This Bachelor thesis focuses on examining the Ghanaian state's policies regarding inward Foreign Direct Investments and furthermore the policy implementation to attract and receive FDI, the question asked is What policy choices have been implemented by Ghana to attract Chinese FDI? This thesis employs a single case study design with a qualitative approach as it seeks to draw upon Liberal IPE and RAM to understand the policy choices in attracting FDI, more specifically how Ghana has shaped their policies. When conducting the analysis, the thesis assembles documents, both primary and secondary data to be able to answer the research question. The documents used for gathering data is from Ghana's government as well as governmental organisations, governmental policies and official statistics to peer reviewed articles and organisational data. This enables the thesis to find empirical evidence to support the aims of the conducted research. Moreover, secondary data will be used to situate, contextualize and present the findings. The main problem seen is how the policy behaviour of governments is conducted to receive FDI in this trudge. The solution to the problem is presented to be the policy decision taken to open markets and welcoming Foreign Direct Investment, through reforms aimed at both domestic companies and market as well as to the global markets and actors.

This thesis will apply a theory consuming method studying voter turnout between swing states in the United States. To accomplish the theory consuming study, the study is divided into two phases. It will start testing Downs’ rational choice theory and apply this to voter turnout. It will then move on to applying the independent variables, socioeconomic background and voting laws to understand voter turnout from this perspective. The study starts with the hypothesis that Downs’ rational choice theory should be able to explain swing states’ voter participation. However, the research shows rational choice theory cannot explain the voter turnout in swing states. In the second phase, the study tests socioeconomic background and voting laws. These two independent variables better explain the voter turnout in swing states. Being well educated while being well off financially have a bigger impact than what rational choice theory can explain. It does not matter if P is overestimated and C is almost nil, it did not help to explain the voter difference in swing states, even though according to the theory, swing states should vote accordingly. To be able to increase voter turnout in swing states with a low voter turnout, not only does voting laws have to become more liberal, but one law in particular seems to make the biggest difference: the possibility to register on election day. However, changing voting laws are not enough. The largest impact is your socioeconomic background. A high educational attainment and being financially stable over the poverty level are the core reasons for voter turnout. Taking people out of poverty and creating opportunities for all to attend college is where higher voter turnout starts.

本文旨在探討資產重估價之資訊內涵，以及其所處之資訊環境。資產重估價可讓財務報表的表達較趨近於現實價值，亦有稅負優勢，然不顯著。在理性預期環境中，投資者若以為公司現實價值為重要資訊，則其應會以極快速度將其所知現值反應於股價上。然文獻中顯示，我國上市公司在發布資產重估價資訊時，股價會具正面的異常反應，顯然與理性預期理論所預測者相矛盾。所以本研究結論，不是公司現值的資訊無用處，便是另有原因。本研究深入研究探討發現，股價異常行為大多可歸因於，資產重估價可厚實資本公積轉增資的基礎，而未來的資本公積轉增資具填權效果。此為投資者所以為的資產重估價利基之所在。然而，資本公積轉增資僅屬會計科目重分類，所以無具經濟實質意義。 　　於此，資產重估價資訊產生一個矛盾現象，若從投資者的未來現金衡量角度來看，資產重估價具經濟實質意義。若從公司經濟實質來看，資產重估價不具經濟實質意義。這個結果意味著投資者所支付因資產重估價所導致的股價高於公司經濟實質。本研究證明，在沒有資訊或資訊結構無效確實不知情投資者會因資產重估價支付高價，而將其財富移轉與知情投資者。因此股價的形成雖為均衡，然係不具效率的資源配置。 　　觀諸我國股市環境，缺乏專業分析師從事分析與解釋具專業化程度的財務報表，因此結果與沒有資訊或資訊結構無效率的條件相若。亦即與第三章所證明的結果相彷彿。在資產重估價資訊下，不知情投資者會支付高價並將高價的財富移轉與知情投資者。所以，我國股市中，股價雖為均衡的結果，然不具效率性。 　　要解決我國股市資訊環境不良，可創造一資訊蒐集成本為零的股市環境。亦即創造一競爭有效的專業財務分析產業，讓每個投資者分攤極低的財務專業分析與解釋的共同成本。如此便可消除如資產重估價效應的無效率解。此為本研究所稱「資產重估價資訊環境理論」。

鑑於我國現行承銷制度下新上市股票上市後的股價行為異於尋常（如蜜月期的問題），故本研究的目的在於以理性預期均衡理論及其他相關理論來探討新上市股票股價的問題，進而由理論中對資訊與股價之關係的推論來評議我國目前新上市股票承銷制度及股市的資訊環境。 　　新上市股票最重要的經濟特質在於上市前鮮為人知，其公司原始股東與上市後潛在股東間存在一個嚴重的資訊不對稱問題，證管會特以公開說明書為工具，藉此公開公司原始舊股東所持有之優越資訊，以解決此種資訊不對稱的情況。就理論上而言，一個合理的承銷制度應能令投資者「所付等於所值」，其上市後的第一個均衡價應等於承銷價，且其上市後的股價行為應與相關資訊呈系統化的關係。然而從實證的資料與分析結果顯示，我國新上市股票股價行為（包括承銷價）具異常性，根據理性預期均衡理論，這種異常股價行為歸因於股價與公開說明書上的財務資訊不具系統化的關係，亦即投資者間異質性的預期、投資者的變現性需求、及財務資訊之收集、分析與解釋成本過高（就個別投資人而言）所致的雜訊主導了這種異常的股價行為，故可謂目前的新上市股票承銷制度功能不彰，其合理性仍嫌不足。 　　現行新上市股票承銷制度下係規範公開說明書的財務報表需經會計師簽證，而其他資訊則需由承銷商以盡專業注意的方式來確認資訊之公開與忠實表達，若有不實表達處再課以法律責任。本研究以為這種資訊不對稱的解決設計，其運作之良窳尚有賴資訊環境的配合，故擬發展「資訊環境理論」，以說明強化財務資訊收集、分析與解釋的功能，或降低個別投資人對此類資訊的搜尋成本，可因而降低投資者異質性預期與變現性需求所產生的雜訊。其次本研究以為，為使公開財務資訊具品質保證與齊一性，並促使財務資訊環境更能有效運作，除可賦予法律責任外，藉由自律規範對承銷商之專業注意力與職業道德加以規範已屬必要。據此，更發展了「最低承銷品質理論」，透過此二理論的發展，以強化目前承銷制度的功能。

La théorie de cordes unifie de façon naturelle les théories de jauge, qui décrivent les interactions entre les particules élémentaires, avec une théorie quantique de la gravitation. Ces dernières années ont apporté de grands progrès dans la compréhension des états non-perturbatifs de la théorie, ses aspects holographiques, ainsi que la construction de modèles proches du Modèle Standard. Néanmoins, il reste des défis pour la théorie de cordes, qui incluent une définition non-perturbative, une meilleure compréhension de l'holographie, et le problème de la constante cosmologique. Ma recherche s'est concentrée sur des aspects formels des théories de gravitation quantique, qui incluent les trous noirs, la dépendance du temps, et l'holographie. Gr^ace à de nouveaux résultats dans le domaine de la théorie conforme avec spectre continu, mes collaborateurs et moi-m^eme avons avancé dans la compréhension de l'holographie dans des fonds avec dilaton linéaire, ainsi que dans le plongement de théories de jauge supersymétriques dans la théorie de cordes. En particulier, on a étudié des théories conformes supersymétriques avec spectre continu que l'on utilise pour construire des fonds de théories de cordes non-compacts et courbés. Les résultats obtenus nous ont permis de décrire des exemples explicites de symétrie miroir pour des fonds non-compacts. En introduisant des bords dans les théories conformes, on a analysé des états non-perturbatifs de la théorie de cordes, les D-branes. A basse énergie, les degrés de liberté sur les D-branes interagissent par des interactions de jauge. Avec ces outils, on a réussi à plonger une dualité infrarouge de théorie de jauge supersymétrique dans la théorie de cordes, et on a montré que la dualité correspond à une monodromie pour les états de bord dans l'espace de modules de la théorie conforme.<br><br> Dans cette thèse, on discute de nombreux autres liens entre la théorie conforme, la théorie de jauge et la gravitation. La plupart des contributions décrites étaient motivées par la théorie de cordes. Des exemples sont l'analyse d'états qui préservent la supersymétrie et leur lien avec les algèbres affines, la dépendance du temps et le dictionnaire holographique, l'analyse directe de la quantification de la gravité en présence d'un trou noir, la réalisation du scenario sans-bord pour la fonction d'onde de l'univers en théorie de cordes, une formule de Verlinde pour les théories conformes non-rationnelles et la construction de solutions non-géometriques à la supergravité. Dans d'autres travaux, je me suis concentré sur des théories qui quantifient la gravité plus directement, mais qui pourraient avoir moins de succès dans le problème de l'unification des forces en quatre dimensions. Ces théories ont quand-m^eme le potentiel de nous apprendre des aspects communs à toute théorie de gravitation quantique. Par exemple, on a analysé les degrés de liberté responsables de l'entropie d'un trou noir en trois dimensions, et nous avons argumenté sur la difficulté de reconcilier l'invariance modulaire avec l'unitarité en dehors de la théorie de cordes. On a aussi discuté la diffusion de ces trous noirs. D'autres contributions à la théorie de jauge non-commutative, la théorie de jauge supersymétrique, la production de paires dans un espace courbe, et cetera, sont aussi relativement indépendantes du cadre de la théorie de cordes.<br><br> Il me semble qu'il reste intéressant d'étudier des questions difficiles sur la théorie de jauge et la gravitation quantique, dans la cadre de la théorie de cordes, et en dehors de ce cadre, et d'^etre guidé par des problèmes ouverts durs qui doivent mener à un progrès concret par incréments ou par sauts.

<p>Reports of software a development projects that miss schedule, exceeds budget and deliver products with poor quality are abundant in the literature. Both researchers and the industry are seeking methods to counter these trends and improve software quality.</p><p>Software Process Improvement is a systematic approach to improve the capabilities and performance of software organizations. One basic idea is to assess the organizations’ current practice and improve their software process on the basis of the competencies and experiences of the practitioners working in the organization. A major challenge is to create strategies and mechanisms for managing relevant and updated knowledge about software development and maintenance. Insights from the field of knowledge management are therefore potentially useful in software process improvement efforts to facilitate the creation, modification, and sharing of software processes in any organization.</p><p>In the work presented in this thesis, we have made an overview of empirical studies on the effect of knowledge management in software engineering. We have categorized these studies according to a framework and we report findings on the major concepts that have been investigated empirically, as well as the research methods applied within the field. We have also investigated two main strategies for knowledge management, codification and personalization, through the application of four concrete methods in a software process improvement setting: Mentoring, Rational Unified Process, Process Workshops and Post Mortem Analysis.</p><p>We have classified the work in this thesis within three main themes:</p><p>RT1: Previous research on knowledge management in software engineering.</p><p>RT2: Application of knowledge management to improve the software process through codification of knowledge.</p><p>RT3: Application of knowledge management to improve the software process through personalization of knowledge.</p><p>The main contributions are:</p><p>C1: An overview of the research literature on empirical studies of knowledge management in software engineering.</p><p>C2: A method for tailoring the Rational Unified Process to the development process of a software consulting company.</p><p>C3: Improvements of the Process Workshops method by contextualization.</p><p>C4: Improvement of the root-cause analysis phase of the lightweight Post Mortem Analysis for more effective project retrospectives.</p><p>C5: Proposed methods to increase the learning effect of mentor programs in software engineering.</p>

<p>The aim of this case study is to analyse cooperation mainly in issues related to water management in the area along the Miño river. The study focuses on the Spanish municipalities that limit with the river and that are in the border area with Portugal. There was a key issue which was discovered during the reading and analysis of data, a change of no cooperation to cooperation on the Spanish-Portuguese border. There was previously a political culture of no cooperation among the autonomous regions in Spain, which could have affected cooperation with the region of north Portugal. The fact the both countries have different administrative cultures could also impede cooperation. Nevertheless cooperation seems to have developed and in order to study this phenomenon the researcher uses a qualitative method and relies on a choice of institutional theories. This research studies how institutions affect cooperation in this particular case. The theories will analyse the impact of political institutions and the relation between institutions and individuals. They also help to identify how human behaviour affects processes and events.</p>

<p>The relations between Greece and Turkey have developed at an unprecedented level in recent years. Behind this development lay certain factors notably the Simitis Governments’ strategy of redefining the parameters of Greek national interests in foreign policy and the Turkish Governments’ subsequent positive responses to this favorable atmosphere. It is thus possible to use the term ‘détente’ to refer to the period which dates back to 1996, the rise of Simitis to the Greek premiership. Some observers on Greco-Turkish Relations tend to trace the origins of Greco-Turkish détente to the devastating 17 August earthquake in Turkey. Some others try to find the origin of détente in the 1999 Helsinki Summit where Turkey was offered the candidacy status for the EU membership. This thesis proposes an alternative approach by defending the view that the rise of Simitis to the prime ministry itself heralded the chain of events which would later pave the road to the relaxation of Greco-Turkish Relations.</p><p>This thesis is a modest attempt to understand the anatomy of Simitis Leadership and its reflections on Greco-Turkish Relations. On the basis of certain turning points in a chronological fashion, it will uncover the background of an eight-year ruling term with its ups and downs. There is an irony in Greco-Turkish Relations: Outbreak of crises between the two neighbors led both the Greek and the Turkish political actors to re-examine their attitude in the following phase of their relationship. In the Simitis Era, the tensions created opportunities for building up networks of cooperation initiatives to a certain extent. I also argue here that spillover logic in Greco-Turkish Relations has started working- albeit cautiously- and that this spirit could be sustainable if managed by both sides wisely. Continuation of the Greco-Turkish détente even after the governmental change in Athens in April 2004 demonstrates that the Simitis Leadership has determined a new framework for Greco- Turkish Relations. This framework has been set through pushing Turkey to the future EU membership orientation and setting mechanisms of reward/punishment (or carrot/stick) policy on Turkey’s route to Brussels through the EU.</p>

<p>The world of systems engineering methods is changing as rigorous ‘off-the-shelf’ systems engineering methods become more popular. One example of such a systems engineering method is Rational Unified Process. In order to cover all phases in a software development process, and a wide range of project-types, such methods need to be of an impressive size. Thus, the need for configuring such methods in a structured way is increasing accordingly. In this thesis, method configuration is considered as a particular kind of method engineering that focuses on tailoring a standard systems engineering method. We propose a meta-method for method configuration based on two fundamental values: standard systems engineering method’s rationality and reuse. A conceptual framework is designed, introducing the concepts Configuration Package and Configuration Template. A Configuration Package is a pre-made ideal method configuration suitable for a delimited characteristic of a (type of) software artifact, or a (type of) software development project, or a combination thereof. Configuration Templates with different characteristics are built combining a selection of Configuration Packages and used as a base for a situational method. The aim of the proposed meta-method is to ease the burden of configuring the standard systems engineering method in order to reach an appropriate situational method.</p>

<p>Att designa en generell och utbyggbar mjukvara är inte enkelt, då det krävs en bred kompetens inom många olika områden. Vi belyser i detta arbete en del av problematiken kring design. Utgångspunkten är ett praktikfall vars målmiljö rör processer och integrationer. Huvudfokus ligger på designmönster, men även en bredare genomgång av ämnen så som utvecklingsmetodik, Service Oriented Architecture (SOA), Web Services (WS) och utvecklingsmiljöer presenteras. Arbetet bedrivs i enlighet med riktlinjer från Rational Unified Process (RUP) och slutprodukten är en checklista på tre punkter. De tre punkterna speglar de lärdomar vi dragit av arbetet genom saker vi gjort och saker vi borde ha gjort. God design kan uppnås genom att förstå den uppgift man åtagit sig, utvärdera sitt resultat och delresultat samt genom användandet av rätt verktyg. Framtida forskningsområden med anknytning till vårt rör förslagsvis metoders betydelse för mjukvarudesign, dynamiska perspektiv hos utvecklare och mer enhetlighet kring begreppet SOA.</p>