monitor and trans- form security-relevant actions and their results. Because previous work could not model general security monitors transforming results, MRAs capture realistic behaviors outside the scope of previous models. MRAs also have a simple but realistic operational seman- tics that makes it straightforward to define concrete MRAs. Moreover, the definitions of policies and enforcement with MRAs are significantly simpler and more expressive than those of previous models. Putting all these features together, we argue that MRAs make good general models of (synchronous) runtime mechanisms, upon which a theory of run- time enforcement can be based. We develop some enforceability theory by characterizing the policies deterministic and nondeterministic MRAs enforce.