Performance requirements act as policy instruments for achieving broadly-defined economic and developmental objectives of States, especially industrial and technological development objectives. Many States consider that performance requirements distort trade and investment flows, negatively impact global and national welfare and disrupt investment decisions compared to business-as-usual scenarios. As a result, a number of States have committed to prohibiting performance requirements in international investment agreements (“IIAs.”). Performance requirement prohibitions (“PRPs”) are meant to eliminate trade-distorting performance requirements and performance requirements which replace investor decision-making by State decision-making. This thesis focuses on providing answers to two research questions: first, how do States prohibit performance requirements in IIAs? And second, how should PRPs in IIAs be interpreted and applied? For the first time, this thesis: proposes a comprehensive understanding of PRPs in IIAs by drawing notably on the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (“GATT”) Uruguay Round of negotiations and on the United States Bilateral Investment Treaty (“BIT”) Programme; develops a detailed typology and analysis of PRPs in IIAs through the identification of systematically reproduced drafting patterns; conducts the first critical and in-depth analysis of all arbitral awards which have decided claims based on PRPs in IIAs; analyses interpretation and application issues related to provisions that exempt government procurement from PRPs and to reservations that shield sensitive non-conforming measures or strategically important sectors from PRPs; and anticipates the application of most-favoured nation (“MFN”) treatment clauses to PRPs in the future. Finally, this thesis formulates proposals that can help interpret and apply existing PRPs and draft future PRPs in a more deliberate and informed way.

The target of the diploma thesis is to revise appraisal of employee performance system in specific company and to propose effective solutions in case of any discrepancies. In the theoretical part is defined the meaning and added value of employee appraisal system of performance, its connections to other HR processes, system requirements, contents, methods of appraisal, classification of employee performance, implementation or reimplementation the system to a company. This part of diploma thesis also describes theoretical press of appraisals and highlights the common mistakes. The practical part of the diploma thesis characterizes a specific company, analyzes a current company system of employee appraisal. And based on the results of the analysis describes the system in HR policy according to ČSN EN ISO 9001 a ČSN P ISO/TS 16949. This part links the system to other HR systems e.g. bonus system. The results of the author's work are training for evaluators and new modification of the evaluation forms. Outcome of this diploma thesis are also extensive attachments that provides concrete proposals, which were verified in practice.

Purpose: This degree project aims to see how the energy demand from active heating of detached houses can be improved to meet the energy performance requirements set for nearly zero-energy buildings by Boverket (The Swedish National Board of Housing, Building and Planning). Method: To accomplish this, the benefits from two different energy-saving installations are studied: bedrock heat pumps and heat exchangers in Heat Recovery Ventilation Systems (HRV-systems). These are then compared in a new and an older detached house with very different heat losses. There are several reports of energy-saving systems in detached houses. What distinguishes this work is that it compares the specific results from the added energy-saving system depending on whether it was added first or last. The older detached house is an important part of this work as it represents a possible impact on parts of the existing housing stock with a similar technical standard. The energy balance for the buildings is calculated monthly with all contributions from passive heat considered, and with the energy demand for active heating as the main result. Results: It is very difficult to meet the energy performance requirements for an older detached house without extensive measures or renovations. The HRV-system had a low to very low impact. Both types of detached houses have a lot to gain from an investment in bedrock heating, especially the older one that has high energy demands. However, the new detached house with a higher technical standard in the building envelope, was the only one to meet the energy requirements with the bedrock heat pump on its own. Conclusion: Bedrock heating can be a very profitable investment as it provides heat both for the active heating of the building as well as for the domestic hot water. In order to meet tougher energy requirements, the bedrock heat pump may need to be accompanied by an improved and more energy-efficient building envelope and the supply of self-produced electricity, such as solar cells. HRV-systems require a good air tightness and an energy-efficient building envelope to be profitable. In older detached houses, it is not a profitable investment, as it does not have sufficiently large proportions of controlled ventilation to work with. In newer houses the proportion of controlled ventilation is bigger, but the amount of heat loss that can be affected is still not as big as the energy savings a bedrock heat pump can bring.

Introduktion: Skolrelaterad stress är ett växande folkhälsoproblem som verkar som riskfaktor för unga personers psykiska ohälsa. Prestationer, relationer, krav samt tankar om framtiden beskrivs orsaka skolrelaterad stress. Socialt stöd är en resurs för hälsa och välbefinnande. Stressrelaterade sjukdomar kan leda till ökade samhällskostnader till följd av sjukskrivningar samt utebliven sysselsättning. Syfte: Syftet med studien är att studera det sociala stödets inverkan på skolrelaterad stress hos gymnasieelever i årskurs tre inom Västra Götalandsregionen samt om det skiljer sig åt mellan gymnasieprogram och kön. Metod: I en kvantitativ tvärsnittsstudie rekryterades 168 elever (>18 år) genom ett bekvämlighetsurval. Data samlades in via ett webbaserad enkätformulär och analyserades genom T-test och Chi-Square test samt korstabeller och deskriptiv statistik. Resultat:Den genomsnittliga stressnivån i studiepopulationen är 1.83 på en skala 0–3. Störst andel elever upplever medel stressnivå (48.8%) och det urskiljs skillnader mellan könen ochgymnasieprogrammen. Ledande orsak till skolrelaterad stress anges vara egnaprestationskrav (58%) och det finns en korrelation mellan prestationskrav och stressnivå. Vidare uppger 23.2% vara omedvetna om stöd i skolan och det finns skillnader mellan gymnasieprogrammen. Slutsats: Studien ger indikatorer på att skolrelaterad stress är ett växande problem och framtida forskning bör undersöka bakomliggande orsaker till elevers egna höga prestationskrav, detta i syfte att förebygga stress samt främja elevers hälsa och välbefinnande. / Introduction: School-related stress is a growing public health problem that acts a risk factor for mental illness in young people. Achievements, relationships, demands and thoughts about the future have been described as causes of school-related stress. Social support is a resource for health and wellbeing. Stress-related illness can increase the social costs because of sick leave and unemployment. Aim: The aim of the study is to investigate the impact of social support on school-related stress in third-year secondary school students in Västra Götalandsregionen and whether it differs between secondary school programs and gender. Methods: In a quantitative cross-sectional study, 168 students (>18 years) where recruited through a convenience sample. Data were collected through a web-based questionnaire and analyzed using T-test and Chi-Square tests as well as crosstabulations and descriptive statistics. Results: The average stress level in the study population is 1.83 on a scale 0-3. The largest percentage of students (48.8%) experience a medium level of stress and there are differences between the sexes and the secondaryschool programs. The leading cause of school-related stress is reported to be individual performance expectations (58%) and there is a correlation between performance expectations and stress level. Furthermore, 23.2% state that they are unaware of support at school and there are differences between the secondary school programs. Conclusion: The study provides indicators that school-related stress is a growing problem and future research should investigate underlaying reasons for the students’ individual highperformance expectations with the aim of preventing stress and promoting health and wellbeing.