<p>Inledning: Bolagsskandaler runt om i världen har bidragit till ett strängare sätt att reglera hur bolagen styrs. Enron och WorldCom är två nordamerikanska bolag som varit bidragande orsak till den amerikanska lagstiftningen Sarbanes Oxley Act, SOX, vilken reglerar bolagsstyrningen i USA. Efter detta har den moderna världen valt att</p><p>införa någon sorts normbildning kring ämnet bolagsstyrning. Sverige har följt utvecklingen genom att under 2005 införa Svensk kod för bolagsstyrning på börsbolag med ett börsvärde över 3 miljarder kronor. Under andra halvåret 2008 kommer Koden att utvidgas för att omfatta ett större antal börsnoterade bolag i Sverige med börsvärden under 3 miljarder kronor.</p><p>Syfte: Syftet är att undersöka vad representanter för de bolag som ej ännu omfattas av Svensk kod för bolagsstyrning samt vad revisorer anser om planerna på att införa Koden för börsnoterade bolag med ett börsvärde under tre miljarder svenska kronor. Syftet är även att utifrån den information som införskaffas försöka formulera förslag på ett sätt att göra införandet smidigare för de aktuella bolagen.</p><p>Metod: Den metod vi valt att använda är ett fenomenologisk förhållningssätt till undersökningen, samt att vi valt att genomföra ett induktivt forskningsprojekt med en kvalitativ forskningsansats. Vi har gjort sex intervjuer, varav fem med företagsrepresentanter och en revisor, samt deltagit på ett seminarium berörande ämnet Svensk kod för bolagsstyrning och dess vidare införande på mindre börsnoterade bolag.</p><p>Slutsats: Den slutsats som framkommit genom denna undersökning är att uppfattningen om Koden skiljer sig mellan bolag med olika ägarstrukturer, där bolag med dominerande ägare inte ser lika stor nytta med Koden som de med spridd ägarkrets. Kunskapen om Koden i de bolag som undersökts är i dagsläget ganska bristfällig, vilket kan göra att de inte ser nyttan med Koden. I slutsatsen har vi även sammanställt fem punkter som vi anser kan underlätta implementeringen av Koden för de bolag som har denna förändring framför sig.</p> / <p>Introduction: Corporate scandals all over the world have contributed to a more strict way of handling how the corporations are managed. Enron and WorldCom are two North American companies who were the roots to the American legislation Sarbanes Oxley Act, SOX, which regulate the corporate governance within USA. The modern world has as a result of this chosen to introduce some kind of norm within the corporate governance area. Sweden has followed the development by introducing the Swedish code for corporate governance for listed companies with a stock market value over 3 billion Swedish kronor during the year of 2005. The Code will expand during the last six-month period of 2008 to enclose a bigger number of companies listed on the stock exchange market in Sweden with a stock market value below 3 billion Swedish kronor.</p><p>Purpose: The purpose is to investigate what representatives for the companies who yet have not been included by the Swedish code of corporate governance and auditors think of the plans of introducing the Code on companies with a stock market value below 3 billion Swedish kronor. The purpose is also to try to formulate a few suggestions to make the introduction as smooth as possible through the information we have received during the working procedure.</p><p>Methodology: The methodology we have chosen is a phenomenological method to approach the study. We have also chosen to apply an inductive research project with a qualitative approach towards the study. We have made 6 interviews whence 5 of them with representatives from companies and 1 of them with an auditor. Besides this we have attended on a seminar about the Swedish code for corporate governance and the further introduction of the code on smaller companies listed on the stock exchange market.</p><p>Conclusion: The conclusion that has emerged trough this study is that the opinions about the Code differ between companies with different owner structure. Companies with dominating owners do not understand the utility of the Code as the companies with wide owner structure. The knowledge about the Code in the companies that have been included in the study is today inadequate which can cause the consequence that they do not see the utility of the Code. In the conclusion we have also put together 5 suggestions on how to make the implementation of the Code easier for the changes that will be actualized.</p>

Inledning: Bolagsskandaler runt om i världen har bidragit till ett strängare sätt att reglera hur bolagen styrs. Enron och WorldCom är två nordamerikanska bolag som varit bidragande orsak till den amerikanska lagstiftningen Sarbanes Oxley Act, SOX, vilken reglerar bolagsstyrningen i USA. Efter detta har den moderna världen valt att införa någon sorts normbildning kring ämnet bolagsstyrning. Sverige har följt utvecklingen genom att under 2005 införa Svensk kod för bolagsstyrning på börsbolag med ett börsvärde över 3 miljarder kronor. Under andra halvåret 2008 kommer Koden att utvidgas för att omfatta ett större antal börsnoterade bolag i Sverige med börsvärden under 3 miljarder kronor. Syfte: Syftet är att undersöka vad representanter för de bolag som ej ännu omfattas av Svensk kod för bolagsstyrning samt vad revisorer anser om planerna på att införa Koden för börsnoterade bolag med ett börsvärde under tre miljarder svenska kronor. Syftet är även att utifrån den information som införskaffas försöka formulera förslag på ett sätt att göra införandet smidigare för de aktuella bolagen. Metod: Den metod vi valt att använda är ett fenomenologisk förhållningssätt till undersökningen, samt att vi valt att genomföra ett induktivt forskningsprojekt med en kvalitativ forskningsansats. Vi har gjort sex intervjuer, varav fem med företagsrepresentanter och en revisor, samt deltagit på ett seminarium berörande ämnet Svensk kod för bolagsstyrning och dess vidare införande på mindre börsnoterade bolag. Slutsats: Den slutsats som framkommit genom denna undersökning är att uppfattningen om Koden skiljer sig mellan bolag med olika ägarstrukturer, där bolag med dominerande ägare inte ser lika stor nytta med Koden som de med spridd ägarkrets. Kunskapen om Koden i de bolag som undersökts är i dagsläget ganska bristfällig, vilket kan göra att de inte ser nyttan med Koden. I slutsatsen har vi även sammanställt fem punkter som vi anser kan underlätta implementeringen av Koden för de bolag som har denna förändring framför sig. / Introduction: Corporate scandals all over the world have contributed to a more strict way of handling how the corporations are managed. Enron and WorldCom are two North American companies who were the roots to the American legislation Sarbanes Oxley Act, SOX, which regulate the corporate governance within USA. The modern world has as a result of this chosen to introduce some kind of norm within the corporate governance area. Sweden has followed the development by introducing the Swedish code for corporate governance for listed companies with a stock market value over 3 billion Swedish kronor during the year of 2005. The Code will expand during the last six-month period of 2008 to enclose a bigger number of companies listed on the stock exchange market in Sweden with a stock market value below 3 billion Swedish kronor. Purpose: The purpose is to investigate what representatives for the companies who yet have not been included by the Swedish code of corporate governance and auditors think of the plans of introducing the Code on companies with a stock market value below 3 billion Swedish kronor. The purpose is also to try to formulate a few suggestions to make the introduction as smooth as possible through the information we have received during the working procedure. Methodology: The methodology we have chosen is a phenomenological method to approach the study. We have also chosen to apply an inductive research project with a qualitative approach towards the study. We have made 6 interviews whence 5 of them with representatives from companies and 1 of them with an auditor. Besides this we have attended on a seminar about the Swedish code for corporate governance and the further introduction of the code on smaller companies listed on the stock exchange market. Conclusion: The conclusion that has emerged trough this study is that the opinions about the Code differ between companies with different owner structure. Companies with dominating owners do not understand the utility of the Code as the companies with wide owner structure. The knowledge about the Code in the companies that have been included in the study is today inadequate which can cause the consequence that they do not see the utility of the Code. In the conclusion we have also put together 5 suggestions on how to make the implementation of the Code easier for the changes that will be actualized.

WHAT WAS DONE? This study researches the success of several value investment strategies in the stock markets of the United Kingdom and Germany based on nine firm fundamentals that are extracted from listed firms annual financial statements. In this regard, we first examine alternative forecast combination methods in a novel way to utilise fully the financial information at hand. Second, we examine the drivers of investment returns, particularly the role of information uncertainty, for which a new direct measure is developed. Finally, we evaluate the performance of these financial health investment strategies in alternative institutional environments by focusing on the differences between the two markets regarding both their corporate culture and their legal environment. WHY WAS IT DONE? Similar to economics, the discipline of finance is a social science because its observations emanate from economic transactions between humans. Nevertheless, a significant part of the research in this area is undertaken by means that are almost exclusively applied to the natural sciences, such as mathematics or physics. Although the reasons seem manifold, an increased form of scientificity, in conjunction with greater credibility of the research process and results, is deemed to be of primary importance. However, the benchmark for evaluating these research outcomes differs from those used in the natural sciences. From the example of the efficient market hypothesis one can see that alternative research results that cast serious doubt upon efficiency per se are disregarded as aberrations, leading to the assumption that the hypothesis in its entirety is more or less valid. This study assumes that inefficiencies in the stock market do exist for prolonged periods of time and investors are actually able to benefit from them. HOW WAS IT DONE? Secondary financial statement data of listed companies in the United Kingdom and Germany were downloaded from Datastream for the period between 1992 and 2010. A quantitative analysis of the significance of the correlation between groups of firms with similar financial characteristics and their one-year-ahead stock returns was subsequently performed. Various combination methods for differential weighting of individual financial statement items were conducted. The aim was to increase the profitability of the investment strategy. WHAT WAS FOUND? In general, a classification of stocks according to certain internal criteria of financial health is capable of separating future winners from losers and at the same time confirms the results of a previous US study. More specifically, we first show that a wide range of combination methods generate profitable investment strategies whereby especially measures of profitability are the central indicator of a firm s future performance. Secondly, the more complex methods neither consistently nor substantively outperform the simpler methods. Thirdly, information uncertainty does not seem to be the prime driver of the profitability of an investment strategy. Lastly, we show that financial health investment strategies are profitable both in market-oriented, common law settings and in bank-oriented, code law settings.