Bakgrund: Under lång tid har den traditionella tolkningen varit att marknadspremier och högre avkastning på aktiemarknaden är kopplat till risk. Även den mest använda prissättningsmodellen idag, Capital Asset Pricing Model, bygger på detta antagande. I en artikel skriven av Ibbotson och Idzorek (2014) utmanas dock risk som den viktigaste faktorn bakom premier och avkastning. Artikeln innehåller stöd för att relativt hög avkastning har kunnat uppnås på den amerikanska marknaden genom att investera i portföljer med aktier som föregående år varit relativt opopulära. Den höga avkastningen genererades dessutom ofta till relativt låg risk. Intresse finns därmed att analysera effekten av aktiers popularitet även på den svenska marknaden. Syfte: Studiens syfte är att identifiera och analysera effekten av aktiers popularitet på avkastning och risk. Genomförande: I denna kvantitativa studie har aktieomsättningshastighet och aktiestorlek utgjort approximationer för popularitet. Studien har genomförts via utvärdering av avkastning och risk i aktieportföljer uppdelade utifrån variablerna aktieomsättningshastighet och storlek. Vidare har sambandet mellan popularitet och avkastning undersöks via linjär regressionsanalys. Studien har både undersökt effekten av föregående års popularitet, samt effekten av popularitet samma år. Slutsats: Studien visar ingen entydig effekt för aktiers popularitet föregående år på avkastning eller risk, när olika approximationer för popularitetsmått studeras och jämförs. Studien kan konstatera att det inte finns något samband mellan föregående års popularitet och avkastning. Däremot finns det ett positivt samband mellan popularitet och avkastning de år aktiernas popularitet uppmätts, när aktieomsättningshastighet används som approximation. Dessutom kan studien fastslå stöd för aktieomsättningshastighet som ett bra mått på aktiers popularitet. / Background: Over the past few decades it has been generally accepted that market premiums come with an associated level of risk. Even the most widely used pricing model today, CAPM, leans on this assumption. In an article written by Ibbotson and Idzorek (2014) this assumption is challenged as the main driver of market premiums and returns. The article contains evidence that relatively high returns have been earned through buying less  popular stocks on the U.S. stock market. Surprisingly the risk-return dimension exhibited an inverse relationship. This evidence from the U.S. stock market motivates us to investigate to what extent this effect can also be seen on the Swedish stock market. Aim: The aim of this thesis is to identify and analyze the effect of a stock`s popularity on the risk and return. Completion: In this quantitative study, share turnover and market capitalization have been used as approximations for popularity. The effects of stocks popularity on risk and return have been are examined by evaluating the performance of portfolios when categorizing the stocks by share turnover and market capitalization. The statistical relationship between popularity and return is analyzed using regression analysis. This study has both studied the effect of last year's popularity, as well as the effect of the popularity of the same year. Conclusion: When various approximations for the popularity dimension are studied and compared, this study shows no marked effect of stock`s popularity from the previous year on risk and return. The study finds no statistically significant relationship between the previous year ́s popularity and return. However, there is a positive statistically correlation between popularity and return when measured during the same year as when the popularity was measured. In addition, the results establish evidence for the stock turnover as a good measure of popularity.

Syfte: Studien syftar till att undersöka förhållandet mellan standardisering och anpassning. Detta genom att undersöka prestationen för olika marknadsstrategier beroende på anpassningsgrad samt omvärldsfaktorer. Problemformulering: Hur korrelerar anpassningsgraden för marknadsstrategier till prestation? Metod: Kvantitativ och kvalitativ metod har används i första hand för att angripa vår problemformulering. Valet av ansats är viktigt för att kunna avgöra lämplig analysmetod. Det finns sedan två sätt att mäta hur verkligheten ser ut och det är genom induktion och deduktion. För att få en bra överskådlig bild har fallstudie varit en utmärkt val. Flerfallstudier består av flera fall och avsikten med en sådan studie är att få fram det säregna med huvudfallet genom att jämföra med andra fall. Dessa utgör vår population och därmed måste ett urval göras för att det inte skall bli för stort och det måste rymma inom vår tidsram. Totalt har 1102 produkter undersökt för sju olika varumärkena i tio länderna. Teorier: Lönsamhet och prestation är av stor vikt i uppsatsen eftersom beslutet för om en marknadsföringsstrategi ska standardiseras eller anpassas kommer i slutändan ned till den ekonomiska vinsten för företaget. Det finns tre övergripande synsätt, total standardisering, total anpassning eller att använda en mix av dessa. Vi har använt oss av AdaptStand process modellen, och det beror på att modellen visar hur företag bör gå till väga vid utformning av marknadsstrategier. Modellen är en kombination av standardisering och anpassning och utgör ett hjälpmedel för att finna vilken grad en strategi ska anpassas/standardiseras. Marknadsmixen, de fyra P:na, har haft en ledande roll i uppsatsen. Dock föll ett av P:na bort och det var plats. Anledningen till detta var på grund av att det var svårt att få tag på informationen som behövdes för att det skulle vara relevant för att besvara problemformuleringen. Slutsatser: För att man ska vara lönsam måste man finna en balans som är tillåten mellan marknaden man vill etablera sig i samt företagets kärna. man kan inte tillämpa en marknadsstrategi fullt ut, dvs. med en total anpassning eller total standardisering. Man måste visa för den nya marknaden att man tar hänsyn till deras behov och omständigheter samtidigt ska man inte ge för mycket av vad som kärnan i ens eget företag. Kärnan kan vara namnet, logo, produkterna, förpackningarna osv. Man måste hitta en balans som fungerar för båda parter om man vill vara långvarig och lönsam på den nya marknaden och slå igenom som en världsprodukt. / Objective: This study aims to examine the relationship between standardization and adaptation. This by examining the performance of different marketing strategies depending on the degree of adaptation and environmental factors Problem formulation: How to correlate the degree of adaptation marketing strategies to performance? Methodology: Quantitative and qualitative methods have been used primarily to attack our problem. The choice of approach is important to determine the appropriate method of analysis. There are then two ways to measure the reality and it is through induction and deduction. To get a good overall picture this methodology an excellent choise for our case. More Case Studies consists of a number of cases and the purpose of this study is to seek out the peculiarity of the main case by comparing with other cases. These are our population and therefore a choice hade to be made and that was to make sure that the population become too large and it must fit within our time frame. A total of 1102 products were investigated for seven different brands in ten countries. Theories: Productivity and performance are of great importance in the essay because the decision of whether a marketing strategy to standardize or adapt will ultimately down to the economic benefit for the company. There are three general approaches, total standardization, overall adjustment, or to use a mix of these. We have used the AdaptStand process model, and it is because the model shows how companies should design there marketing strategies. The model is a combination of standardization and adaptation, and as a tool for finding the degree to which a strategy will be adapted / standardized. Marketing mix of the four P's hade a leading role in the essey. However, one of the P´s fell away and there was place. The reason for this was because it was difficult to obtain information needed for it to be relevant to answer the problem formulation. Conclusions: In order to be profitable you have to find a balance that is allowed between the market they want to establish themselves in and the company's identity. You can not use a marketing strategies in full use which a total adaptation or total standardization. You have to show for the new market that the company takes their needs and circumstances in to consideration at the same time the companies should not give too much of what is their identity. The identity may be such as the name, logo, products, packaging and so on. One must find a balance that works for both parties if you want to be a lasting and profitable company in the new market and to make it as a world product.

As architects, we cannot resist the opportunity to build good houses on generous budgets to accommodate happy families. We could use this opportunity, however, to reconfigure the detached single-family house for a group of people that are not yet family, let alone happy. These are distressed times for a growing margin of society: seniors are lonely, young families struggle with little household help and middle-aged couples continue to pay large mortgages on their “empty nest” homes. We live in a society that copes. Seniors move into annexes of their children’s homes, two young families share daily chores, and middle-aged couples invest in a property with friends. It is happening all around us, and much can be done to provide the infrastructure to both accommodate and encourage the shift. This work builds the case for a house: a shared house for the emerging demographic of non-autonomous households that fall outside the conventions of the nuclear family. The project is a social experiment that investigates, probes and predicts the dynamics between 7-12 occupants who may be family, friend or stranger. It promises not only to test current proclivities, needs and desires for domesticity and privacy, but begs to be considered as an acceptable, and even preferable, way of living.

This dissertation examines Earning per share (EPS) as a disclosure requirement for listed companies by investigating firstly, EPS disclosures in annual reports of certain selected JSE listed companies and secondly, the attitudes of the preparers of those annual reports to a number of issues relating to EPS. The three mandatory EPS disclosures - Basic EPS, Diluted EPS and Headline EPS - are discussed with a view to determining their information content and reporting framework. This study also considers whether cash based measures of performance are better than earnings based measures. Due to the reliance placed on reported EPS numbers this study attempts, by an examination of annual reports, to provide evidence as to whether or not South African companies are correctly calculating and disclosing the various EPS measures. By means of a questionnaire survey into the attitudes of the preparers of annual reports, this study also attempts to provide evidence as to the importance of the EPS measures as well as the preparers' perceptions on the appropriateness of the Headline earnings definition. The annual report survey into EPS disclosures revealed that South African companies are correctly calculating and disclosing Basic EPS. Even-though all companies correctly calculate Diluted EPS, most companies do not properly disclose Diluted EPS information. As far as Headline EPS is concerned, the annual report survey revealed that many South African companies make disallowed Headline earnings adjustments with most offenders disclosing higher Headline EPS numbers as a result. The survey into the attitudes of preparers of company reports towards various matters concerning EPS revealed that preparers of annual reports consider Headline EPS to be the most important earnings based measure of performance and the adopted Headline earnings definition as being appropriate. It is therefore important that companies calculate and disclose Headline EPS correctly. / Thesis (M.Acc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2004.

This paper estimates the effects of imports on employment, wages, and the wage share in Austria for the period of 1990-2005 using panel data of manufacturing industry. Imports are disaggregated according to their origin and as final vs. intermediate imports. There is evidence of significant negative effects of imports on employment, wages and the wage share. Particularly workers in high skilled sectors experience negative effects. Offshoring to both Eastern Europe and the developed countries have a negative impact on employment, whereas offshoring to the East has a positive effect on wages, indicating the dominance of scope effects. (author´s abstract) / Series: Department of Economics Working Paper Series

This dissertation consists of three essays on investments. The first essay examines the incidence, determinants, and consequences of hedge fund share restriction changes. This paper finds that nearly one in five hedge funds change their share restrictions (e.g., lockup) over the period of 2007-2012. Share restriction changes are not random. Fund’s asset illiquidity, liquidity risk, and performance are related to share restriction changes. A hazard model indicates that funds who actively manage liquidity concerns live longer by adjusting share restrictions. The paper examines whether changes in share restrictions create an endogeneity bias in the share illiquidity premium (Aragon, 2007) and find that 18% of the premium can be explained by the dynamic nature of contract changes. The second essay examines why mutual funds appear to underperform hedge funds. Utilizing a unique panel of mutual fund contracts changes, this paper explores several possible channels, including: alternative investment practices (e.g., short sales and leverage), performance-based compensation, and the ability to restrict the funding risk of fund flows. This paper documents that over our sample period, mutual funds were more likely to shift their contracting environment closer to that of hedge funds. However, this shift provided no benefit to mutual funds and the paper finds no causal link between these contract changes and improvements in performance. Rather, this paper casts doubt on the binding nature of investment restrictions in the mutual fund industry. The third essay examines whether the 52-week high effect (George and Hwang, 2004) can be explained by risk factors. The paper finds that it is more consistent with investor underreaction caused by anchoring bias: the presumably more sophisticated institutional investors suffer less from this bias and buy (sell) stocks close to (far from) their 52-week highs. Further, the effect is mainly driven by investor underreaction to industry instead of firm-specific information. The 52-week high strategy works best among stocks whose values are more affected by industry factors. The 52-week high strategy based on industry measurement is more profitable than the one based on idiosyncratic measurement.

The purpose of this study is to review existing literature of factors that influence farmers’ decision to participate in conservation programs. This study is also intended to collect county data and information on conservation programs and participation in the Kentucky River watershed region, which can be analyzed and used to draw differences in characteristics of the region that would suggest willingness to participate in a trading scheme for improvements in water quality. The results suggest that more participation in a trading scheme from some counties than others should be expected. Counties with more farms and larger farms will probably have higher rates of participation in conservation programs. The cost-share amounts being paid by current government programs must be considered as the minimum staring point to negotiate in a trading scheme. To target the impact of watersheds, such as the Kentucky River in the Mississippi system, that discharges significant amounts of pollutants into the Gulf of Mexico, policy makers and program administrators should be advising and stimulating the adoption of practices with the best abatement performance for such pollutants considering technical complementarity between practices.

This paper estimates the effects of outward Foreign Direct Investment (employment in the affiliates abroad) on employment, wages, and the wage share in Austria using panel data for the period of 1996-2005. There is evidence of significant negative effects of FDI on both employment and wages, and consequently on the wage share. The results are not limited to workers in low skilled sectors or blue collar workers. The negative employment effect is primarily due to the rise in the employment in the foreign affiliates in Eastern Euope. The negative wage effects are originating from affiliate employment in both the East and the developed countries in industry, but no effect is found in the total economy. (author´s abstract) / Series: Department of Economics Working Paper Series

Aktieåterköpen har haft en stor utveckling globalt sett den senaste tiden och sedan det blev rättsligt tillåtet i Sverige år 2000 använder allt fler företag aktieåterköp som metod för att distribuera pengar till sina aktieägare. Tidigare forskning visar att företagsledningar innehar en stor handlingsfrihet när det gäller publicering av nyheter och de kan till stor del styra hur företagets interna nyhetsflöde utges till marknaden. Tidigare studier åskådliggör att företagsledningar utnyttjar denna handlingsfrihet och strategiskt publicerar information för att gynna sig själva. Manipulation av nyhetsflödet vid aktieåterköp är dock ett mycket outforskat område där de få studier som förekommer har genomförts i USA. Syftet med den här uppsatsen är att undersöka och klargöra om och i vilken omfattning svenska företagsledningar manipulerar nyhetsflödet vid aktieåterköp med avsikten att gynna sig själva. Studien ska förklara om svenska företagsledningar medvetet ändrar innehållet och tidpunkten för deras nyheter i samband med aktieåterköp.  Tidigare amerikansk forskning påvisar att företagsledningar publicerar fler negativa nyheter innan ett aktieåterköp med intentionen att få en nedåtdrivande aktiekurs där aktierna återköps till ett lägre pris. Efter aktieåterköpet publiceras fler positiva nyheter för att driva upp aktiekursen igen. Uppsatsens studie visade att svenska företagsledningar publicerade fler negativa nyheter innan ett aktieåterköp och till viss del fler positiva nyheter efter ett aktieåterköp. Resultatet i uppsatsen innehöll en för hög signifikansnivå och därför var inte resultatet tillräckligt tillförlitligt för att vara statistiskt signifikant. Resultatet tolkas som att svenska företagsledningar inte manipulerar nyhetsflödet i samband med aktieåterköp i lika stor omfattning relativt företagsledningar i USA. Anledningarna till det är främst på grund av de påtagliga skillnaderna i ägarstruktur mellan Sverige och USA. Avslutningsvis diskuteras förslag till framtida forskning där det vetenskapliga arbetet om ämnesområdet skulle kunna utvecklas genom att utöka undersökningen till fler delar av Europa. På så sätt skapas en bredare bild över hur vanligt förekommande manipulation i samband med aktieåterköp är i olika delar av världen. / Share repurchases has increased a lot globally recently and since it was legally permitted in Sweden 2000, more companies use share repurchases as a method of distributing cash to their shareholders. Previous research implicates that corporate managers have a lot of control when it comes to publishing news and they can largely control the company's internal newsfeed that is published to the market. Previous studies illustrate that corporate managers trade on this control and strategic publishes information to benefit themselves. Manipulation of news feed when it comes to share repurchases is a largely unexplored area. The few studies that exist have been conducted in the United States. The purpose of this paper is to investigate and clarify if and to what extent Swedish corporate managers manipulate the news feed related to share repurchases with the intent to benefit themselves. The study will explain how the Swedish corporate managers consciously change the content and timing of their news related to share repurchases. Previous American research shows that corporate managers publish more negative news before a share repurchase with the intention of repurchase shares at a lower price. Following the share repurchase corporate managers published more positive news to push up the stock price again. This paper showed that Swedish company managers published more negative news before a share repurchase and some more positive news after a share repurchase. The result in this paper was not within the significance level and therefore was not the result reliable enough to be statistically significant. The result is interpreted as the Swedish corporate managers do not manipulate their newsfeed related to share repurchase as much as corporate managers in the United States. The reason for this is mainly due to the considerable differences in ownership structure between Sweden and the United States. Finally, we discuss suggestions for research in the future where the scientific work in the subject could be developed by extending the survey region to more parts of Europe. This would create a broader picture of how common manipulation related to share repurchase is in different parts of the world.

Uppsatsen behandlar det förstärkta laglottsskyddet i 7:4 ÄB som är en viktig del av den svenska successionsrätten samtidigt som den är svår att tillämpa i praktiken. Det är därför av vikt att bringa klarhet i detta komplexa rättsområde. Syftet med uppsatsen är därav att utreda gällande rätt kring denna rättsregel och påvisa samt analysera de praktiska tillämpningssvårigheter rättsregeln ger upphov till för domstolen med avsikt att undersöka om den är i behov av en reform av något slag. För att uppnå detta syfte används en rättsdogmatisk metod, där rättspraxis har en framträdande betydelse i uppsatsen. När någon avlider ska dennes kvarlåtenskap fördelas genom den legala arvsordningen om inget testamente har upprättats. En arvlåtare kan fritt testamentera bort den ena halvan av arvslotten medan den andra halvan utgörs av bröstarvingarnas laglott. En bröstarvinge är alltid berättigad att utfå sin laglott, vilket föranleder att en bröstarvinge kan påkalla jämkning av ett testamente som inskränker hens laglott. Det förstärkta laglottsskyddet ger bröstarvingar ett ytterligare laglottsskydd. Rättsregeln aktualiseras när en arvlåtare har bortgivit egendom under sådana omständigheter eller på sådana villkor att gåvan är att likställa med testamente och särskilda skäl ej föreligger. Om gåvan inskränker en bröstarvinges laglott ska gåvan återbäras till dödsboet. Kan gåvan inte återbäras ska ersättning motsvarande gåvans värde utgå. I rättsregelns ordalydelse återfinns tre stycken vaga rekvisit, vars innebörd har utkristalliserats i rättspraxis. Domstolen har därav tolkat vad som innefattas i begreppet gåva, vad som ska likställas med testamente samt när särskilda skäl ska anses föreligga. Vid en tillämpning av rättsregeln måste domstolen således beakta dessa vaga rekvisit, som till sist utmynnar i en subjektiv bedömning. Med det i beaktande och i samband med att vissa situationer faller utanför rättsregelns tillämpningsområde, vore det önskvärt med en reform avseende det förstärkta laglottsskyddet. / The thesis discuss the reinforced statutory share of inheritance in the 7th chapter 4 § ÄB, which is an important part of the Swedish inheritance law but likewise difficult to implement practically. It is therefore important to clarify this complex branch of law. The purpose of the thesis is to examine applicable law concerning the legal rule and to detect and analyze the practical implementation difficulties that occur for the court in order to examine if the legal rule is in need of a reformation. To achieve this purpose, a legal dogmatic method is utilized; where case-law have a prominent part of the thesis. When someone passes away, his estate shall be allocated through the legal rule of inheritance if a will has not been created. A devisor freely can bequeath one half of the share of inheritance, while the other half constitutes the direct heirs statutory share of inheritance. A direct heir is always entitled to obtain his statutory share of inheritance, which means that a direct heir can claim a will that circumscribes his statutory share of inheritance. The reinforced statutory share of inheritance gives additional protection of the statutory share of inheritance for direct heirs. The legal rule is actualized if a devisor gives property away during circumstances or upon such terms that the bequest is equivalent with a will and special reasons does not apply. If the bequest circumscribes a direct heirs’ statutory share of inheritance, the bequest shall be refunded to the estate. If the bequest cannot be refunded, remuneration corresponding to the bequest shall be reimbursed. The legal rules’ wording consists of three vague necessary conditions, whose meaning has been crystalized by case-law. The court has therefore interpreted what the term bequest is contained of, what is equivalent with a will and when special reasons shall apply. The court must therefore pay attention to these vague necessary conditions when the legal rule is applied practically, which finally results in a subjective judging. With that in mind and that some situations is not regulated within the legal rule, it would be desirable with a reformation regarding the reinforced statutory share of inheritance.