Idag arbetar allt fler företag och organisationer utifrån CSR-aktiviteter eftersom det är någonting allmänheten kräver mer och mer, att företag och organisationer ska ta hänsyn till miljön och samhället. Kommunala verksamheter skiljer sig ifrån företag och har ingen tvingande lag om att upprätta en hållbarhetsrapport. Eftersom att hållbarhetsrapporterna är mer tillämpbara på företag blir det svårt för kommunala verksamheter att införa detta. De kommunala verksamheterna har olika intressentgrupper att beakta där de två viktigaste är politiker och invånare. På grund av att det råder informationsasymmetri mellan kommuner och dess intressenter har de skyldighet att ge ut information för att minska denna. Studien syftar till att göra en undersökning av kommuner i Västra Götaland för att se hur de arbetar med hållbarhetsredovisning och om de enbart redovisar den ekonomiska aspekten eller även den miljömässiga och den sociala utifrån Tripel Bottom Line. Syftet är också att se till vilka intressenter hållbarhetsredovisningen riktar sig till men även att bidra med en större förståelse för hållbarhetsredovisning i kommunal verksamhet. Genomförandet av studien har gjorts genom kvalitativa interjuver där sex kommuner har intervjuats och sammanlagt nio informanter har bidragit med information för att besvara studiens syfte. Det inhämtade empiriska materialet har mynnat ut i en analys som är i relation till den teoretiska referensramen som i sin tur har lett fram till slutsatsen. Studien har kommit fram till att kommuner gör lite olika när de följer upp och analyserar sina resultat men att de alla utgår ifrån de social, miljömässiga och ekonomiska dimensionerna. Det förekommer dock svårigheter när kommuner skall analysera sina nyckeltal för att se vad exempelvis ökad sjukfrånvaro beror på då det inte finns ett generellt tillvägagångsätt för kommuner att använda sig av. Studien har även kommit fram till att en kommun har en mängd olika intressenter men att dessa intressenter värderas olika. / Today, more and more companies and organizations are working on CSR activities because it is something the public demands more and more that companies and organizations should take environmental and community considerations into account. Municipal operations differ from companies and have no compulsory law to establish a sustainability report. Because sustainability reports are more applicable to companies, it will be difficult for municipalities to introduce this. The municipalities have different interest groups to consider where the two most important are politicians and residents. Due to the existence of information asymmetry between municipalities and their stakeholders, they have an obligation to provide information to reduce this. The study aims to investigate municipalities in Västra Götaland to see how they work with sustainability reporting and whether they only report the economic aspect or the environmental and social aspects of Tripel Bottom Line. The aim is also to look at which stakeholders the sustainability report is aimed at, but also to contribute to a greater understanding of sustainability reporting in municipal operations. The implementation of the study has been done through qualitative interviews where six municipalities have been interviewed and a total of nine informants have contributed with information to answer the purpose of the study. The obtained empirical material has come up with an analysis that is in relation to the theoretical frame of reference, which in turn has led to the conclusion.The study has concluded that municipalities act differently when they follow up and analyze their results, but that they are all based on the social, environmental and economic dimensions. However, there are difficulties when municipalities are to analyze their key figures to see, for example, increased sickness absence due to the absence of a general approach for municipalities to use. The study also found that a municipality has a wide range of stakeholders but that these stakeholders are valued differently.

[pt] O objetivo desse estudo é identificar as práticas de remuneração adotadas para os executivos no Brasil e medir a relação entre a performance das companhias e a remuneração desses executivos. Ao analisar a relação entre remuneração dos executivos e a performance das companhias, deveríamos observar uma relação positiva e estatisticamente (e economicamente) significante entre as duas variáveis, caso a elaboração dos contratos de remuneração dos executivos endereçassem os problemas mencionados na teoria do Agente-Principal. Foram utilizadas diversas regressões para medir a sensibilidade entre a remuneração dos executivos e a performance das companhias. Podemos observar pelos resultados que, em algumas das regressões encontramos uma relação estatisticamente significante entre a remuneração dos executivos e a performance da companhia a um nível de significância de 5 por cento, no entanto, com um significado econômico muito baixo, o que parece inconsistente com o problema do Agente-Principal. / [en] This paper seeks to identify and describe the executive compensation practices in Brazil, and measure the relationship between company performance and executive compensation in Brazil. When analyzing the relationship between executive compensation and company performance, we should observe a positive and statistically (and economically) significant relation between the two variables, in case the compensation contracts addressed the problems involved in the Principal-Agent theory. Several regressions were used to measure the sensibility between executive compensation and company performance. In some of the regressions we found a statistically significant relation between executive compensation and company performance at a 5 percent significance level, but not economically significant, which seems to be inconsistent with the Principal-Agent theory.

A tese trata de questões referentes à economia dos transplantes renais, enfocando os mecanismos institucionais e de incentivos relacionados à captação de órgãos no Brasil, bem como a eficiência dos estados brasileiros que captam e realizam tais transplantes. A questão investigada na tese por meio dos ensaios foi analisar os efeitos e as implicações da estrutura de incentivos sobre o número de órgãos (inclusive rim) captados, ou seja, sobre o comportamento do sistema público de transplantes. Buscou-se também avaliar a eficiência desse sistema e sua tendência de comportamento ao longo do período 2006-2011. Foi conduzida inicialmente uma apresentação de alguns fatos estilizados para a possível elaboração de estratégias referente ao problema de pesquisa, entre os quais se destacaram: i) o tamanho e o tempo de espera nas filas por transplante de órgãos, no período recente, vêm apresentando uma tendência crescente; ii) o Brasil ocupa o segundo lugar no número absoluto de transplantes renais, atrás apenas dos Estados Unidos; iii) o país apresenta o maior programa público de transplantes de órgãos sólidos; iv) o processo de captação de órgãos tem-se apresentado uma atividade com elevada variabilidade entre os estados brasileiros, gerando um desequilíbrio entre a oferta e a demanda por órgãos e v) o sistema de transplante renal é classificado como uma modalidade terapêutica eficiente. No segundo ensaio da tese, analisaram-se os mecanismos de incentivos oferecidos aos hospitais que realizam a captação de rim para transplantes no Brasil. A abordagem teórica usada foi o modelo Principal-Agente, num contexto de informação assimétrica. No modelo, o SUS foi classificado como o Principal (receptor de órgãos captados) e os hospitais captadores, como Agentes. O SUS, por meio de um contrato, busca maximizar o seu objetivo de obter o maior número de órgãos para transplante e, para atingi-lo, delega ações aos hospitais. Os Agentes decidem se lhes interessam criar uma estrutura e condições para a captação de tal órgão. De acordo com os resultados do modelo Agente-Principal, verificou-se que o SUS (Principal) tem adotado diversas medidas de incentivos aos hospitais que realizam a captação de órgãos, tais como: criação de um fundo específico para financiamento dos transplantes (FAEC - Fundo de Ações Estratégicas e Compensação); pagamento uniforme para hospitais universitários e não universitários; expansão dos tipos de procedimentos hospitalares a serem pagos pelo SUS; reajuste frequente das remunerações pagas por procedimento da Tabela de Procedimentos do Sistema de Informações Hospitalares do Sistema Único de Saúde; cursos e/ou encontros com os profissionais da saúde que atuam no processo de doação-transplante e criação de novos incentivos financeiros para hospitais que realizam transplantes na rede pública. Portanto, se os profissionais recebem maiores incentivos, esses podem agir com eficiência no processo de captação do órgão e, consequentemente, contribuem para que ocorra uma redução no tempo e nas filas de espera por transplantes. Objetivando avaliar a eficiência dos estados brasileiros no sistema de transplante renal e a produtividade deles ao longo do tempo, fez-se uso do ferramental da Análise Envoltória de Dados-DEA e do Índice de Malmquist e suas decomposições (efeito Emparelhamento e Deslocamento de Fronteira). Utilizou-se uma amostra de 22 estados no período 2006-2011. O método DEA com Retornos Variáveis de Escala (BCC) orientado no sentido do produto foi aplicado nesse estudo. Cada estado foi considerado como Unidade de Tomada de Decisão (DMU). Os dados classificados como inputs (recursos) foram os seguintes: gastos (nominal) totais com transplantes renais, gastos (nominais) com serviços hospitalares e gastos (nominais) com serviços dos profissionais relacionados ao setor. Como output (produto) foi usado o número de rins transplantados. Os resultados indicaram que existe entre os estados brasileiros uma discrepância significativa em relação à captação e o número de transplantes de rins. Isso gerou uma ineficiência no sistema de transplante renal no país e pode estar ocorrendo em virtude do funcionamento não adequado da gestão; do não seguimento das regras nacionais (como por exemplo, vinculação das equipes a centros transplantadores; distribuição adequada de imunossupressores; encaminhamento de órgãos não aproveitados para estados próximos; execução da tipagem HLA de toda a lista de espera de rim) que causam prejuízos aos pacientes; das comissões intra-hospitalares não ativas e das equipes hospitalares sobrecarregadas. Portanto, alguns estados que participam do processo de captação e doação de rins para transplante estão apresentando ineficiência em termos de ordem administrativa e operacional. / The thesis is about the economy of kidney transplants, focusing on the institutional mechanisms and incentives related to organ harvesting in Brazil, as well as the efficiency of the Brazilian states that perform such transplants. The essays investigated the effects and implications of the incentives structure on the number of organs (including kidney) harvested by the transplants public system. The efficiency of this system and its performance over the 2006-2011 period was also evaluated. Firstly some stylized facts related to the subject were presented, among which stand out: i) the size of queues and waiting times for organ transplantation in recent years have grown; ii) Brazil ranks second in the absolute number of kidney transplants, behind only the United States, iii) the country has the largest public program for solid organs transplantation, iv) the process of organ harvesting has high variability among Brazilian states, creating an imbalance between supply and demand for organs and v) the kidney transplantation system is as an effective therapeutic modality. In the second essay the mechanisms of incentives offered to hospitals that perform kidney harvesting in Brazil were analyzed. The theoretical model used was the Principal-Agent in a context of asymmetric information. In the model, SUS was rated as the Principal (receptor of harvested organs) and the harvesting hospitals, as agents. SUS seeks to maximize the number of organs for transplantation in a contract through which it delegates the harvesting to hospitals. Agents decide whether they are interested in creating a framework and conditions for harvesting organs. The results of the Principal-Agent model indicate that SUS (the Principal) has adopted various incentives to hospitals that perform organ harvesting, such as creating a specific fund to finance transplants (FCSA - Fund for Compensation and Strategic Actions); same payment for university and non-university hospitals, expanding the types of hospital procedures to be paid by SUS; frequent remuneration raises of the amount paid by the procedures in Table of Procedures of the Hospital Information System of the Unified Health System; courses and / or meetings with health professionals working in the donation-transplantation process and creation of new financial incentives to hospitals that perform transplants for the public system. So, if the professional receives stronger incentives, he will act more effectively in the organ harvesting and will thereby contribute to a reduction in waiting lines for transplantation. In order to evaluate the efficiency of the Brazilian states in kidney transplant and their productivity over time, the Data Envelopment Analysis-DEA was used and the Malmquist index and its decomposition (Pairing effect and Boundary Displacement) to a sample of 22 states over five years (2006-2011). The DEA model with variable returns to scale (BCC) directed towards the product was applied in this study. Each state was considered a Decision Making Unit (DMU). Data classified as inputs (resources) were the following: total amount spent (nominal) with kidney transplants, amount spent (nominal) with hospital services and amount spent (nominal) with the professional services related to that sector. As output (product) was used the number of transplanted kidneys. The results indicated that there is a significant discrepancy among the Brazilian states in harvesting and transplanting kidneys. This fact has led to inefficiency in the country’s kidney transplant system and it may be so due to inadequate management, to ignoring natiimmunosuppressants; forwarding not used organs to nearby states, implementation of HLA exam to the entire waiting list for kidney transplant) causing harm to patients; to inactive in-hospital committees and to overloaded hospital staff. Therefore, some states in the process of kidney harvesting and transplantation are showing operational and managerial inefficiencies.onal directives (eg, vinculating teams to transplant centers; proper distribution of immunosuppressants; forwarding not used organs to nearby states, implementation of HLA exam to the entire waiting list for kidney transplant) causing harm to patients; to inactive in-hospital committees and to overloaded hospital staff. Therefore, some states in the process of kidney harvesting and transplantation are showing operational and managerial inefficiencies.

The essay’s language is swedish.Our study is about motivation and dissatisfaction with employees and managers. The work ismore about what motivates people in the workplace and what makes them unhappy. Themotivation can be achieved through two types of rewards, monetary and non-monetaryrewards. Where monetary reward involves performance pay or a bonus and non-monetarymeans travel, equipment and other benefits. This is the most common form of reward systemwhose purpose is to create a high motivation to ensure the effectiveness of the business ororganization. The essay is based on Herzberg’s two-factor theory, which consists ofmotivation and hygiene factors. The problem that remains today is the companies are notready to raise the hygiene factors if they consider those that exist are already reasonable. Thismay mean that employees don’t feel motivated enough, which in turn leads to adissatisfaction at the workplace. Companies use reward system to recruit, motivate and retaincompetent employees to their organizations.In this paper, the question was: How the factors and rewards affect employees and managers,and which factors motivate and create displeasure at the workplace?Our purpose was to highlight the views of managers and employees what is important to themwhen it comes to motivation and hygiene factors and rewards. The aim is to have a betterinsight into the reward system’s functionality in the organization, how different rewards andfactors satisfy the employees.We have choser open unstructured interviews to work with because we want to create adeeper discussion about how important reward systems are for the respondents. Weinterviewed seven respondents, of which four are managers and three employees.In our study, we have come to the conclusion that managers and employees are satisfied withtheir monetary and non-monetary rewards and that they experience some dissatisfaction at theworkplace. The study also showed that factors like rarely getting feedback, bad workingconditions, work under pressure, bad relationships between colleagues and a lot ofresponsibility can in the future lead to employees getting tired of the job and that they canthen apply for work at new companies that have better reward systems. / Vår studie handlar om motivation och missnöje hos anställda samt chefer. Arbetet handlar merspecifikt om vad som motiverar människor på arbetsplatsen samt vad som gör dem missnöjda.Motivationen kan uppnås genom två typer av belöningar, monetära samt icke-monetärabelöningar. Där monetär belöning innebär prestationslön eller bonus och icke-monetär innebärresor, utrustning och andra förmåner. Detta är den vanligaste formen av belöningssystem varssyfte är att skapa en hög motivation för att säkra effektiviteten hos företagen ellerorganisationen. Uppsatsen utgår mycket från Herzbergs tvåfaktorteori, vilket består avmotivations- och hygienfaktorer. Problemet som kvarstår idag är företagen inte är redo atthöja hygienfaktorerna om de anser de som finns redan är rimliga. Detta kan medföra att deanställda inte känner sig tillräckligt motiverade vilket i sin tur leder till ett missnöje påarbetsplatsen. Företag använder sig av belöningssystem för att rekrytera, motivera och behållakompetenta medarbetare till sina organisationer.I arbetet var frågeställningen: Hur påverkar faktorerna och belöningar de anställda ochcheferna samt vilka faktorer är det som motiverar respektive skapar missnöje påarbetsplatsen?Vårt syfte var att lyfta fram chefers och anställdas synpunkter på vad som är viktigt för demnär dem när det gäller motivations- och hygienfaktorerna och belöningar. Syftet är att habättre inblick i belöningssystemets funktionalitet i organisationen, hur olika belöningar ochfaktorer tillfredsställer medarbetarna.Vi har valt att arbeta med öppna ostrukturerade intervjuer eftersom vi vill skapa en djuparediskussion kring hur viktiga belöningssystem är för respondenterna. Vi använde oss utav sjustycken respondenter varav fyra chefer och tre anställda.I vår studie har vi kommit fram till att chefer och anställda är nöjda med deras monetära ochicke-monetära belöningar och att de upplever lite missnöje på arbetsplatsen. Studien visadeockså att sällan få återkoppling, sämre arbetsförhållande, arbeta under tryck, dålig relationmellan kollegor och mycket ansvar kan i framtiden leda till att anställda tröttnar på jobbet ochatt de då kan söka sig till nya företag som har bättre belöningssystem.

Syfte: Syftet med studien är att ur ett agentteoretiskt perspektiv skapa förståelse för hur separationen av ägande och kontroll ter sig i ett svenskt kundägt bolag samt vilka konsekvenser detta medför och vilka lösningar bolaget arbetar med. Metod: Studien präglas av en abduktiv forskningsansats. Studien är en fallstudie där vi syftar i att undersöka en specifik organisation. Data är insamlad med hjälp av semistrukturerade intervjuer som bearbetats genom tematisk analys. Resultat & slutsats: Vi ser tendenser till en stor separation av ägande och kontroll likaväl som en mindre. Den större separationen beror främst på spritt ägande och resulterar i en hög grad informationsasymmetri. Separationen tenderar dock även att minskas till följd av användning av fullmäktige, lokal placering samt återinvesteringar i länet. Förslag till fortsatt forskning: Förslag till vidare forskning är att skapa förståelse för vilken effekt kundägda bolag upplever till följd av att de två parterna kund och ägare innehas av samma person. Uppsatsens bidrag: Studiens teoretiska bidrag är att öka kunskapen om kundägda bolag och dess hantering av separation av ägande och kontroll. Det praktiska bidraget för studien är att bidra med kunskap till intervjuernas respondenter samt övriga intressenter till organisationen vi undersökt. Vår ambition är även att öka intresset för engagerade ägare. Nyckelord: kundägda bolag, agentteori, separation av ägande och kontroll, informationsasymmetri, intressekonflikt / Aim: The aim for this study is from an agent theoretical perspective generate comprehension of how the separation of ownership and control seems in a Swedish mutual organization as well as what consequences this leads to and what solutions the organization is working with. Method: The study is characterized by an abductive approach. The study takes the form of a case study aimed for research of a specific mutual organization. The collected data is a result of semi-structured interviews that has been analyzed with a thematic analysis. Result & conclusions: We anticipate both a large separation of ownership and control as well as a small one. The larger one is due to a scattered ownership that results in a greater extent of information asymmetry. The separation also tends to get smaller due to the establishment of the council, that the organization operates locally and due to the reinvests in the local community. Suggestions for future research: Suggestions for future research is to generate comprehension of which impact mutual organizations experiences from the fact that two parties, customer and owner, are held within the same individual.   Contribution of the thesis: The theoretical contribution is to increase knowledge about mutual organization and their management of separation of ownership and control. The practical contribution is to distribute knowledge to the respondents as well as other stakeholders of the examined organization. Our ambition is also to increase interest for committed owners. Key words: mutual organization, Agent theory, separation of ownership and control, information asymmetry, conflict of interest

Syfte: Att undersöka samband mellan finansiellt trångmål och val av frivillig revision för små svenska aktiebolag. Metod: Studien använder en kvantitativ metod med en deduktiv ansats. I en tvärsnittsstudie har sekundärdata om svenska aktiebolag samlats in från databasen Retriever. Den oberoende variabeln trångmål har operationaliserats utifrån två olika definitioner. Dessa har testats separat mot den beroende variabeln revision genom binär logistisk regression. Resultat och slutsats: Analysen visar att det föreligger ett signifikant positivt samband mellan revision och trångmål utifrån den definition av trångmål som utgår från att ett företags rörelseresultat före räntor, skatt, avskrivningar och goodwillavskrivningar (EBITDA) understiger dess utgifter för räntekostnader. Det finns däremot ett negativt samband mellan revision och trångmål för den definition av trångmål som utgår från att ett företags aktiekapital är förbrukat till mer än hälften. Detta resultat är dock svårtolkat eftersom signifikansen varierar beroende på hur extremvärden hanteras. Det positiva, signifikanta samband som studien har funnit är överensstämmande med tidigare forskning som tyder på att företag i finansiellt trångmål är benägna att välja frivillig revision. Forskningsbidrag: Studien jämför hur flödesmått och kapitalmått påverkar sambandet mellan trångmål och frivillig revision genom att undersöka dessa mått i separata regressioner. Vidare undersöker studien data från ett stort antal små företag och vad vi vet är detta den första studie som undersöker sambandet mellan trångmål och frivillig revision utifrån ett svenskt perspektiv Vidare forskning: Det behövs mer forskning om hur kapitalmått påverkar samband mellan trångmål och frivillig revision. En detaljerad jämförelse med en finsk studie som funnit ett negativt samband mellan trångmål och revision skulle vara av intresse. Även en longitudinell undersökning för att undersöka möjliga kausala samband vore intressant. Ett annat möjligt forskningsområde är att undersöka om små företags val av frivillig revision påverkas av deras val att anlita en redovisningskonsult. / Aim: To investigate the relationship between financial distress and voluntary audit for small Swedish limited companies. Method: The study employs a quantitative method with a deductive approach. In a cross-sectional study, secondary data about Swedish limited companies has been collected from the database Retriever. The independent variable financial distress has been operationalized according to two different definitions. Separate binary logistic regressions have been conducted to test the two definitions of financial distress against the dependent variable audit. Results and Conclusions: The analysis shows that there is a significant relationship between audit and financial distress according to the definition of distress based on a company’s EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization). But there is a negative relationship between audit and financial distress according to the definition of distress based on a company’s forfeited share capital. However, this result is difficult to interpret because the statistical significance varies depending on how outliers are handled. The significant, positive relationship that the study has found confirms previous research saying that companies in financial distress are prone to choose voluntary audits. Contributions: The study compares how a flow measure and a capital measure influence the relationship between financial distress and voluntary audit by exploring these measures in separate regressions. Furthermore, it investigates data from a large number of small companies. To our knowledge, this is the first study investigating the relationship between financial distress and voluntary audit from a Swedish perspective. Suggestions for future research: More research about how capital measures influence the relationship between distress and voluntary audit is needed. A detailed comparison with a Finnish study that has found a negative relationship between distress and audit would be of interest. A longitudinal design in order to investigate possible causal relationships would also be interesting. How various levels of threats influence the choice of voluntary audits for companies in distress is also worth continued studies. Another possible field is to examine whether the choice of employing an external accountant affects the choice of voluntary audit for small companies.

Systemic corruption remains a challenge to good governance and development in many parts of the world, while anti-corruption policies have largely been failing to prove success, despite increased international efforts. The growing scope of research literature suggests that ineffectiveness of the fight against corruption is caused by the inadequate theoretical ground that anti-corruption activities are developed on. Principal-agent model of anti-corruption interventions, which have been dominant, fall short in targeting the roots of systemic corruption and its informal institutions. As a result, a policy gap emerges between the reality of corruption and practice to curb it. By presenting the main indicators of systemic corruption and features of the anti-corruption policy gap, this thesis probes into the nature of corruption in Azerbaijan and analyzes the anti-corruption policies in place. It concludes that systemic corruption continues to prevail as a norm in Azerbaijan, while measures to fight against corrupt practices remain largely unsuccessful, due to lack of political will of principals, in contrary to the assumptions of the principal-agent framework.

My thesis is focused on the composition and countries' representation in the professional staff of the World Health Organization. The thesis will analyse the overrepresentation and underrepresentation of the WHO's member states and explain possible patterns in the staff. The thesis will focus on the relationship between the number of Member State's professional staff in the WHO and the state's GDP growth, expenditure on education and population size. My thesis aims to research the characteristics of staff's composition in the WHO. I will analyse professional staff structure and apply the Principal-Agent theoretical framework. The research will show how the state's representation of member states changed over time and see also the gender composition of the Secretariat. The timeline of this work is from 1999 till 2019. The thesis works with official documents from human resources of the WHO and datasets of the World Bank. Analysis of data is provided by the statistical programme SPSS and Microsoft Excel. Key words World Health Organization, representation, professional staff, principal-agent theory, correlation coefficients, regression analysis

Over time, the office spaces of authorities have evolved, with external influences like pandemics accelerating the transition towards flexible, activity-based workplaces. Despite resistance, attitudes are slowly becoming positive towards modern, adaptable offices. This transformation is driven by value creation, efficiency improvements, market condition shifts, and changing norms within public and private sectors. The office space design within authorities has transitioned from reflecting organizational hierarchies to open office spaces. Optimal space requirement has become complex due to flexible work arrangements. Sustainability is a guiding principle in office space design, highlighting social trends shaping institutional norms and practices. The increasing demand for security within authorities presents a conflict between maintaining openness for citizens and ensuring information security. Security and confidentiality have become influential factors affecting work methods, digital tool utilization, and physical premise design. The Swedish government's digitalization ambition significantly influences authorities' work processes and organizational structures. With remote work adoption and reduced business travel, authorities offering flexible work solutions are seen as attractive employers. Geographical location remains important, with central places like Stockholm's main station still considered desirable. Despite that, A key trend is authorities choosing locations in Solna and Sundbyberg over central Stockholm, adapting to market conditions with surging rents. / Över tid har myndigheters kontorsutrymmen utvecklats, påverkade av yttre faktorer som pandemi som påskyndar övergången mot flexibla, aktivitetsbaserade arbetsplatser. Trots motstånd håller attityderna mot aktivitetsbaserade kontor på att långsamt bli mer positiva inom myndigheterna. Denna förändring drivs av värdeskapande, effektivitetsförbättringar, förändringar i marknadsförhållandena samt skiftande normer inom den offentliga och privata sektorn. Kontorsutformningen inom myndigheter har övergått från att spegla organisationshierarkier till öppna kontorslandskap. Att fastställa optimalt utrymmesbehov har blivit komplext på grund av flexibla arbetsarrangemang. Hållbarhet är en vägledande princip i utformningen av kontorsutrymmen, vilket belyser hur sociala trender formar institutionella normer och praxis. Den ökande efterfrågan på säkerhet inom myndigheter skapar en konflikt mellan att upprätthålla öppenhet för medborgare och att säkerställa informationssäkerhet. Säkerhet och konfidentialitet har blivit inflytelserika faktorer som påverkar arbetsmetoder, användning av digitala verktyg och utformningen av fysiska lokaler. Regeringens ambitioner kring digitalisering påverkar myndigheters arbetsprocesser och organisatoriska strukturer avsevärt. Med möjlighet till stor andel distansarbete och minskade affärsresor betraktas myndigheter som attraktiva arbetsgivare när de erbjuder flexibla arbetslösningar. Geografiskt läge förblir viktigt, närhet till Stockholms Centralstation betraktas fortfarande som attraktivt. Trots detta är en nyckeltrend att myndigheter väljer platser i Solna och Sundbyberg framför centrala Stockholm, för att anpassa sig till marknadsförhållanden med stigande hyror.

Syfte: Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka om det finns ett samband mellan ESG-betyg och kreditbetyg hos publika företag i Norden. Forskningsfrågorna som skulle besvaras var om det finns samband mellan ESG, dess dimensioner, och kreditbetyg, samt om det finns skillnader i dessa samband mellan sektorer och länder. Då kreditbetyg kan bedömas utifrån hela populationen av företag globalt, Credit combined global rank, eller baserat på sektortillhörighet, Credit combined sector rank, har dessa kreditbetyg undersökts, då det förekommer skillnader i betyggraderingen. Metod: Studien utgick från en positivistisk forskningsfilosofi med en deduktiv ansats. Studien var kvantitativ och urvalet var 311 publika företag i Danmark, Finland, Norge och Sverige med data för året 2021. Sekundärdata inhämtades från Refinitiv Eikon och analyserades i IBM SPSS Statistics. ESG och de tre dimensionerna miljö, socialt ansvar och bolagsstyrning testades i regressionsanalyser mot kreditbetygen. Resultat & slutsats: Resultaten visade ett positivt samband mellan ESG-betyg, dimensionerna miljö och socialt ansvar med båda kreditbetygen. Sektorerna i grupp ett; basic materials, consumer non-cyclicals, industrials och energy hade ingen effekt på sambandet mellan ESG och kreditbetygen. Sektorerna i grupp två; healthcare, real estate, technologies, consumer cyclicals och utilities hade effekt på båda kreditbetygen. En viss skillnad kunde även observeras mellan länderna, då Sverige visade samband mellan det kombinerade ESG-betyget och båda kreditbetygen, vilket inte kunde ses i grupp två som bestod av Danmark, Norge och Finland. Studien kunde även bekräfta att de båda kreditbetygen skiljer sig i gradering varav det sektorbaserade visade högre värden än det globala kreditbetyget. Examensarbetets bidrag: Studien har bidragit till en ökad förståelse för hur ESG-betyg och kreditbetyg relaterar till varandra, samt skillnader mellan sektorer och länder. Resultaten kan motivera företag att aktivt förbättra sitt hållbarhetsarbete för att uppnå högre ESG-betyg. Studien på de enskilda dimensionerna i ESG kan ge företag en indikation på vilka delar som är viktiga. Kunskapen som studiens resultat bidrar med kan vara en viktig faktor i företags beslutfattande och skapa långsiktigt värde för intressenter. Förslag till fortsatt forskning: Då finansiella företag exkluderades från studien, är det relevant att undersöka även denna sektor för att jämföra med Norden som helhet och finansiella företag i andra geografiska regioner. En kombination av kvantitativ och kvalitativ metod skulle kunna bredda studien om samband mellan ESG och kreditbetyg ytterligare. / Aim: The aim was to study if there is a connection between ESG score and credit score in public nordic companies. The questions to answer were if there is a connection between ESG, the dimensions, and credit ratings, and if there are differences in these connections depending on sectors and countries. Credit rank can be calculated for companies globally, Credit combined global rank, or calculated based on company sector, Credit combined sector rank. Both ranks were included in this study, based on their divergence.   Method: This study engaged a positivistic research philosophy with a deductive approach. The study had a quantitative strategy and studied 311 public nordic companies in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden regarding the year 2021. Secondary data was collected from Refinitiv Eikon and analyzed with IBM SPSS Statistics. The ESG combined score and the three dimensions environmental, social and governance was tested in regression analysis against credit rank.  Results & conclusions: The results revealed a positive connection between ESG combined score, the dimensions environmental and social, with both credit ratings. The sectors in group one; basic materials, consumer non-cyclicals, industrials and energy showed no effect on the connection between ESG, the dimensions, and credit rank. The sectors in group two; healthcare, real estate, technologies, consumer cyclicals and utilities showed an effect for both credit ranks. A difference between countries was confirmed when Swedish companies showed a connection between the combined ESG score and both credit ranks, that could not be observed in the other group of countries; Denmark, Norway and Finland. The study could also confirm a difference between the credit ranks, as the sector-based showed higher ranks generally than the global rank.   Contribution of the thesis: This study has contributed with an awareness about the connection between ESG score and credit rank, and differences between sectors and countries. The results can motivate companies to actively improve their sustainability to achieve higher ESG score. The study on the dimensions of ESG can also give companies indications on which pillars are more important. This knowledge could be an important factor in company’s decision making and create long term value för stakeholders.   Suggestions for future research: This study excluded financial companies, therefore it would be an interesting aim for further studies in this concept, to be able to compare this sector with other Nordic companies but also financial industries in other geographic regions. Another approach is to combine qualitative and quantitative strategy to make the study on the connection between ESG score and credit rank wider.