This thesis aims to investigate the trade intensity between the Baltic States and the Nordic countries over a period of 14 years. The bilateral exports of 42 European countries are explored with the focus on the Baltic-Nordic trade. Since many previous studies provided support for the strong relationship between the Baltic States and the Nordic countries, this thesis aims to explore this relationship over time. The Baltic States after their independence, shifted their trade to the Western economies, including Nordic countries. The results reveal that the magnitude of the trade intensity between these two regions have become more important and is higher than expected. Furthermore, it is accounted for commodities of different values traded between the Baltic States and the Nordic countries by introducing dummy variables. It has been shown that the value of commodities is not very important in the Baltic-Nordic trade and therefore there is no trend over time.

Sammanfattning Datum:         23 mars 2012 Nivå:             Kandidatuppsats i Företagsekonomi, 15 hp Författare:   Hanna Jüllig, Johan Ottosson Handledare: Ulf Olsson Nyckelord:   Meritokrati, kompetens, heterogenitetsindex, styrelsesammansättning, Nasdaq OMX Nordic Stockholm, avkastning   Titel:             ”Åsidosätter man meritokratins krafter så kommer kapitalismen att gå åt helvete” – En undersökning av korrelation mellan heterogenitet inom bolagsstyrelser noterade på Nasdaq OMX Nordic Stockholm och avkastning.   Syfte:            Föreliggande promemoria syftar till att undersöka hur ett heterogenitetsindex och dess undervariabler eventuellt korrelerar med avkastning mätt som räntabilitet på sysselsatt och eget kapital för en population bestående av bolag noterade på OMX år 2009. Författarna anser att diskussionen kring heterogenitet bör vidgas till att innefatta även andra variabler än endast jämn könsfördelning och hoppas att konstruerandet av ett heterogenitetsindex kan komma att bidra till debatten kring effekterna av mångfald inom bolagsstyrelser.   Teori:           Den etablerade teorin på området påvisar de fördelar som finns kopplade till en heterogen grupp i allmänhet och en bolagsstyrelse i synnerhet. Fem huvudsakliga variabler utkristalliseras och diskuteras i förhållande till avkastning: Könsfördelning, Åldersspridning, Utbildningsbakgrund, Tid i styrelsen och Sektorerfarenhet.   Metod:          Studien har en deduktiv ansats och utgår därmed från etablerad teori inom ämnet för att medelst empiri undersöka denna. Undersökningen är kvantitativ och data rörande de fem variablerna som diskuteras i teorin har samlats in från årsredovisningar för bolag noterade på Nasdaq OMX Nordic Stockholm under 2009. Dessa variabler har getts indextal som vägts samman till ett heterogenitetsindex.   Slutsats:        Studiens heterogenitetsindex har ett svagt samband med avkastning. Korrelationen mellan studiens undervariabler och avkastning varierade kraftigt beroende på vilken variabel som undersöktes. Resultaten skiljde sig även dem kraftigt mellan olika börs- och företagsspecifika kategorier där korrelationen mellan dessa och avkastning varierade mellan genomgående svagt negativa samband till starkt positiva samband.

<p>The Nordic media market has since the end of the 1990’s experienced a number of consolidations and the market has become increasingly integrated. Some companies within the market are diversified, meaning they are involved in many different kinds of businesses, while other are focused, which implies that they are focused on one business segment.</p><p>Different research views explain different motives for diversification. The resource view explain diversification by claiming that a company having underused resources needs to profitably employ them elsewhere in order to expand. The agency view explains diversification with the agent’s different incentives compared to the principal. The market power view implies that by having more resources a company can strengthen its competitiveness. Furthermore, there may be financial and synergetic motives behind diversification.</p><p>This thesis investigates the relation diversification has with size, sales growth, financial efficiency ratios, and stability. By doing this we can explain the motives behind diversification in the Nordic media market through using existing theories and hence applying a deductive research approach. The thirty largest media companies in the Nordic media market were analyzed.</p><p>The degree of diversification had a positive relationship with the total revenue of the investigated firms. Furthermore, diversified firms on average had higher revenues than its focused counterparts. The more diversified the firms are the higher sales growth they have and diversified companies had a higher average sales growth than the focused firms. A higher degree of diversification did not increase the firms’ financial efficiency and diversified firms did not have a higher average efficiency. However, one of the measured ratios, ROA, was higher for focused firms. Based on knowledge gained from portfolio theory we believed, before conducting the statistical analyses, that a higher degree of diversification would stabilize the cash flows for the investigated companies. However, no statistical evidence was found supporting that a higher degree of diversification would improve cash flow stability.</p>

Crowdfunding är en ny metod för att finansiera företag och projekt som under senare år börjat få momentum. Genom att använda kunskapen och kapitalet hos ”crowden” finansieras idag projekt som tidigare inte ansetts hållbara. Centralt inom alla finansieringsformer är förtroendeskapandet mellan intressenterna, dock finns inga tidigare studier kring hur crowdfundingföretag skapar förtroende till entreprenörer och finansiärer. Syftet med vår uppsats är följaktligen att utröna hur crowdfundingföretag hanterar och arbetar med förtroende mot entreprenörer och finansiärer. Totalt har sju intervjuer genomförts varav fyra var med grundare till ledande aktörer på den svenska marknaden för crowdfunding. Resultatet i studien visar på att crowdfundingföretagen arbetar med att överkomma den informationsasymmetrin som råder gentemot finansiärer och entreprenörer genom ett aktivt arbete med relationsskapande och transparens gentemot dessa. Samtidigt slås även fast att användandet av legala och tekniska strukturer för att uppnå ett förtroende inte är genomgående för de undersökta aktörerna.

This thesis aims to investigate whether frequency of mandatory financial reporting affects management focus on long-term growth. Evidence from the market has illustrated how managers within listed firms sometimes strive to meet market expectations on the latest reported earnings regardless of long-term consequences (see for example Graham, Harvey &amp; Rajgopal, 2005; Grinyer, Russell &amp; Collison, 1998). Yet, the existing literature has neglected to research market pressure in terms of financial reporting frequency and its proposed influence on long-term growth. This study seeks to find if a more frequent mandatory reporting affects managers to more often sacrifice long-term growth in terms of reduced R&amp;D investments. By comparing six different stock exchanges with different interim reporting requirements, this study empirically examines the hypothesized relationship, using a robust multiple regression analysis based on 320 observations during the sample period 2008-2012. The statistically significant results show a negative correlation, suggesting that firms that are required to disclose quarterly reports invest less in R&amp;D than firms that are only required to disclose semi-annual reports. A negative correlation is observed for the whole sample as well as for the five sectors individually. The results provide additional empirical evidence to the research fields of financial reporting, managerial myopia and earnings management.

Aim: The aim of this thesis was to obtain an overview over the options of Nordic infertile couples regarding assisted reproduction treatment, and to follow couples’ arguments and decision-making process to make relevant decisions about these options. Methods: Quantitative and qualitative methods were used. The study design was inspired by Ecological systems theory, where data was gathered from laws and regulations (macro-level), fertility clinics (meso-level) and the couples using these options (micro-level). Study I consists of results from a review of the legislations in the five Nordic countries and results from a questionnaire that was sent to all fertility clinics to gather information about available options. Papers II and III present the findings of the interviews with 22 Nordic couples, after their first appointment with a specialist at the fertility clinic. The couples came from Denmark (3), Finland (6), Iceland (3), Norway (4) and Sweden (6). Study IV presents the findings of follow-up interviews with the same couples approximately three years later. For the qualitative study the tools of Grounded Theory were used. Findings: In Study I it was found that Nordic couples generally have good access to assisted reproductive technology treatments (ART), although it is not evenly distributed and there are restrictions related to certain criteria, such as age. There are national differences in the legislations, especially regarding gamete donation. These differences open up for cross-border reproductive care, andmore than one third of the fertility clinics offered treatment to people from other countries. Study II describes the decision-making process of the couples when determining the “right time” to try for a child. The couples mention the need to feel prepared for parenthood; such as a stable social situation, and once they felt prepared they became more susceptible to decision-making catalysts, such as influence from friends and family. Fear of infertility made the couple accelerate their decision regardless of preparation. In Study III the decision-making process of seeking medical help is illustrated. The core category was “negotiation and re-negotiation”. The process of decision-making is first to accept that they have a problem in common, secondly that they need knowledge and finally to take action and get help. Study IV deals with the decision-making process during treatments. Of 22 couples, 17 had succeeded at becoming parents after approximately three years, three couples were still trying and two had not decided how to continue. The core category was “maintaining control in an uncertain situation”. The couples tried to keep focus on the goal and to learn to deal with the new world with various methods. Conclusions:The structure of and the access to service for infertile couples differ between the Nordic countries. Some of the differences, e.g. regarding subsidy systems and waiting time, affected the decision making process since they could mean a delay in the treatment process or whether a private or public clinic was chosen. Additionally, a couple consists of two individuals with independent decision-making processes, which makes joint decision-making difficult and time-consuming. The couples have to negotiate their way to a consensus and are constantly confronted with new choices they need to re-negotiate on. The decision-making process, when dealing with infertility, is not a straight line, but rather a chain of small decisions affected by feelings, context and situation / Markmið: Markmið rannsóknarinnarvar að ná yfirsýn yfir þeim tæknifrjóvgunarmöguleikum sem norrænum pörum sem kljást við ófrjósemi stendur til boða, og að fylgja rökleiðslu þeirra og ákvarðanatökuferli sem tengist þessum möguleikum. Aðferð: Megindlegum og eigindlegum aðferðum var beitt.Hönnun rannsóknarinnarsótti innblástur til Ecological systems theory, með söfnun gagna frálögum og reglugerðum (macro-stig), tæknifrjóvgunarstofum (meso-stig) og frá pörunum sem nýttu sérþessa möguleika (micro-stig). Grein Iinniheldur niðurstöður rýni á reglugerðum Norðurlandanna fimm, ásamt niðurstöðum spurningalista sem sendur var öllum tæknifrjóvgunarstofum til að fá upplýsingar um þá möguleika sem stóðu til boða. GreinarII og III kynna niðurstöður úr viðtölum við 22 norræn pör sem fórufram eftir fyrsta tíma þeirra hjá sérfræðingi á tæknifrjóvgunarstofu. Pörin komu frá Danmörku (3), Finnlandi (6), Íslandi (3), Noregi (4) og Svíþjóð (6). Grein IV kynnir niðurstöður framhaldsviðtala við sömu pör sem fóru fram u.þ.b. þremur árum síðar. Fyrir eigindlega hluta rannsóknarinnar var aðferðum úr Grounded theory beitt. Niðurstöður: Grein Isýndi fram á að aðgengi norrænna para að tæknifrjóvgunarmeðferðum er alla jafna gott. Þó er aðgengið er ekki jafndreift og það eru hömlur sem tengjast tilteknum skilyrðum, svo sem aldri. Það er munur á reglugerðum landanna, sérstaklega hvað snýr að kynfrumugjöf. Þessi mismunur opnar fyrir tæknifrjóvgunarþjónustu yfir landamæri, en meira en þriðjungur tæknifrjóvgunarstofa buðu þjónustu sína fólki frá öðrum löndum. Grein II lýsir ákvarðanatökuferli paranna þegar þau ákvarða hvenær sé „réttur tími“ til að reyna að eignast barn. Pörin nefndu þörfina fyrir að finnast þau vera undirbúin fyrir foreldrahlutverkið, svo sem að hafa trygga félagslega stöðu, en að því búnu urðu þau móttækilegri fyrir ákvarðanatökuhvötum, svo sem áhrifum frá vinum og fjölskyldu. Óttivið ófrjósemi olli því að pörin flýttu ákvörðun sinni, óháð öðrum þáttum. Grein III varpar ljósi á ákvarðanatökuferlið sem leiðir til þess að leitað er aðstoðar sérfræðinga. Kjarnaflokkurinn (e. core category) var „að semja og endursemja“. Ferli ákvarðanatökunnar hefst með því að parið þarf að sætta sig viðað þau eigi við sameiginlegt vandamál að stríða, því næst þurfa þau að afla sér vitneskju, og loks að bregðast við ogleita hjálpar. Grein IV fjallar um ákvarðanatökuferlið meðan á meðferð stendur. Af 22 pörum, þá hafði 17 tekist að verða foreldrar eftir þrjú ár, þrjú pör voru enn að reyna og tvö pör höfðu ekki tekið ákvörðun um framhaldið. Kjarnaflokkurinn var „ að halda stjórn í ótryggum aðstæðum“. Pörin reyndu að einblína á markmiðið og að nota ýmsar aðferðir til þess að höndla nýjar aðstæður. Samantekt: Það er munur á uppbyggingu og aðgengi að þjónustu fyrir ófrjó pör milli Norðurlandanna. Sumir þessara mismunandi þátta, t.d. niðurgreiðslur og biðtími, höfðu áhrif á ákvarðanatökuferlið þar sem þeir gátu tafið meðferðina eða ráðið því hvort parið leitaði til einkastofu eða opinberrar stofnunar. Par samanstendur af tveimur einstaklingumhvor um sig með eigiðákvarðanatökuferli, en það gerir sameiginlega ákvarðanatöku erfiða og tímafreka. Parið verður að semja til að komast að sameiginlegri niðurstöðu, en þarf síðan í sífellu að endursemja um nýja möguleika sem koma fram. Ákvarðanatökuferlið eins og það snýr að ófrjósemi er ekki bein lína,heldur er það keðja af litlum ákvörðunum sem mótast af tilfinningum, samhengi og aðstæðum.

In the 20th Century the Nordic region was often regarded as a politically, socially and ecclesiastically homogenous area. This was partly a conception formed by Archbishop Söderblom´s creating of a Nordic  Bishops´Council to coordinate actions and declarations by the Nordic Folk churches. The general ecumenical development during the 19th and 20th Centuries created a perceived need for a regional ecumenical organisation in the Nordic region to serve the emerging WCC. Mr Manfred Björkquist was the man who proposed the setting up of a Nordic Ecumenical Institute in Sigtuna, Sweden. His proposals were strongly critizised in particular by the Oslo Bishop, Eivind Berggrav. Bishop Berggrav managed to force Björkquist to give up his plans for academic research to be one of the objectives of the Nordic ecumenical Sigtuna Institute. In addition WCC elected to abandon the original planfor a regional membership structure for WCC. One may note a particular pattern for ecumenical impediments repeating itself. In the 19th Century intended church cooperation was made impossible in the Nordic region through political stress and theological controversy. Political stress during the 19th Century occurred when Denmark failed to muster Nordic support for a military take over of Schleswig. In the 20thCentury the 2nd World War created considerable political stress in the region. Theological controversy occurred in the 18th Century over the theology of Grundtvig and in the 20th Century over Episcopacy. Political stress and theological controversy created a non helpful context for the Nordic Ecumenical Institute after its formation in 1940. In that context the Institute had to handle the adverse effects of the loss of Academic research and the loss of a regional membership structure for WCC. The combination of losses in the unhelpful context appear to have been innate defects for an organisation that elected to ignore the dramatic changes and carry on with "business as usual" and in that manner prepare for its own disintegration.

Business School, Diss.--Copenhagen, 2004. / Zsfassung in dän. Sprache.

Thesis (doctoral)--Göteborgs Universitet, 2006. / Added t.p. with thesis statement inserted.

Thesis (doctoral)--Göteborgs Universitet, 2006. / Added t.p. with thesis statement inserted. Includes bibliographical references.