The function of accounting is to provide users with useful information in making economic decisions. Information regarding goodwill, a major constituent of the value of many listed companies, is likely to be useful in making decisions relating to those companies. A historical review of accounting literature, including professional standards, relating to methods of accounting for purchased goodwill showed that none of them has stood the test of time. The current trend towards an impairment paradigm will not resolve the issue satisfactorily because it produces, at best, a partial solution. The difficulty in accounting meaningfully for goodwill is compounded because, given its foundation in historical cost principles, accounting has been unable to present any information at all with regard to internally generated goodwill within the confines of the traditional Balance Sheet. This, in turn, has led to the evasion of the reality that the two forms of goodwill are inextricably merged. Trying to account satisfactorily for goodwill has been a prime example of R.R. Sterling�s �issues conceived in a way that they are in principle unresolvable�. The problem was accordingly redefined as being to find a method by which the current level of information relating to goodwill in the financial statements contained in a company�s Annual Report could be improved. This thesis seeks to identify a logically defensible method of accounting for goodwill which addresses the redefined problem. It builds upon the historical research undertaken, combined with a priori reasoning, to propose an additional financial statement which is a modification of nineteenth century �double accounting� in a modern context. This statement, which goes far to solve the redefined problem, also furnishes information regarding the company�s market capitalization at balance date and is termed the Market Capitalization Statement (�MCS�). While the idea of furnishing market capitalization data to readers of the Annual Report is not new, it is believed that this is the first time such data has been systematically linked with the Balance Sheet to provide an objective, integrated and meaningful view of goodwill in the financial statements. The practical application and simplicity of the MCS are illustrated by a range of examples drawn from Australian �dot-com� companies over a period of time which saw considerable fluctuation in both goodwill and market capitalization, supplemented by examining data relating to some of Australia�s largest listed companies over the same period. These examples demonstrate that the MCS has the potential to provide significant information not available in conventional financial statements, while freeing the traditional Balance Sheet and Profit and Loss Account to present information in a more meaningful and less distorted way. Finally, the MCS is noted as still being subject to certain problems and distortions in the context of the historical cost basis of the remaining financial statements. It is shown that, if used in the context of an exit price based system, Chambers� CoCoA, many of these distortions are removed. The MCS also complements the information provided by CoCoA as originally formulated.

The function of accounting is to provide users with useful information in making economic decisions. Information regarding goodwill, a major constituent of the value of many listed companies, is likely to be useful in making decisions relating to those companies. A historical review of accounting literature, including professional standards, relating to methods of accounting for purchased goodwill showed that none of them has stood the test of time. The current trend towards an impairment paradigm will not resolve the issue satisfactorily because it produces, at best, a partial solution. The difficulty in accounting meaningfully for goodwill is compounded because, given its foundation in historical cost principles, accounting has been unable to present any information at all with regard to internally generated goodwill within the confines of the traditional Balance Sheet. This, in turn, has led to the evasion of the reality that the two forms of goodwill are inextricably merged. Trying to account satisfactorily for goodwill has been a prime example of R.R. Sterling�s �issues conceived in a way that they are in principle unresolvable�. The problem was accordingly redefined as being to find a method by which the current level of information relating to goodwill in the financial statements contained in a company�s Annual Report could be improved. This thesis seeks to identify a logically defensible method of accounting for goodwill which addresses the redefined problem. It builds upon the historical research undertaken, combined with a priori reasoning, to propose an additional financial statement which is a modification of nineteenth century �double accounting� in a modern context. This statement, which goes far to solve the redefined problem, also furnishes information regarding the company�s market capitalization at balance date and is termed the Market Capitalization Statement (�MCS�). While the idea of furnishing market capitalization data to readers of the Annual Report is not new, it is believed that this is the first time such data has been systematically linked with the Balance Sheet to provide an objective, integrated and meaningful view of goodwill in the financial statements. The practical application and simplicity of the MCS are illustrated by a range of examples drawn from Australian �dot-com� companies over a period of time which saw considerable fluctuation in both goodwill and market capitalization, supplemented by examining data relating to some of Australia�s largest listed companies over the same period. These examples demonstrate that the MCS has the potential to provide significant information not available in conventional financial statements, while freeing the traditional Balance Sheet and Profit and Loss Account to present information in a more meaningful and less distorted way. Finally, the MCS is noted as still being subject to certain problems and distortions in the context of the historical cost basis of the remaining financial statements. It is shown that, if used in the context of an exit price based system, Chambers� CoCoA, many of these distortions are removed. The MCS also complements the information provided by CoCoA as originally formulated.

<p>This thesis examines the influence of investor protection and legal origin on equity market size. Previous studies have shown a relationship between legal origin and equity markets as well as quality of law. We examine whether there are any relationship between stock market capitalization as a percentage of GDP, private property rights, anti director rights and legal origin.</p><p>We use data from 49 countries in our sample that is collected from the World Bank, Heri-tage foundation and La Porta et al. (1998). Our study is based upon a cross-sectional re-gressions and a variance analyzes.</p><p>Our results show that property rights as well as anti director rights have a positive relation-ship to stock market capitalization as a percentage of GDP. We could not find any signifi-cant results in our regressions that stock market capitalization as a percentage of GDP can be explained by legal origin.</p><p>We consider previous conducted studies regarding legal origin to have exaggerated legal origins’ impact on equity markets. Equity markets are more related to the level of develop-ment in countries, no matter legal origin.</p>

The focus of this empirical paper is to outline and evaluate certain determinants of lever-aged buyouts (LBOs) in Europe. The paper begins by providing a detailed description of LBOs, with particular emphasis on the European markets. This allows for the development of the four determinants that are studied in greater detail, specifically interest rate, out-standing stock, anti-director rights, and creditor rights. The conclusions indicate that coun-tries with more outstanding stock have larger LBO markets since equity is more liquid in these countries. Further, the results suggest that long-run interest rate is negatively related to the size of the LBO market. The paper goes on to test whether anti-director rights and creditor rights, as developed by La Porta et al. (1998) are related to the size of the LBO markets, but no evidence is found to support this notion. It is thus concluded that deter-minants focused on financing the buyouts play the most significant role in European LBO transactions.

This thesis examines the influence of investor protection and legal origin on equity market size. Previous studies have shown a relationship between legal origin and equity markets as well as quality of law. We examine whether there are any relationship between stock market capitalization as a percentage of GDP, private property rights, anti director rights and legal origin. We use data from 49 countries in our sample that is collected from the World Bank, Heri-tage foundation and La Porta et al. (1998). Our study is based upon a cross-sectional re-gressions and a variance analyzes. Our results show that property rights as well as anti director rights have a positive relation-ship to stock market capitalization as a percentage of GDP. We could not find any signifi-cant results in our regressions that stock market capitalization as a percentage of GDP can be explained by legal origin. We consider previous conducted studies regarding legal origin to have exaggerated legal origins’ impact on equity markets. Equity markets are more related to the level of develop-ment in countries, no matter legal origin.

<p>The focus of this empirical paper is to outline and evaluate certain determinants of lever-aged buyouts (LBOs) in Europe. The paper begins by providing a detailed description of LBOs, with particular emphasis on the European markets. This allows for the development of the four determinants that are studied in greater detail, specifically interest rate, out-standing stock, anti-director rights, and creditor rights. The conclusions indicate that coun-tries with more outstanding stock have larger LBO markets since equity is more liquid in these countries. Further, the results suggest that long-run interest rate is negatively related to the size of the LBO market. The paper goes on to test whether anti-director rights and creditor rights, as developed by La Porta et al. (1998) are related to the size of the LBO markets, but no evidence is found to support this notion. It is thus concluded that deter-minants focused on financing the buyouts play the most significant role in European LBO transactions.</p>

I denna studie lyfter vi fram VD relativa ersättning i förhållande till resterande koncernledning. Studiens syfte är att analysera effekterna av en stark VD genom att undersöka sambandet mellan VD:s andel ersättning och företagets resultat vad gäller värde och lönsamhet. Studien bygger på teorier som agentteorin, stewardshipteorin, tournamentteorin och cateringteorin. För att besvara frågan om samband existerar har en kvantitativ metod använts. Data har sedan analyserats med hjälp av regressionsanalyser för att identifiera samband. Studien inkluderar företag listade på Stockholmbörsens Large Cap lista. Resultatet visar på ett positivt samband mellan VD:s andel ersättning i förhållande till resterande koncernledning och företagets lönsamhet mätt i avkastningen på totalt kapital. Inget signifikant samband mellan VD:s relativa ersättning och företagets värde påträffas. Dessa resultat indikerar att det inte förekommer agentproblem mellan VD och ägarna i dessa företag. En stor andel ersättning till VD kan ge högre lönsamhet vilket kan stödja tournament- och stewardshipteorin. / This study aims to highlight the CEO:s relative importance in relation to the other top executives. The study aims to analyse the impact of a strong CEO by examine the relationship between the CEO:s relative compensation and the company's performance. The study is based on the principal agent theory, stewardship theory, tournament theory and catering theory. A quantitative method is used to analyse the relationship between a strong CEO and company´s performance. The data is analysed by a multiple regression to identify associations. The population consist of companies listed on the Stockholms OMX Large Cap list. We find a positive relation between the CEO:s relative compensation and the company´s profitability by return on assets. No significant correlation between CEO:s relative compensation and the company´s performance by market to book is detected. The result indicate that no agency problem exist between the CEO and these companies, but a large proportion of compensation to CEO can provide greater profitability and can support the tournament and stewardship theory.

Bakgrund: Under lång tid har den traditionella tolkningen varit att marknadspremier och högre avkastning på aktiemarknaden är kopplat till risk. Även den mest använda prissättningsmodellen idag, Capital Asset Pricing Model, bygger på detta antagande. I en artikel skriven av Ibbotson och Idzorek (2014) utmanas dock risk som den viktigaste faktorn bakom premier och avkastning. Artikeln innehåller stöd för att relativt hög avkastning har kunnat uppnås på den amerikanska marknaden genom att investera i portföljer med aktier som föregående år varit relativt opopulära. Den höga avkastningen genererades dessutom ofta till relativt låg risk. Intresse finns därmed att analysera effekten av aktiers popularitet även på den svenska marknaden. Syfte: Studiens syfte är att identifiera och analysera effekten av aktiers popularitet på avkastning och risk. Genomförande: I denna kvantitativa studie har aktieomsättningshastighet och aktiestorlek utgjort approximationer för popularitet. Studien har genomförts via utvärdering av avkastning och risk i aktieportföljer uppdelade utifrån variablerna aktieomsättningshastighet och storlek. Vidare har sambandet mellan popularitet och avkastning undersöks via linjär regressionsanalys. Studien har både undersökt effekten av föregående års popularitet, samt effekten av popularitet samma år. Slutsats: Studien visar ingen entydig effekt för aktiers popularitet föregående år på avkastning eller risk, när olika approximationer för popularitetsmått studeras och jämförs. Studien kan konstatera att det inte finns något samband mellan föregående års popularitet och avkastning. Däremot finns det ett positivt samband mellan popularitet och avkastning de år aktiernas popularitet uppmätts, när aktieomsättningshastighet används som approximation. Dessutom kan studien fastslå stöd för aktieomsättningshastighet som ett bra mått på aktiers popularitet. / Background: Over the past few decades it has been generally accepted that market premiums come with an associated level of risk. Even the most widely used pricing model today, CAPM, leans on this assumption. In an article written by Ibbotson and Idzorek (2014) this assumption is challenged as the main driver of market premiums and returns. The article contains evidence that relatively high returns have been earned through buying less  popular stocks on the U.S. stock market. Surprisingly the risk-return dimension exhibited an inverse relationship. This evidence from the U.S. stock market motivates us to investigate to what extent this effect can also be seen on the Swedish stock market. Aim: The aim of this thesis is to identify and analyze the effect of a stock`s popularity on the risk and return. Completion: In this quantitative study, share turnover and market capitalization have been used as approximations for popularity. The effects of stocks popularity on risk and return have been are examined by evaluating the performance of portfolios when categorizing the stocks by share turnover and market capitalization. The statistical relationship between popularity and return is analyzed using regression analysis. This study has both studied the effect of last year's popularity, as well as the effect of the popularity of the same year. Conclusion: When various approximations for the popularity dimension are studied and compared, this study shows no marked effect of stock`s popularity from the previous year on risk and return. The study finds no statistically significant relationship between the previous year ́s popularity and return. However, there is a positive statistically correlation between popularity and return when measured during the same year as when the popularity was measured. In addition, the results establish evidence for the stock turnover as a good measure of popularity.

This diploma thesis analyses the relationship between external events (i.e. events with impact within the Czech Republic which cannot be influenced by local firms) and the value of market capitalization of companies on Prague Stock Exchange. The analysis of the 1994 to 2012 time series showed that even the most important political, economical and other events specific for the Czech Republic only have marginal impacts on values of companies on the Czech stock market. The impacts of corporate events proved to have much stronger such effects. The most advisable investment recommendation thus seems to be to ignore external events when deciding in which stocks to invest.

The main objective of this thesis is to study the impact of Apple Inc. innovation activities on its successful performance. Specification of this goal implies the existence of a direct relationship between the development of company's net sales and the development of its market value. The thesis is divided into theoretical and practical part where the theoretical part is focused on the issues of invention and innovation, the innovation process and, last but not least, the link between innovation, strategic management and marketing. The theoretical part also defines the understanding of the term "successful performance of the company" in accordance with the main objective of this thesis. The practical part is focused on the application of gathered knowledge. It aims to assess the impact of innovation activities on the development of Apple Inc. net sales and to analyze the competitive position of its major product categories in the context of individual markets. Furthermore, the practical part is focused on Apple Inc. market capitalization, as a defined indicator of the company's success, its historical position and comparison with major competitors in the technology industry. Applying the method of linear regression analysis, the final section of the thesis evaluates the existence of the relationship described above and provides a possible product innovation charter of Apple Inc.