Esta tese apresenta três ensaios sobre política monetária e fiscal dentro do atual regime de metas de inflação. O primeiro ensaio buscou estudar uma possível integração monetária-fiscal ao determinar uma regra ótima de política monetária com restrição fiscal, analisando os efeitos de diversas preferências sobre a regra ótima em função da alteração dos pesos dados para os desvios da razão superávit primário/PIB em relação à sua meta pré-estabelecida. Os resultados mostraram que a regra ótima obtida apresenta uma resposta negativa das taxas de juros aos choques na relação dívida/PIB. Ainda, superávits primários/PIB maiores permitiriam reduções maiores nas taxas de juros e proporcionais aos pesos que essa variávelobjetivo teria na função de perda social. Do ponto de vista tradicional do mecanismo de transmissão da política monetária, a resposta positiva das taxas de juros a uma desvalorização real do câmbio e a uma elevação do prêmio de risco seria mantida. Portanto, os resultados sugerem que a adoção de uma meta explícita para o superávit primário/PIB tem conseqüências positivas sobre a regra ótima de política monetária e para a redução da taxa de juros, bem como na eficiência do atual instrumento de política monetária. O segundo ensaio buscou analisar a relação risco default através do modelo de regressão beta, bem como os impactos que os superávits primários podem trazer sobre o prêmio de risco e, consequentemente, sobre o câmbio. Do ponto de vista da relação default risk, ancorada no modelo de Blanchard (2004/2005), as estimativas baseadas no modelo de regressão beta para as quatro relações propostas neste ensaio apresentaram sinais estatisticamente significativos e compatíveis com a teoria. O fato interessante nos resultados referente ao período do regime de metas de inflação é que as estimativas indicaram uma relação direta e forte entre o superávit primário/PIB e a probabilidade de default; evidências que destacam a importância dos efeitos indiretos que o superávit pode gerar sobre o juro doméstico. O terceiro ensaio analisou a dinâmica discreta da taxa de juros SELIC-meta definida nas reuniões do Comitê de Política Monetária (COPOM). Dois métodos foram utilizados para estudar a possibilidade de o COPOM reduzir/manter/aumentar a taxa de juros básica: probit binomial e probit multinomial. Os resultados mostraram que os desvios de inflação e o hiato do produto são variáveis relevantes para explicar as decisões do COPOM. O modelo probit binomial aplicado para os casos de aumento e redução da taxa SELIC-meta mostraram que a inclusão da variável fiscal gerou melhores resultados. Para o caso agregado, método probit multinomial, os resultados indicaram que a inclusão da variável fiscal combinada com a expectativa de inflação gerou os melhores resultados relativamente aos demais casos. Assim, a resposta do COPOM a resultados fiscais bem como às expectativas do mercado quanto à inflação demonstraram ser os sinais que devem ser observados pelo mercado. / This thesis presents three essays on monetary and fiscal policy of the current regimen of inflation targeting. The first essay searched to study an integration monetary-fiscal when determining an optimal rule of monetary policy with fiscal restriction, analyzing the effect of diverse preferences on the optimal rule in function of the alteration of the weights given for the deviations of the surplus primary as a fraction of GDP in relation to its established targets. The results show that the gotten optimal rule presents a negative reply of the interest rates to the shocks in the debtto- GDP ratio. Primary surplus still bigger would allow bigger reductions in the interest rates and proportional to the weights that this variable-objective would have in the function of social loss. Of the traditional point of view of the mechanism of transmission of the monetary policy, the positive reply of the interest rates to a real depreciation of the exchange and to a rise of the risk premium it would be kept. Therefore, the results suggest that the adoption of explicit targets for the primary surplus in percentage of the GDP has positive consequences on the optimal rule of monetary policy and for the reduction of the interest rates, as well as in the efficiency of the current instrument of monetary policy. The second essay searched to analyze the relation default risk through of the beta regression model, as well as the impacts that primary surplus can bring on the risk premium and, consequently, on the exchange rate. Of the point of view of the relation default risk, anchored in the model of Blanchard (2004/2005), the estimates based on the beta regression model for the four relations proposals in the study had presented significant and compatible signals with the theory. The interesting fact in the results referring to the period of the regimen of inflation targeting is that the estimates had indicated a negative and strong relation between the primary surplus/GDP and the probability of default, evidences that detaching the importance of the positive and indirect impact of the surplus in relation to the interests rate domestic. The third analyzes the discrete dynamics of the SELIC interest rates-target defined in the meetings of the Brazilian Monetary Policy Council (COPOM). Two methods were applied in order to study the possibility of COPOM to reduce/maintain/increase the interest rates: probit model and multinomial probit. It was verified that the deviations of inflation and the GDP gap must be considered importants variables to explain the COPOM’s decisions. The probit model was applied to the cases of the increases probabilies and reduces probabilities showing that the inclusion of a fiscal variable generates better results. To the aggregated case, multinominal probit method, the results indicates that the inclusion of a fiscal variables combined with the inflation expectations generates better results than other possibilities. So, the responses of COPOM to the fiscal results as well as inflation expectations were the reals signs to be considered for the market.

This study will try an hypothesis built on Machiavellis principles of power and examine the position of Machiavellis importance in the world of today. The hypothesis contains principles of Machiavellis thoughts on power and is ment to be used as an analytical tool to understand the downfall of totalitarian leaders. The hypothesis gains strength from this study due to the fact that it could explain the fall of Colonel Gaddafi and may even have predicted the downfall of Muammar Gaddafi based on the violation of several of the principles that built up the hypothesis. The hypothesis however, needs more testing to be able to be accepted as a generalization. The importance of Machiavelli and his school of thought is strengthened by the fact that the principles shown in the hypothesis are viable and the fact that Machiavelli still contributes to discussion on modern principles of power. Through the glasses that are the hypothesis we get a clear picture that tells us why Colonel Gaddafi got overthrown; He simply pushed the people to far.

Le contrôle de l’exécutif dans la création de l’État de droit en Afrique aura été au centre de tous les débats doctrinaux depuis la décennie 1990. L’omnipotence de l’exécutif sur les autres pouvoirs en Afrique, sapant l’existence de l’équilibre des pouvoirs (exécutif, législatif, judiciaire) a donné lieu à toutes sortes de spéculations. C’est ainsi que dés 1990 l’accent était mis sur les mécanismes de limitation des pouvoirs de l’exécutif. Cette question de la séparation et de l’équilibre des pouvoirs dont la paternité revient à John Locke mais dotée de sa résonance actuelle par Montesquieu reste aujourd’hui une question non encore résolue en Afrique afin de permettre une réalisation effective de l’État de droit. Cette étude a pour objet de mettre en lumière les obstacles qu’il faudrait lever , les causes sociologiques concourant à de telles conséquences ainsi que les voies et moyens devant mener à la limitation des pouvoirs de l’exécutif , laissant la voie aux conditions naturelles de préservation des libertés individuelles pour la mise en œuvre de l’Etat de droit en Afrique. Force est de constater que bien des progrès ont été réalisés depuis 1990, notamment avec l’édiction de nouveaux textes constitutionnels et une volonté affichée des uns (pouvoirs politiques) et des autres (société civile et associations de défense des droits de l’homme) de mettre en place des régimes démocratiques. Toutefois, depuis la chute du mur de Berlin, cet espoir des lendemains prometteurs semble céder la place au pessimisme. Il convient ainsi de déterminer les raisons de cette décadence tout en mettant l’accent sur des indices de nature à fleurir l’espoir des lendemains meilleurs. C’est dans cette ligne droite que s’inscrit l’objet de notre projet de thèse. / The control of the executive in the creation of the Rule of law in Africa will have been in the center of all the doctrinal debates since the decade 1990. The omnipotence of the executive on the other powers in Africa, sapping the existence of the balance of power (executive, legislative, legal) caused all kinds of speculations. Thus by 1990 the emphasis was placed on the mechanisms of limitation of the powers of the executive. This question of the separation and the balance of power whose paternity returns to John Locke but equipped with his current resonance by Montesquieu remains today a question not yet solved in Africa in order to allow an effective realization of the Rule of law. This study has the aim of clarifying the obstacles which would have to be raised, sociological causes contributing to such consequences as well as the ways and means having to lead to the limitation of the powers of the executive, leaving the way to the natural conditions of safeguarding of individual freedoms for the implementation of the Rule of law in Africa. Force is to note that many progress were realized since 1990, in particular with the édiction of new constitutional texts and a will displayed of the ones (political powers) and others (civil society and defense associations of the human rights) to set up democratic regimes. However, since the fall of the Berlin Wall, this hope of the promising following days seems to give way to pessimism. It is thus advisable to determine the reasons of this decline while focussing on indices likely to flower the hope of the better following days. It is in this straight line that the object of our project of thesis is registered.

La protection des droits fondamentaux par l’Union européenne et la problématique de la qualification juridique de l’Union ne sont pas isolées. Au contraire, elles sont profondément liées. Sous l’effet de la protection des droits fondamentaux, l’Union peut être classée dans la catégorie des fédéralismes. Cette nature fédérative exerce en retour une influence sur la protection des droits fondamentaux. La protection des droits fondamentaux et la nature de l’Union forment ensemble l’identité de l’Union. Cette identité pourrait-elle se concrétiser par une Fédération de droit ? Cette hypothèse de qualification, qui s’inspire du modèle de l’État de droit et repose sur les exigences du cosmopolitisme, vise une Fédération dont l’un des objectifs fondateurs est la protection des droits fondamentaux. Cette hypothèse offre certaines clés de compréhension sur l’articulation du processus de fédéralisation et de la protection des droits fondamentaux. Cependant, à bien des égards, l’articulation entre ce processus et cette protection est conflictuelle. Les obstacles à cette qualification sont nombreux. Les États membres souhaitent en effet préserver leur souveraineté. Les impératifs du fédéralisme économique ou les attentes d’une sécurité fédérative soulèvent également de multiples inquiétudes. Ces obstacles affectent tant le processus de fédéralisation que la protection des droits fondamentaux. En conclusion, ils empêchent de qualifier pleinement l’Union de Fédération de droit. / The protection of fundamental rights by the European Union and the issue of the Union's legal nature are not isolated. On the contrary, they are deeply linked. The Union can be classified in the category of federalism under the effect of the protection of fundamental rights. In return, this federative nature has an influence on the protection of fundamental rights. The protection of fundamental rights and the nature of the Union together form the identity of the Union. This identity could be a federal rule of law (Fédération de droit)? This hypothesis, which is based on the rule of law model and the requirements of cosmopolitanism, aims at a Federation whose founding objectives include the protection of fundamental rights. This hypothesis offers some keys to understanding how the federalization process and the protection of fundamental rights are articulated. However, the relationship between this process and the protection of fundamental rights is often conflictual. There are many obstacles to this qualification. Indeed, Member States wish to preserve their sovereignty. The imperatives of economic federalism or the expectations of federal security also raise multiple concerns. These obstacles impact both the federalization process and the protection of fundamental rights. In conclusion, they prevent this qualification of european federal rule of law.

Bakgrund Som statsanställda ska lärare vid Sveriges statliga universitet och högskolor lojalt följa de regler som gäller för verksamheten. Mer kunskap behövs dock kring de faktorer som predicerar högskolelärares förhållningssätt till och arbete i enlighet med det regelverk som gäller i kontakten med studenterna och vid bedömning av studentprestationer. Metod En webbenkätundersökning (n = 3625 svar) genomfördes med syfte att genom bivariat korrelation och multipel regressionsanalys predicera svenska universitets- och högskolelärares (1) rapporterade a-steg från det nationella regelverket i förvaltningslagen och högskoleförordningen respektive (2) intention att följa regelverket. Följande prediktorer ingick i analysen: Upplevda konsekvenser för (3) läraren själv respektive (4) andra om regelverket inte följdes; (5) kollegornas regelefterlevnad; (6) upplevd förmåga och möjlighet att följa regelverket; (7) upplevelse att regelverket är betungande, onödigt och ineffektivt (överbyråkratisering); utbildning i (8) juridik respektive (9) statsvetenskap; (10) organisatorisk rättvisa; (11) studenternas bemötande av läraren; (12) negativ attityd till studenternas rättigheter och ställning. Därutöver ingick de demografiska variablerna (13) kön, (14) ålder och (15) anställningstid. Resultat De erhållna multipla regressionsmodellerna förklarade 25 % av variansen i intention att följa regelverket (ej signifikant bidrag från prediktorerna 8 och 11) respektive 11 % av variansen i avsteg från regelverket (endast signifikant bidrag från prediktorerna 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 11 och 14). Intention att följa regelverket förklarade ensamt 5 % av variansen i avsteg från regelverket. Slutsats Intention att följa regelverket och avsteg från regelverket kan i viss utsträckning förklaras av studiens prediktorer. Stor andel varians förblir dock oförklarad och effektstorlekarna var genomgående små. Mer preciserade beteenden förmodas ge högre förklaringsvärde i fortsatta studier. / Background According to the Swedish Instrument of Government (regeringsformen), “public power is exercised under the law” (chap. 1, art. 1, sec. 3). This states that, being public servants, teachers at Sweden’s public-sector universities and university colleges must loyally abide by the rules that are applicable to their sector. Despite the higher education sector being the largest public service sector in Sweden (with 76 000 employees and 350 000 students), and a very great deal of discretion is given to the teachers – when giving grades, for instance, as the student is not allowed to appeal against the grading decision to a higher institution – there is an apparent lack of research dealing with university teachers’ relation to the regulations. The aim of this study is to investigate variables that predict university teachers’ intention to comply with the regulations and act in accordance with the national rules that apply in the meeting with students and when assessing student performances. Method A web survey (n = 3625 received responses; response rate: 14.8 %; 1822 females, 1775 males, 28 other; age M = 51.1 years, SD = 9.3 years) was conducted in April of 2020 with the aim of predicting Swedish university and university-college teachers’ (1) self-reported breach of national regulations found in the Swedish Administrative Procedure Act (förvaltningslag) and Higher Education Ordinance (högskoleförordning) and their (2) intention to comply with the regulations. The following predictors were included in the analysis: Perceived consequences for (3) the teacher and for (4) others (i.e. students, the higher education institution itself and society) if regulations were not followed; (5) the extent of rule abidance among the teacher’s colleagues (descriptive norms); (6) perceived ability and possibility to abide by the rules (behavioral control); (7) perception of the rules being burdensome, unnecessary and ineffective (level of red tape); education in (8) law or (9) political science (“1” coded as having an education in the field); (10) organizational justice; (11) how the students treat the teacher (interpersonal justice); (12) negative attitude towards the students’ rights and position.In addition, the demographic variables (13) gender (“1” coded as female), (14) age and (15) years of employment were included as control variables. Results Breach of national regulations The ten most common rule-breaking behaviors performed by the teachers included Assessing a student without being able to distinguish the student’s performance from that of other students, for instance in group exams (39.3 %) Using derogative expressions (e.g. made fun of, using foul language) about a student internally in the organization towards a colleague (30.0 %) Refraining from responding to a student’s questions, e.g. in an e-mail or in a conversation (17.8 %) Taking other factors into consideration than the student’s expressed knowledge when deciding to pass a student. For instance, considering lack of time and resources; the student’s need for student financial aid to make a living, which depends on the student’s completed courses; your department’s need of state funding based on the student’s completed education (12.0 %) Giving different supplementary assignments based on the reason for the student’s missing attendance (11.4 %) Giving a single student the possibility for a retake, without offering the same opportunity to the other students in the course being in a similar situation (10.4 %) Refraining from notifying the vice-chancellor of there being grounds for suspecting that a student has attempted to deceive during an examination (9.6 %) Using a different examination format from the one/those stipulated in the course syllabus (9.2 %) In the document containing the grading decision, refraining from stating the names of all teachers that have helped with the assessment of a test (8.9 %; 10.4 % of the examiners) With the purpose of easing your workload, informing a student that a supplementary assignment will be more laborious than the ordinary assignment (7.0 %) Predicting intention to comply with the regulations All variables had a significant bivariate correlation with intention to comply with the regulations, having directions of the relationships that were in accordance with those hypothesized. However, some relations changed when combining all variables using a linear multiple regression. The linear multiple regression model explained 25 % of the variance in intention to comply with the regulations. The following predictors had a significant negative association with intention: (3) Consequences for the teacher if regulations were not followed (β = −0.05) (4) Consequences for others if regulations were not followed (β = −0.23) (7) Red tape (β = −0.08) (9) Education in political science (β = −0.03) – contrary to what was expected (12) Negative attitude towards the students’ rights and position (β = −0.04) (14) Age (β = −0.04) (15) Time of employment (β = −0.04) The following predictors had a significant positive association with intention: (5) The extent of rule abidance among colleagues (β = 0.08) (6) Perceived ability and possibility to abide by the rules (β = 0.15) (10) Organizational justice (β = 0.04) (13) Gender (β = 0.14) Contrary to expectation, these predictors did not have any significant contribution: (8) Education in law (11) How the students treat the teacher Predicting breach of regulations All variables, except (9) education in political science, had a significant bivariate correlation with breach of regulations, having directions that were expected from the hypotheses. However, many variables were found to have a non-significant contribution when combining all variables using a linear multiple regression. Intention to comply with regulations, by itself using bivariate correlation, explained 5 % of the variance in breach of regulations (r = −0.23). The linear multiple regression model explained 11 % of the variance in breach of regulations. The following predictors had a significant positive association with breach of regulations: (3) Consequences for the teacher if regulations were not followed (β = 0.06) (8) Education in law (β = 0.04) – contrary to what was expected The following predictors had a significant negative association with intention: (2) Intention to comply with the regulations (β = −0.15) (5) The extent of rule abidance among colleagues (β = −0.05) (6) Perceived ability and possibility to abide by the rules (β = −0.10) (11) How the students treat the teacher (β = −0.11) (14) Age (β = −0.08) Contrary to what was expected, these predictors did not have any significant contribution: (4) Consequences for others if regulations were not followed (7) Red tape (9) Education in political science (10) Organizational justice (12) Negative attitude towards the students’ rights and position (13) Gender (15) Time of employment Limitations The following limitations should be considered and accounted for in future research: Due to assumed response bias and socially desirable responding, the reported level of intention to comply with the regulations is probably inflated while the reported number of rules broken is probably deflated. Differing specificity levels of the behaviors have been studied, resulting in a difference in compatibility. Variables 2–7 included more general questions about the regulations, while actual breach of regulations (variable 1) have included more specific rule-breaking behaviors. Some rule-breaking behaviors included in this survey fall within a gray area. Some respondents, for instance, report it being difficult to determine when criticism towards a student could be perceived as offensive. Thus, there is room for improvement regarding the wording of the items in the developed instrument. What constitutes a violation of the rules is ultimately decided by a legal institution (e.g. a court of law). The assumptions for the linear multiple regressions were not met in terms of homoscedasticity and normality of the residuals due to extreme skewness of the data. This affects the reliability of the multiple-regression models. The internal consistency of the measure of negative attitude towards students’ rights and position was low (Cronbach’s α = −0.60) and the items should be improved to increase the reliability. Conclusion The intention to comply with the regulations and the breaches of the regulations can to some extent be explained by the predictors included in this study. However, a large portion of the variance remains unaccounted for and the general effect sizes were small. More specific behaviors are assumed to contribute to better reliability in future studies.

[pt] Nesta tese, utilizo uma perspectiva teórica que integra as teorias tradicionais de finanças às teorias de empreendedorismo e criatividade para investigar o comportamento das empresas ao longo de dois famosos enigmas financeiros: a alavancagem zero e a sensibilidade do investimento ao fluxo de caixa. Particularmente, eu exploro e desenvolvo dois construtos — rule-taking e risk-taking — que existem na interface entre governança corporativa e tomada de decisão gerencial sob incerteza, e que têm uma influência significativa nas decisões de estrutura de capital e de investimento. O rule-taking é um novo construto que reflete o grau em que um gestor é passível de controle externo, intervenção ou tem seu poder decisório restrito. O risk-taking, embora não seja um novo construto, é reexaminado através de uma lente teórica mais abrangente, que engloba as ideias da teoria da criatividade e os conceitos de incerteza knightiana e do estar alerta kirzneriano. Assim, tais construtos servem como o nexo para investigar os famosos enigmas financeiros, indo além das vertentes financeiras tradicionais (e.g., a teoria do trade-off; Modigliani e Miller, 1958) e das vertentes gerenciais tradicionais (e.g., a teoria da agência; Jensen e Meckling, 1976) para analisar as relações negligenciadas entre governança corporativa e a intrepidez do gestor em ambientes competitivos, complexos e incertos. A tese é composta por três artigos autônomos, além de uma introdução comum e uma discussão geral. O primeiro artigo é um ensaio teórico no qual eu problematizo o paradigma dominante da governança corporativa (teoria da agência) e desenvolvo o embasamento teórico para os construtos de rule-taking e risk-taking. O segundo e o terceiro artigo são estudos empíricos que investigam se esses construtos podem ajudar a explicar, respectivamente, o enigma das empresas com alavancagem zero, e a sensibilidade do investimento ao fluxo de caixa. Os resultados em grande parte corroboram as hipóteses. Assim, este trabalho expande a discussão sobre temas tradicionais relacionados a finanças corporativas e governança corporativa, reunindo perspectivas sub-representadas na literatura financeira, decorrentes de diferentes áreas de pesquisa, como empreendedorismo e criatividade, e demonstrando que elas podem acrescentar ideias novas e úteis para pesquisa e prática. Finalmente, esta tese também é uma resposta a chamados recentes para a utilização de abordagens mais integrativas e multidisciplinares com o fim de melhor analisar o comportamento da empresa. / [en] In this dissertation, I utilize a theoretical perspective that integrates traditional finance theories with the entrepreneurship and creativity theories to investigate the behavior of firms along two conspicuous financial puzzles: the zero-leverage puzzle and the sensitivity of investment to cash flows. Particularly, I explore and develop two constructs—rule-taking and risk-taking—that exist at the interface of corporate governance and managerial decision-making under uncertainty and which are hypothesized to have a significant bearing on capital structure and investment decisions. Rule-taking is a novel construct that reflects the degree to which a manager is liable to external control, intervention or have their discretionary power constrained. Risk-taking, although not a novel construct, is re-examined through a more comprehensive theoretical lens that encompasses the insights from creativity theory and the concepts of Knightian uncertainty and Kirznerian alertness. These constructs, then, serve as the nexus to investigate the financial puzzles going beyond both traditional finance strands (e.g., the trade-off theory; Modigliani and Miller, 1958) and traditional managerial strands (e.g., agency theory; Jensen and Meckling, 1976) to analyze overlooked relationships between corporate governance and managerial intrepidness in competitive, complex and uncertain environments. The dissertation is composed of three stand-alone papers, with a unified introduction and a general discussion. The first paper is a theoretical essay in which I problematize the dominant paradigm of corporate governance (agency theory) and develop the theoretical background for the constructs of risk-taking and rule-taking. The second and third papers are empirical studies that investigate whether these constructs can help explain the puzzles of zero-leverage firms and investment-cash flow sensitivity, respectively. The results mainly support the hypotheses. This work, then, expands the discussion on traditional themes related to corporate finance and corporate governance by bringing together underrepresented perspectives in the finance literature, stemming from different areas of research, such as the entrepreneurship and creativity literature strands, and demonstrating that they can add novel and useful insights for research and policy. Finally, this dissertation also answers recent calls for the utilization of more integrative and multidisciplinary approaches to further analyze firm behavior.

Amidst the growth of the global Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) industry, researchers have begun to scrutinize current valuation methods when applied to SaaS firms, and investors have widely embraced and adopted their own rules of thumb for SaaS company valuation. One of which is the 'Rule of 40', which is characterized by growth and profitability. This study employs an explanatory approach, and applies a cross-sectional multivariate regression model, to analyze the influence of growth and profitability on the valuation of 36 public SaaS companies operating in the Nordic B2B market. This study seeks to complement the present body of literature with insights on the synergy between growth and profitability in valuation, in the context of public SaaS companies. The resulting regression model yields two key findings: (1) EBITDA and EBIT have a negative relationship to the valuation multiple (EV/Sales); (2) Revenue growth maintains a positive relationship to the valuation multiple. These key findings indicate that Nordic SaaS investors accord higher valuation multiples to companies with higher growth rates and lower profitability margins. More importantly, the results indicate a significant disparity between the two metrics, where growth significantly outweighs profitability, as opposed to the equal weight implied in the 'Rule of 40'. / I respons till tillväxten av den globala Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) branschen har forskare börjat granska nuvarande värderingsmetoder när de tillämpas på SaaS-företag, samtidigt som investerare har i stor utsträckning anammat och antagit sina egna tumregler för SaaS-företagsvärdering. En av dessa är 'Rule of 40', som kännetecknas av tillväxt och lönsamhet. Denna studie använder sig av ett förklarande tillvägagångssätt, och tillämpar tvärsnittsdata i en multivariat regressionsmodell, för att analysera inverkan av tillväxt och lönsamhet på värderingen av 36 offentliga SaaS-företag verksamma på den nordiska B2B-marknaden. Denna studie syftar till att komplettera den nuvarande litteraturen med insikter om synergin mellan tillväxt och lönsamhet vid värdering i samband med offentliga SaaS-företag. Den resulterande regressionsmodellen fastställer två huvudsakliga fynd: (1) EBITDA och EBIT har ett negativt samband med värderingsmultipeln (EV/Sales); (2) omsättningstillväxt upprätthåller ett positivt förhållande till värderingsmultipeln. Dessa resultat indikerar att nordiska SaaS-investerare ger högre värderingsmultiplar till företag med högre tillväxttakt och lägre lönsamhetsmarginaler. Ännu viktigare är att resultaten visar en betydande skillnad mellan de två måtten, där tillväxten avsevärt överväger lönsamheten, i motsats till 'Rule of 40' som antyder att måtten viktas lika.

Building an accurate and reliable model for prediction for different application domains, is one of the most significant challenges in knowledge discovery and data mining. This thesis focuses on building and enhancing a generic predictive model for estimating a future value by extracting association rules (knowledge) from a quantitative database. This model is applied to several data sets obtained from different benchmark problems, and the results are evaluated through extensive experimental tests. The thesis presents an incremental development process for the prediction model with three stages. Firstly, a Knowledge Discovery (KD) model is proposed by integrating Fuzzy C-Means (FCM) with Apriori approach to extract Fuzzy Association Rules (FARs) from a database for building a Knowledge Base (KB) to predict a future value. The KD model has been tested with two road-traffic data sets. Secondly, the initial model has been further developed by including a diversification method in order to improve a reliable FARs to find out the best and representative rules. The resulting Diverse Fuzzy Rule Base (DFRB) maintains high quality and diverse FARs offering a more reliable and generic model. The model uses FCM to transform quantitative data into fuzzy ones, while a Multiple Support Apriori (MSapriori) algorithm is adapted to extract the FARs from fuzzy data. The correlation values for these FARs are calculated, and an efficient orientation for filtering FARs is performed as a post-processing method. The FARs diversity is maintained through the clustering of FARs, based on the concept of the sharing function technique used in multi-objectives optimization. The best and the most diverse FARs are obtained as the DFRB to utilise within the Fuzzy Inference System (FIS) for prediction. The third stage of development proposes a hybrid prediction model called Fuzzy Associative Classification Rule Mining (FACRM) model. This model integrates the ii improved Gustafson-Kessel (G-K) algorithm, the proposed Fuzzy Associative Classification Rules (FACR) algorithm and the proposed diversification method. The improved G-K algorithm transforms quantitative data into fuzzy data, while the FACR generate significant rules (Fuzzy Classification Association Rules (FCARs)) by employing the improved multiple support threshold, associative classification and vertical scanning format approaches. These FCARs are then filtered by calculating the correlation value and the distance between them. The advantage of the proposed FACRM model is to build a generalized prediction model, able to deal with different application domains. The validation of the FACRM model is conducted using different benchmark data sets from the University of California, Irvine (UCI) of machine learning and KEEL (Knowledge Extraction based on Evolutionary Learning) repositories, and the results of the proposed FACRM are also compared with other existing prediction models. The experimental results show that the error rate and generalization performance of the proposed model is better in the majority of data sets with respect to the commonly used models. A new method for feature selection entitled Weighting Feature Selection (WFS) is also proposed. The WFS method aims to improve the performance of FACRM model. The prediction performance is improved by minimizing the prediction error and reducing the number of generated rules. The prediction results of FACRM by employing WFS have been compared with that of FACRM and Stepwise Regression (SR) models for different data sets. The performance analysis and comparative study show that the proposed prediction model provides an effective approach that can be used within a decision support system. / Applied Science University (ASU) of Jordan

Our knowledge discovery algorithm employs a combination of association rule mining and graph mining to identify frequent spatial proximity relationships in genomic data where the data is viewed as a one-dimensional space. We apply mining techniques and metrics from association rule mining to identify frequently co-occurring features in genomes followed by graph mining to extract sets of co-occurring features. Using a case study of ab initio repeat finding, we have shown that our algorithm, ProxMiner, can be successfully applied to identify weakly conserved patterns among features in genomic data. The application of pairwise spatial relationships increases the sensitivity of our algorithm while the use of a confidence threshold based on false discovery rate reduces the noise in our results. Unlike available defragmentation algorithms, ProxMiner discovers associations among ab initio repeat families to identify larger more complete repeat families. ProxMiner will increase the effectiveness of repeat discovery techniques for newly sequenced genomes where ab initio repeat finders are only able to identify partial repeat families. In this dissertation, we provide two detailed examples of ProxMiner-discovered novel repeat families and one example of a known rice repeat family that has been extended by ProxMiner. These examples encompass some of the different types of repeat families that can be discovered by our algorithm. We have also discovered many other potentially interesting novel repeat families that can be further studied by biologists.

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