Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka huruvida en aktiv individ får högre framtida pensionsutbetalningar än en individ som låter kapitalet vara kvar i Premiesparfonden. Vår undersökning har en deduktiv ansats, då ekonomiska teorier har utgjort grunden för de beräkningar som har gjorts. Beräkningarna bygger på hårddata, i form av historiska fondvärden, och studien är därmed kvantitativ. Tidigare undersökningar och beräkningar används för att styrka uppsatsen, som i och med detta är en sekundäranalys.   Den placeringsstrategi som visade sig ge högst framtida utbetalningar med hänsyn tagen till risken var den aktiva placeringen. De portföljer som de aktiva premiepensionstagarna har att välja mellan i vår studie, ger alla högre framtida utbetalningar än Premiesparfonden. Vidare kan tilläggas att Premiesparfonden är ett av alternativen som har för hög risk i förhållande till dess låga avkastning. Det skulle vara intressant att om några år, då Premiespar-fonden har förändrats till generationsfonder, göra om denna studie och då undersöka om detta leder till högre pensionsutbetalningar för de icke-aktiva premiepensionstagarna. Denna studie bidrar med och stärker, genom konkreta exempel, det som en del andra författare redan påpekat, att de icke- aktiva premiepensionsspararna får lägre framtida utbetalningar än de som är aktiva i sitt sparande. / The aim of this thesis is to compare if being an active premium pension saver give rise to higher future payments, than keeping the capital in the Premium Savings Fund. This essay has a deductive approach, as we started to study financial theories. It also has a quantitative research, since our calculations are called statistical data, which are composed of these financial theories. Previous studies and calculations are used to prove our essay. The best investment strategy with the highest future payments, regarding risk preferences, turned out to be the active choice. All the choices an active premium pension saver can make by choose one of our different portfolios, has proved higher future payments, than The Premium Pension Fund. Further, the Premium Savings Fund is one of alternatives which have a lower return, regarding to the high level of risk. It would be interesting to remake this study, when the new funds "generationsfonderna" has been introduced, and to see if this alternative leads to higher future payments. This study contributes, through substantial examples, what some other writers already have done. A non-active premium pension saver gets lower future payments then the active savers.

The façade retrofit market faces some key barriers: the selection of performance criteria and the reliability of the performance data. On the demand side, the problem is approached from an investment perspective which creates "split incentives" between the stakeholders who pay for the investment and those who benefit from it. On the supply side, there is an inherent complexity in modeling these options because of the incomplete knowledge of the physical and cost parameters involved in the performance evaluation. The thermal comfort of the building occupant is an important component of the retrofit performance assessment. This research attempts to fill a gap in the approach to façade retrofit decision by 1) quantifying uncertainties in these three dimensions of performance, 2) incorporating new financing models available in the retrofit market, 3) considering the target and risk attitude of the decision maker. The methodology proposed in this research integrates key indicators for delivery process, environmental performance, and investment performance. The purpose is to provide a methodological framework for performance evaluation. A residential case study is conducted to test the proposed framework. Three retrofit scenarios including the financing structure are examined. Each façade retrofit scenario is then evaluated based on the level of confidence to meet or exceed a specific target improvement for the Net Present Value and the risk to fall below a minimum improvement threshold. The case study results confirm that risk must be considered for more reliable façade retrofit decision-making. Research findings point to further research needed to expand the understanding of the interdependencies among uncertain parameters.

This research examined if travelers are paying for travel on managed lanes (MLs) as they indicated that they would in a 2008 survey. The other objectives of this research included estimating travelers’ value of travel time savings (VTTS) and their value of travel time reliability (VOR), and examining the multiple survey designs used in a 2008 survey to identify which survey design better predicted ML traveler behavior. To achieve the objectives, an Internet-based follow-up stated preference (SP) survey of Houston’s Katy Freeway travelers was conducted in 2010. Three survey design methodologies—Db-efficient, random level generation, and adaptive random—were tested in this survey. A total of 3,325 responses were gathered from the survey, and of those, 869 responses were from those who likely also responded to the previous 2008 survey. Mixed logit models were developed for those 869 previous survey respondents to estimate and compare the VTTS to the 2008 survey estimates. It was found that the 2008 survey estimates of the VTTS were very close to the 2010 survey estimates. In addition, separate mixed logit models were developed from the responses obtained from the three different design strategies in the 2010 survey. The implied mean VTTS varied across the design-specific models. Only the Db-efficient design was able to estimate a VOR. Based on this and several other metrics, the Db-efficient design outperformed the other designs. A mixed logit model including all the responses from all three designs was also developed; the implied mean VTTS was estimated as 65 percent ($22/hr) of the mean hourly wage rate, and the implied mean VOR was estimated as 108 percent ($37/hr) of the mean hourly wage rate. Data on actual usage of the MLs were also collected. Based on actual usage, the average VTTS was calculated as $51/hr. However, the $51/hr travelers are paying likely also includes the value travelers place on travel time reliability of the MLs. The total (VTTS+VOR) amount estimated from the all-inclusive model from the survey was $59/hr, which is close to the value estimated from the actual usage. The Db-efficient design estimated this total as $50/hr. This research also shows that travelers have a difficulty in estimating the time they save while using a ML. They greatly overestimate the amount of time saved. It may well be that even though travelers are saving a small amount of time they value that time savings (and avoiding congestion) much higher – possibly similar to their amount of perceived travel time savings. The initial findings from this study, reported here, are consistent with the hypothesis that travelers are paying for their travel on MLs, much as they said that they would in our previous survey. This supports the use of data on intended behavior in policy analysis.

The market is developing and a growing competition increases pressure on companies to maintain their competitive advantage. Working with cost savings is a way to enhance earnings in a short term but also in a longer perspective. Volvo Powertrain Production Köping has an overall goal; to reduce costs by nine percentages in three years. To achieve the goal, Volvo Powertrain Production Köping works with World Class Manufacturing where the Department of Processing Technology constitutes an important part. Volvo Powertrain Production Köping lacks a standard for how savings within the metal cutting tool area are to be calculated. This makes it difficult to control and monitor their business outcome but it also causes difficulties in controlling the tool suppliers’ outcome. The suppliers’ outcome is later used as the basis in price negotiations which means that Volvo Powertrain Production Köping lacks information that can improve their outcome of a negotiation. The aim of the project is to increase understanding of how activities of processing technology affect productivity through a spreadsheet model. Starting with a current status report and a literature review revealed that many companies are missing an hourly rate designed at machine level. There are theories saying that the machine hourly rate should be allocated for both producing state and downtime, which in subsequent interviews with other companies proves to be far from being reality. Collected information was analyzed and a model was developed. The model has been tested in two improvement projects and the outcome has been compared with existing calculations from tool vendors. The result of the thesis is a standardized savings model with a machine specific hourly rate, taking into account both producing and downtime states. The savings model is based on the currently used Cost Deployment system. The proposed spreadsheet will monitor the outcome of tool suppliers which will result in a better control of cost savings and price negotiations. The savings model is not solely for savings calculations; the model also helps the user to understand how different parameters affect the cost of manufacturing. The expectation is to increase cost awareness and reduce the risk of sub-optimization in Volvo Powertrain Production Köping´s operations. The developed hourly rate is not specific to processing technology but the entire company can benefit from the spreadsheet. From a wider viewpoint, the model is applicable to manufacturing companies that have a detailed loss monitoring system similar to Cost Deployment. / Marknaden utvecklas och konkurrensen ökar vilket medför ett ökat tryck på företagen att behålla sin konkurrensfördel. Att arbeta med kostnadsbesparingar är det säkraste sättet för att öka förtjänsten på kort sikt men även i ett längre perspektiv. Volvo Powertrain Production Köping har ett övergripande mål som innebär att kostnaderna ska reduceras med nio procent på tre år. För att uppnå målet arbetar Volvo Powertrain Production Köping med World Class Manufacturing där bearbetningsteknik utgör en viktig del. Volvo Powertrain Production Köping saknar en standard för hur besparingar inom bearbetningsteknik ska beräknas. Detta medför svårigheter att kontrollera och följa upp den egna verksamhetens utfall men också svårigheter att kontrollera verktygsleverantörernas utfall som ligger till grund för inköpsförhandlingar. Syftet med examensarbetet är att öka förståelsen för hur aktiviteter inom det bearbetningstekniska området påverkar produktiviteten genom en kalkylmodell. Arbetet började med en nulägesbeskrivning och en litteraturgenomgång som visade att många företag saknade en timkostnad framtagen på maskinnivå. Det finns teori som säger att maskintimkostnaden bör finnas både för producerande tillstånd och stillestånd vilket i efterföljande kvalitativa intervjuer med andra företag visar sig vara långt ifrån verkligheten. Insamlad information analyserades och en modell utvecklades. Modellen har testats i två förbättringsprojekt och utfallet har jämförts med befintliga kalkyler från verktygsförsäljare. Resultatet av examensarbetet är en standardiserad besparingskalkyl med en maskinspecifik timkostnad där hänsyn tas till om maskinen producerar eller om maskinen har oplanerat stillestånd. Besparingskalkylen är baserad på Cost Deployment som redan används inom Volvo Powertrain Production Köping. Besparingsmodellen är inte enbart till för att beräkna besparingar utan modellen kan också hjälpa användaren att förstå hur olika parametrar påverkar tillverkningskostnaden i hopp om att öka kostnadsmedvetenheten och minska risken för suboptimering i den egna verksamheten. Den framtagna timkostnaden är inte specifik för bearbetningsteknik utan hela företaget har nytta av kalkylen vid besparingsberäkningar. I ett större perspektiv är modellen applicerbar på tillverkningsföretag som har en noggrann förlustuppföljning liknande Cost Deployment.

Syfte: Syftet med studien är att analysera yngre vuxna i Stockholms sparbeteende inför inträdelsen på bostadsmarknaden utifrån livscykelhyoptesen. Teori: Den främsta teoritillämpningen för studien är livscykelhypotes om människans generella och rationella sparbeteende. Även Maslows behovshierarki behandlas då den angriper det social- psykologiska perspektivet angående behovet av att ha en bostad och Behavioral Finance angriper andra yttre faktorer som kan påverka huruvida en människa sparar eller inte. Metod: Studiens metodansats består av en metodkombination, detta innefattar en enkätundersökning med svarsalternativ som skedde inom Stockholmsområdet. Det innefattar även tre intervjuer med etablerade experter inom studiens område. Studien har en hermeneutisk vetenskapssyn och en abduktiv slutledningsform. Empiri: Presenterar den data som är mest relevant för studien från samtliga tre intervjuer och enkätundersökningen. Erhållen kvantitativ data presenteras i diagram. Slutsats: Studien påvisar att majoriteten av populationen anser att bostadsmarknaden är svår att inträda och att det är främst på grund av bostadsbrist och likvida skäl. Tendenser visar dock ett möjligt behov om att sparandet inför bostadsmarknadsinträdet bör läras ut och implementeras av individer i tidigare ålder, än vad livscykelhypotesen antyder. Föräldrar eller vårdnadshavare kan bli för ekonomiskt belastade på grund av delvis ökade bostadspriser. Därför bör barn samarbeta med deras föräldrar eller vårdnadshavare för att förebygga och bemöta bostadsmarknadsinträdet på ett optimalt sätt. Dock ska det tas i beaktning att alla hushåll eller privatpersoner inte har dessa ekonomiska förutsättningar för att efterfölja studiens generella och rationella sparbeteende.

Abstract Title: Client Information Needs of MFIs: A Case Study of ASA Bangladesh Author: Juber Ahmed Academic Advisor: Dr. Klaus Solberg Søilen Department: School of Management, Blekinge Institute of Technology Course: Master Thesis in Business Administration Purpose: To enrich the knowledge base of client’s needs of financial services and assessing the tools MFIs used to collect clients’ information and how they utilized the information for developing new products and services or modifying existing products and services or their terms and conditions to meet the needs of financial services of their clientele. Also how MFIs organized and managed the information and how they categorized their clients using that information. Method: The investigation conducted from both a theoretical and an empirical point of view. The deductive approach used for the study and the case study method deployed. I studied ASA which is an MFI renowned in Bangladesh and beyond. At first, I had gone through a secondary research for collecting a number of successful methods and standard types of information used by successful MFIs from existing literature. In primary research, I interviewed 10 Managers (Assistant Directors) for ASA to determine which of the methods found in the literature were more effective for collecting clients’ information for them and also asked them to add their ideas to the list. At last I asked interviewees to rate the methods and results presented in this paper. Theory: This study was an exploratory one where I discussed the related aspects for the study - Microfinance, Client Assessment, Clients of Microfinance, Information needs and Management Information System. Findings: The study showed that ASA utilized client information for developing their credit products and services and based on number of loans taken by the clients they categorized their clients and modified or developed new products and services for each category of clients. Although ASA executed several tools for collecting client information but the managers think that their staffs’ collection of information from regular meeting with clients was more effective than others for modifying products’ terms and conditions and modifying or developing new products and services to their women and small enterprise clients. The conducted study also revealed that in ASA impact study was necessary to know clients’ overall level of satisfaction but management needed specific information on what aspects of ASA and its credit products and services clients preferred and did not prefer and the reasons of the preferences. Also they needed action plan to address clients’ specific concerns, so they needed the information on a continual basis and they were successful to achieve this continuous flow of information. For ASA, the best way to get this type of information would be through client satisfaction Focus Group Discussions (FGDs), although they utilized several tools but not often as discussed in part 3 in chapter 5. ASA owned an MIS (AMMS) for monitoring and managing clients’ information and they utilized this to categorize their clients based on the collected information about their number of loans. Conclusion: This study revealed that ASA served only women and small enterprise clientele that included the vulnerable non-poor and could contribute to the profitability of ASA. There was no attempt to diversify the products to include all poor that should be the goal of microfinance to alleviate poverty. Moreover client treated as individual client but the loans used to fulfill household or family needs of the clients. There were tools for collecting information on household about impact of credit programs participation but they took seldom effort for collecting information of the household money management or in other words how they utilized the loans for variety of household needs. There is lack of access to a variety of financial services for poor clients, even though MFIs are mostly serving vulnerable non-poor instead of taking consideration of all categories of poor. It revealed from the study that MFIs could gain long term success by serving specific market segment but it should not be only focus of MFIs, their initiative should be to include all poor in their clients profile with a priority to a specific market segment. This could help them to become sustainable and to minimize risks by spreading it in different market segments. The study found that ASA considered FGDs as an effective tool for collecting clients’ information as their staffs and managers were familiar with this tool, moreover it was cost effective for them. It observed that they seldom followed Tool Selection Process and it was the top management that decided over the tools, the decision might influence by internal and external interest groups and the competition. MFIs should organize client information in a way so that they could be able to manipulate the specific client information to serve client better and to take effective decision, although it is imperative to argue that they may like to serve the wealthier clients. This research paper is also presenting some important findings from existing literature of microfinance and a number of recommendations based on the study experience and scholars opinions from existing microfinance study that may help MFIs to prepare themselves to adopt client-oriented approach by utilizing client assessment tools to fulfill the needs of financial services of their clients that may hopefully include all poor irrespective of their categories.

The purpose of this research is to understand and describe the causes affecting the financial institutions’ implementation of reverse mortgage in Sweden as well as the consequences of a large scale implementation, shedding some new light upon the issue of reverse mortgages. This was done from a financial institution point of view. As existent literature in this field of research is currently small in extent, especially in a Swedish context where almost no academic literature has been written, it serves as an exploratory research. From a researcher’s point of view it could hopefully give interesting insights on how new financial products are implemented in general, shedding some light on possible difficulties that may arise during these processes. The research was designed using a qualitative research method. In order to investigate the issues presented several individuals were interviewed from different financial institutions offering various kinds of reverse mortgages in Sweden. Interviews were semi-structured and only the six financial institutions that offer reverse mortgage in Sweden were included. The findings made, as well as the interview questions, were divided into several different sections adopted from the theoretical framework so as make the research more comprehensible and stringent. Because the research design is of exploratory nature it evolved over time, as the authors did not know initially what they would find. The findings provided many interesting insights that were not thought of before. Three major themes were found that could help explain the causes affecting the financial institutions’ implementation of reverse mortgage in Sweden as well as the consequences of a large scale implementation. These themes were age, generation, mentality, macro economical factors, and financial institutions offering reverse mortgage.

Efterfrågan på räntefria banktjänster har ökat i Sverige, vilket främst beror på den utvecklande invandringen som efterföljer religiösa principer i sitt vardagsliv. Detta har vidare resulterat i att allt fler individer i det svenska samhället väljer att avstå från stora lån samt sparande då det strider mot deras religion. Individer som således är i behov utav kapital, vänder sig istället till vänner samt släktingar för att exempelvis kunna ha möjlighet till att köpa en bostad. En av de mest väsentliga faktorerna till varför konventionella banker inte utvecklar räntefria sparalternativ är på grund av reglering samt lagstiftning. Historiskt sett har det traditionella systemet i bankerna funnits under en väldigt lång tid, vilket resulterar i en effektiv reglerings- samt tillsynsorgan. Bankerna anser även att en utveckling av räntefritt sparande kräver en efterfrågan som är större än vad den är i dagsläget. Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka hur konventionella banker förhåller sig till räntefritt sparande samt hur den yttre omgivningen, exempelvis andra banker samt finansiella aktörer, påverkar banken. En abduktiv ansats har använts tillsammans med en hermeneuistisk kunskapssyn, med en kvalitativ metod som genomsyrar uppsatsen. Intresset kring att utreda hur konventionella banker förhåller sig till räntefritt sparande har bland annat varit för att få en djupare förståelse för ett område som det inte har forskats mycket kring. En kvalitativ metod tillämpades i sin tur genom utförande av intervjuer bestående av sex intervjupersoner. Detta för att uppfylla syftet med studien. Studien har resulterat i att bankerna tillämpar olika strategier för att ha en möjlighet att erbjuda kunder räntefritt sparande. Det är på så sätt eftersom de inte har en samlad produkt där alla banktjänster ingår. Denna studie påvisar även att bankerna påverkas av förändringar samt produktutveckling i andra banker. Vidare påverkas de också av nya regleringar samt lagar från finansiella aktörer, som Finansinspektionen. Den förändring som har haft en tydlig påverkan på bankerna är att arbetet har begränsats väldigt mycket, vilket har medfört till att fler medarbetare arbetar utanför sina handlingsramar för att på så sätt kunna uppnå de mål som ställs på dem. / The demand for interest-free banking services has increased in Sweden. This is mostly due to an increased number of immigrants that practices religious principles in their everyday lives. This has also resulted in more individuals choosing to avoid large loans and savings when it goes against their religion. One example is when individuals want to buy a house and, instead of investing by taking large loans from banks they are turning to friends and relatives. One of the most significant factors to why conventional banks don’t develop interest- free savings options is because of legal inferences. Historically, the traditional system of banking has existed for a very long time, resulting in an effective regulatory and supervisory body. Even if there are banks that concider the development of interest-free savings, a greater demand would be required for it to come about. The purpose of this thesis is to investigate how conventional banks relate to interest- free savings and the surroundings both in terms of how other banks and financial players, influence the banks. An abductive approach has been used along with hermeneutics as well as a qualitative method. The choice has landed on this to get a deeper understanding of an area that is not well explored. In order to fill the important gaps in the literature and to fill the purpose of this study, six interviews were performed. Findings from the study shows that banks have different ways of offering customers interest- free savings. However, they do not have a turnkey product without designing trough customer needs. While this study shows that banks are affected greatly by what other banks are developing and changing, it also affected by new regulations and laws from financial participants as FSA. The biggest impact on banks is that the work has been limited much more than it was before, which has led more employees working differently to be able to achieve the objectives they have.

Thesis (M. Pharm.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2008.

Thesis (M. Pharm.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2008.