<p>In April 2010 Vägverket (the Swedish National Road Agency) andBanverket (the Swedish National Railway Agency) will merge intoTrafikverket (the Swedish National Traffic Agency). Trafikverket willassume unified responsibility for the risk management that atpresent is responsibility of Vägverket and Banverket separately. Atpresent, as it will be shown in this thesis, Vägverket and Banverketshare the same theoretical background for risk management but usedifferent implementations often within the same agency. The use ofdifferent implementations results in a reduced transparency of therisk management both within and outside the agencies: this willbecome even more problematic when they will be fused intoTrafikverket.</p><p>The aim of this thesis is to review the current risk managementmethodologies used at Vägverket and Banverket and to suggest aunified tool for the risk management at Trafikverket. This will bedone by focusing in particular on construction projects, one fromVägverket (Partihallsförbindelsen) and one from Banverket(Nynäsbanan). In this thesis a particular emphasis will be put on theimportance of communication for risk management within anadministration. Better bottom-up and top-down communication andfeedback will enable improvements and more transparent riskmanagement especially at higher levels in the agency such as theboard of the project managers. The tool that will be proposed in thisthesis builds on the current tools used at Vägverket and Banverketthus assuring a smooth transition towards a unified tool.</p>

<p>Train travel has increased in Sweden, and future increase of train transports putdemands on the already vastly exploited railroad net. The increased need of capacitycan be seen in the ongoing and planned expansions of the railway track. One part ofthe railroad infrastructure which is affected by an increase of travellers is the design ofthe station platform. Since the platform is the place where the traveller meets thetrain, dangerous situations can occur in this environment. A number of studies focuson single safety risks, albeit there is no research to show the full picture of safety inthe platform environment.This study aims to treat and put together a compilation of risks for the traveller in theplatform environment in the form of a checklist, which can be used as support inplanning and design of a safer platform environment for existing or planned platforms.The thesis has, through case studies of five ongoing projects within the NationalRailroad Administration (Banverket), interviews with train company personnel andinternational railroad administrators, identified and treated safety (and security) risksin the platform environment.The conclusion of the study is that the relations between the traveller, the physicalplatform environment and the project organisation are important to explore andexploit when designing effective safety measures. The identified risks are presented inthe checklist along with counter measures and a guideline for the reader to supporttools in avoiding and preventing safety problems in the platform environment.</p>

Professional standards require the auditor to change the nature, extent, and timing of testing and/or use more skilled labor as the risk of misstatements increases. This study investigates whether auditors adjust audit programs (detection) and/or the thresholds to record and require correction of detected misstatements in response to increases in audit risk and client size. Prior research from several countries indicates that audit programs are too static and are not risk adjusted (Mock and Wright 1993; Quadackers et al. 1996; Mock and Wright 1999). In addition, a key concern is that economic dependence on the client may cause the audit firm to refrain from recording and requiring correction of detected misstatements for larger clients. Archival records from 10 Chinese audit firms are examined to assess audit procedures, audit labor and the audit posting thresholds used. Results of the study indicate that when audit risk or client size increases, the audit firm does not change its audit procedures or use more skilled labor, nor does it detect audit differences in different types of accounts. The audit firm detects a larger number of audit differences for larger clients. The audit firm also uses lower thresholds to record and require correction of detected misstatements in response to increases in audit risk and client size. / Accounting

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2006. / Title from first page of PDF file. Includes bibliographical references (p. 157-160).

The use of a slim, high-pressure drilling riser for surface blowout preventer operations in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico was assessed as an alternative to conventional drilling procedures from floating units. Comparison of the low- and high-pressure system was accomplished through a detailed qualitative (assigned frequency) and quantitative (reported incidents) risk analysis using generic fault tree models to statistically determine the reliability of the system based on metocean conditions from the Gulf of Mexico. It is hoped that this investigation will serve as a starting point for drilling companies and regulatory agencies to understand the risk of implementing a high-pressure riser for surface blowout preventer applications in the Gulf of Mexico, because specific failure events and conditions of the area were considered. Despite the generic description of the drilling riser and pressure control system, the models are flexible enough to be modified and adapted to a specific rig configuration and location. Results from the qualitative comparison suggest an acceptable risk and high reliability for high-pressure riser systems and surface preventers. The quantitative portion of the study is influenced by the data quality of the high-pressure system, however it provides a range of possible reliability values with an acceptable overall risk.

<p>In this essay, <em>Risk and crisis management Conservation policy and normalization production</em>, I discuss how societies, communities and individuals are responsible for the handling of catastrophes and crises. Risk and vulnerability analyzes are parts of modern risk and crisis management. The purpose of these analyzes is to prepare people and organizations for any crises. For managing this it is necessary to comprehend, be able to change mindset in creating concrete tasks and inform others.</p><p>The purpose of this essay is to analyze modern risk and crisis management by studying empirical material, such as interviews, observations and literature. My aim is to combine these materials and study how they cooperate.</p><p>One of the findings in this essay is that risk and vulnerability analyzes are of great complexity. These analyzes require a discussion in order to identify the development of the society's crisis management system, as well as the continued support of the individuals that have a responsibility for preventing and preparing their organizations.</p>

Background: In today’s more challenging business environment companies operating in a global market are faced by uncountable numbers of risks. The foundation of this report is based on the scenario of risks within one of the most important industries for the Swedish economy, namely the Forest, Paper and Packaging (FPP)industry. Sweden is one of the most forested countries in Europe and despite being a small country Sweden alone stands for 7 percent of the world’s total FPP production. However, it has been argued that the FPP industry might be in the midst of change where several articles and reports have commented on the upcoming challenges within the industry. Problem discussion &amp; Purpose: Globalization, shifting economical paradigm, a rising interest for sustainability, increased raw material prices and tougher market conditions have in combination lead to a change in today’s view of how to handle risks. FPP companies have to deal with countless number of issues facing business today and the question of how to manage risks across organizations are becoming increasingly important. The purpose of this thesis is to identify risks faced by the Swedish FPP industry and thereafter assess the most crucial risks impact and likelihood of occurrence and how they are linked to the dilemma of holding forestland or not. Method: This study has its origin in interprevitism along with the ontological assumptions of constuctionism. An abductive research approach has been applied that has features from both deduction and induction. The study has applied the three research strategies; descriptive, explanatory and exploratory study in order to produce a true representation, describe relationships and in the same time seek new insight into the researched phenomena. A qualitative research strategy was applied where several semi-structured interviews were carried out, with respondents selected through a purposive sample of the Swedish FPP industry. Thereafter complementary material was sent out in form of a self-administrative questionnaire regarding the identified risks and their significance. Theoretical framework: Consist of general theories concerning macro environment and risk analysis theories for understanding industries along with previous reports concerning the FPP industry. In order to determent the nature and scale of the risk the Risk radar model will be applied along with an assessment of impact and likelihood of occurrence. Conclusion: The Swedish FPP industry today faces the following risks; Globalization &amp; Shift of Capital to the Emerging Markets, Overcapacity, Foreign Exchange Impact &amp; Currency Risks, Export &amp; Import Taxes, Raw Material, Energy &amp; Transportation Costs, Sustainability &amp; Increased Environmental Awareness and Climate Change &amp; Unforeseen Events. Out of these risks the most crucial where proven to be Raw Material and Energy &amp; Transportation Costs hence there high impact and likelihood of occurrence. Given the pros and cons of holding forestland in relation to the most crucial risks identified the ownership of forestland can be seen as a strategic way of educing the threat from these risks, turning them into opportunities.

Risk neutral strategies emphasize stock selection rather than market timing in order to achieve the objective of a positive abnormal return. Using CAPM and Fama-French three-factor models as benchmark, this study applies the risk neutral strategies to Taiwanese stock markets. Empirical results reveal that R-square of Fama-French 3-factor model is higher than that of CAPM, implying that Fama-French model outperforms CAPM in explaining the stock returns in our sample. In addition, Portfolios 1 and 2 generate significantly positive abnormal returns. We conclude that risk neutral strategies offer positive abnormal returns.

No description available.

Exploring the main factors that determine bond spreads with respect to Treasury rates is one of the most critical issues in the corporate debt market. Credit risk has long been perceived as the most important determinant of bond spreads (Fisher, 1959). One of the most critical parameters in credit risk models is asset volatility, which includes idiosyncratic and systematic components. However, these models do not distinguish between them. Chapter 2 investigates the impact of idiosyncratic volatility on bond portfolio spreads between 2000 and 2010. While the prediction of traditional asset pricing models is that firm-specific risk should be diversified away at aggregate level, I find idiosyncratic volatility plays an incremental role in explaining bond portfolio spreads beyond the market factors. Recovery is an important measurement of credit risk additional to default probability. Chapter 3 focuses on the estimation of firm recovery after bankruptcy using the Leland and Toft (1996) model. Using a large sample of Chapter 11 filings from 1996 to 2007, I find that the recovery derived from the Leland and Toft model has strong explanatory power on the debt recovery observed in the market. Recent literature finds that all extant credit risk models significantly underestimate bond spreads, especially for investment grade bonds of short maturity. Chapter 4 identifies a heretofore ignored component, perceived accounting misstatement, by regressing bond spreads on the proxy of accounting misstatement propensity, while controlling for issuers’ default risk and bond illiquidity risk between January 1994 and June 2002. My thesis deepens the understanding of bond price discovery mechanisms and presents an important challenge for future research to incorporate the strong empirical relationship between idiosyncratic volatility and bond yields in asset pricing models. My thesis also sheds light on the accurate prediction of debt recovery, which is important to the valuation and hedging of risky debt and credit derivatives. Furthermore, my thesis assists in solving the credit spread puzzle by identifying a new risk factor. Overall, my thesis provides new insights into research on the corporate debt market and has important implications for academic scholars and market practitioners. / Thesis (Ph.D, Management) -- Queen's University, 2013-04-30 20:22:12.594