The transition towards a renewable electrical power system, characterized by an increased share of intermittent power sources, involves several technical, economical, structural and regulatory challenges in order to secure a reliable and stable power grid. Residential apartment buildings are increasingly being equipped with photovoltaic systems which are assumed to be supplemented with distributed energy storage solutions in the near future. To facilitate an efficient network utilization in the future an external broker, a so called aggregator, is currently being discussed in the industry as a possibility to enable the exchange of energy services between a collection of end consumers and electricity operators. The aim of this study is to investigate the prospects for an aggregator in the segment of residential apartment buildings in Sweden. A sociotechnical perspective has been applied in the study as the envisioned transition of the power grid involves a broad spectrum of interdisciplinary variables. The study is based on literature studies and interviews with stakeholder representatives. The results of the study shows that the prospects for aggregators depends on a still pending massmarket availability of technological prerequisits for managing the complex interaction between different parts of the electrical system. In addition, new regulatory structures will be essential in shaping the future conditions that would in general facilitate a successful transition and stable generation of arbitrage revenue.

Master of Science / Department of Journalism and Mass Communications / Angela Powers / Technological revolutions of the past century have fueled dynamic paradigm shifts across a broad spectrum of mass media industries. This study examines an innovative new market segment in the music recording industry: digital music aggregation. Digital music aggregators are music distributors that directly connect artists, any creator of musical content, to digital music vendors, online music stores such as iTunes or digital music streaming services such as Spotify. Digital music aggregator companies offer services similar to major record labels, such as mass distribution, royalty collection, and intellectual property protection. Digital music aggregators provide services to artists at all levels of prestige and experience. Essentially any artist interested in publishing music can do so using digital music aggregators. Despite their growing influence in the music recording industry, digital music aggregators have been afforded little scholarly attention. This study responds to Galuszka's (2015) call for further research on aggregator market structure and competition, proposing the following research questions: 1) how is the digital music aggregator market structured? 2) What competitive strategies do digital music aggregators employ? This study is framed by the industrial organizational model of market structure (Bain, 1968) and Porter’s (1980) theories of competitive strategy. Six in-depth qualitative interviews were conducted for this study. Results illuminate market structure and competitive strategies in the digital music aggregation industry and lay foundation for future study and industrial application within this nascent branch of the music recording industry.

Det finns en hel del forskning om högerpopulistiska partiers relation till massmedier, och hur den högerextrema rörelsen använder sociala medier. Hur högerpopulistiska partier använder material från medierna för att rama in sina politiska budskap är däremot mindre utforskat. Frågeställningarna för undersökningen var hur Sverigedemokraterna agerar som news aggregator på sin Facebook-sida i samband med riksdagsvalet 2014, och hur partiet ramar in det redaktionella material de länkar till. En kvalitativ undersökning med utgångspunkt i teorin om framing gjordes av samtliga officiella inlägg på Sverigedemokraternas Facebook-sida under perioden 140801 – 141031. Inläggen grupperades utifrån sex teman (mobilisering, Sverigedemokraterna mot etablissemanget, välfärd, ekonomi, invandring och hotet mot Sverige). De inläggen som innehöll länkar till redaktionellt material analyserades vad gäller syftet med nyhetsförmedlingen och inramningen av det länkande materialet. Analysen visar hur Sverigedemokraterna använder Facebook-sidan för att förmedla sin egen tolkning av händelser under valrörelsen. Det redaktionella materialet används för att ge SD legitimitet, hämta hem segrar och förstärka bilden av stödet för partiet. Två gestaltningar dominerar inramningen av de länkade artiklarna. Den ena är att SD som enda parti vågar tala klarspråk om den negativa utvecklingen i Sverige och därmed ger röst åt ”vanligt folk”. Den andra är att Sverige är hotat och att detta på olika sätt kan kopplas till invandringen. Detta ligger i linje med resultat från tidigare forskning.

Demand participation is a basic ingredient of the next generation of power exchanges in electricity markets. A key challenge in implementing demand response stems from establishing reliable market frameworks so that purchasers can estimate the demand correctly, buy as economically as possible and have the means of hedging the risk of lack of supply. System operators also need ways of estimating responsive load behaviour to reliably operate the grid. In this context, two aspects of demand response are addressed in this study: scheduling and baseline estimation. The thesis presents a market clearing algorithm including demand side reserves in a two-stage stochastic optimization framework to account for wind power production uncertainty. The results confirm that enabling the load to provide reserve can potentially benefit consumers by reducing electricity price, while facilitating a higher share of renewable energy sources in the power system. Two novel methods, Bayesian Linear regression and Kernel adaptive filtering, are proposed for baseline load forecasting in the second part of the study. The former method provides an integrated solution for prediction with full accounting for uncertainty while the latter provides an online sequential learning algorithm that is useful for short term forecasting. / Graduate / 0544 / nimahtehrani@gmail.com

This master‘s thesis is focused on drafting a marketing strategy proposal and recommendation for Petit Press, a.s., which owns a discount aggregator Zľavy.sme.sk. The first part of the thesis describes the individual aims of the work. The second chapter focuses on the theoretical background of the work that is needed to better understand this issue. The third chapter is focused on the application of this knowledge in the analysis of the marketing mix and the environment in which the aggregator operates, and also describes the marketing research realized among customers of the aggregator. Based on the data and facts, the last chapter of the thesis presents specific proposals for adjusting and improving the marketing strategy of aggregator SME.

Aim of the thesis is the analysis and design of parts Discount portal. Content of the work consists of two main parts, theoretical and practical. The theoretical part describes the analysis of Discount portal. Further work describes the behavior of discount portals and finally discusses the competitive discount aggregators and portals. The work is carried out detailed SWOT analysis portal, and also assessed the economic aspects and benefits of work. The practical part deals by itself parts Parts Discount website, its description and methodology of technology.

This paper is about the exploration of how to design an aggregator foronline news that combines editorial credibility, a social media layer anda fluent interaction experience in order to provide overview andaccessibility.The aim of this thesis was to explore the design of the conventionalnewspaper in a digital format using the iPad as medium. Theconventional newspaper is in trouble – more and more readers aremoving to digital news – and we are struggling with which platform touse in the future, what content to fill it with and how this new mediachannel can be used. My ambition for this project was to explore, froma media production perspective, possible design solutions.In the design process two questions were mailed out to individuals toinvestigate important qualities and behaviours from the conventionalnewspaper. There were also situated studies with ten individuals intheir homes, including interviews and questionnaires, to get a deeperinsight into how they read the news and to identify their behaviour andrituals while using the IPad as device.The result of this project was an iPad application designed for thosewho are interested in following the news. There are two key functionsthat have been added to adjust the conventional newspaper to fit as anaggregator providing news online. The first one is editorialresponsibility for social media content and the second that it can beused twenty-four hours a day.In this thesis, I am proposing that the iPad can also be used in a socialcontext and as a device for social experience, besides being apersonal device. The design solution is an application which can beused for in depth-reading or in the periphery, adjustable according towhich situation the person is in.

Flera svenska storstadsregioner har börjat nå taket för nätkapacitet i elnäten, ett problem som även kallas kapacitetsbrist. Problemet med kapacitetsbrist grundar sig i de förändringar som sker för elproduktionen, med exempelvis en ökande grad av förnyelsebar, intermittent elproduktion, och förändringar i efterfrågan i och med samhällets ökande grad av elektrifiering. För att hantera och överkomma kapacitetsbrist har elnätsbolag traditionellt sett byggt ut elnätet för att därmed har möjlighet att leverera effekt under årets alla dagar, en metod som har långa ledtider och har höga investeringskostnader. Den accelererade problematiken kring kapacitetsbrist sätter ett förändringstryck på elsystemet och i synnerhet elnätsbolagen att hantera problemet. Ett alternativ till att hantera kapacitetsbrist är för elnätsbolag att upphandla flexibilitetstjänster. Det är en lösning som anses som resurseffektiv och samhällsekonomisk i förhållande till konventionell nätutbyggnad. Flexibilitet i elsystemet innebär aktörers medvetna förändring i elproduktion eller efterfrågan av effekt som avser att stabilisera elsystemet. Genom en flexibilitetsmarknad kan elnätsbolag ge aktörer incitament att erbjuda sin flexibilitet mot betalning och därmed hantera kapacitetsbrist när det behövs.  I det här examensarbetet har syftet varit att studera flexibilitetsmarknaders roll i att överkomma kapacitetsbrist i lokala elnät och vad konceptet innebär för möjligheter och utmaningar på aktörsnivå och övergripande marknadsnivå. Genom kvalitativa forskningsmetoder, semi-strukturerade intervjuer, litteratur- och dokumentstudier, har författarna kartlagt kunskapsläget om flexibilitetsmarknader och konceptets innebörd för enskilda aktörer. Examensarbetet presenterar även ett teoretiskt ramverk av ekonomisk teori som syftar till att ge större förståelse för marknadens etableringsprocess och vilka eventuella marknadsmisslyckanden som riskerar att ske. En förstudie har genomförts där två aktiva projekt, CoordiNet och Sthlmflex, av flexibilitetsmarknader i Sverige har studerats för att identifiera insikter om flexibilitetsmarknaders möjligheter och utmaningar. Vidare utfördes en semi-strukturerad intervjustudie med 15 olika företag i Göteborg, en region som ännu inte har en flexibilitetsmarknad, för att studera olika aktörers drivkrafter och hinder för att medverka på en flexibilitetsmarknad. Företagen var kategoriserade i fem olika segment; industrier, hamnindustrier, fastighetsbolag, elnätsbolag och aggregatorer. Resultatet från förstudien visar på att de existerande flexibilitetmarknaderna har varit viktiga för deltagande aktörer att lära sig förstå hur de bör arbeta med en flexibilitetsmarknad som en del av verksamheten. Det har visat sig existera ett antal utmaningar i projekten som exempelvis bristfällig kommunikation, avsaknad av automatiserade processer och låg likviditet på marknaderna. I intervjustudien kunde det urskiljas att de flesta industrier, hamnindustrier och fastighetsbolag har flexibilitetsresurser och potential för att medverka som leverantörer på en flexibilitetsmarknad. Hos samma segment identifierades dock hinder gällande bristen på teknisk utrustning för att kunna erbjuda flexibilitet och en osäkerhet kring ersättningsnivån som kan väntas från flexibilitetmarknaden för flexibilitetsleverantörer. Elnätsbolag ser flexibilitetsmarknader som ett bra alternativ till att hantera kapacitetsbrist och att potentialen är stor för framtiden. Aggregatorer tros ha en betydande roll på flexibilitetsmarknader och vara en möjliggörare för aktörer med mindre resurser och begränsad kunskap. Totalt var 12 av 15 tillfrågade företagen intresserade av att delta på en flexibilitets-marknad i Göteborg. Utifrån teori kan flexibilitetsmarknader ses som en innovativ marknad och att etableringsprocessen innebär olika marknadsstabiliserande aktioner. Flexibilitetsmarknader innebär även ett behov av innovativa affärsmodeller för marknadsaktörerna. Med hänsyn till hinder och utmaningar som identifierats hos flexibilitetsmarknaderna under examensarbetet existerar risker för eventuella marknadsmisslyckanden, orsakade av asymmetrisk information, transaktionskostnader, begränsad rationalitet och externaliteter. / Several Swedish metropolitan regions have begun facing issues regarding the capacity in the power grid, a problem that is also known as capacity shortage. The problem of capacity shortage is based on several changes within the power system, for example, an increasing degree of renewable, intermittent electricity production, and society's increasing degree of electrification. In order to manage capacity shortages, power grid companies have traditionally expanded the power grid to be able to deliver power during all hours of the year, a method that has long lead times and high investment costs. The accelerated problem of capacity shortages puts pressure for change in the power system, and in particular the power grid companies to deal with the problem. An alternative in managing capacity shortages is for power grid companies to purchase flexibility services. It is a solution that is referred to as a more sustainable, resource efficient and socio-economic in relation to conventional power grid expansion. Flexibility in the power system can be seen as changes in the electricity production or the demand for power that intends to stabilize the power system. In a flexibility market, power grid companies can give companies incentives to offer their flexibility against payment and thus handle capacity shortages when needed. The purpose of the thesis has been to study the role of flexibility markets in overcoming capacity shortages in local power grids, and the concept’s opportunities and challenges for different actors and from a market perspective. Through qualitative research methods, semi-structured interviews, literature- and document studies, the authors have mapped the state of knowledge about flexibility markets and the concept's meaning for the power system. The thesis also presents a theoretical framework of economic theory that aims to provide a greater understanding of the market's establishment process and what possible market failures that are likely to occur. A pre-study has been carried out where two projects, CoordiNet and Sthlmflex, of flexibility markets in Sweden have been studied to identify insights into the concept’s opportunities and challenges. Furthermore, a semi-structured interview study was conducted with 15 different companies in Gothenburg, a region that does not yet have a flexibility market, to study companies’ drivers and obstacles to participate in a flexibility market. The companies were categorized into five different segments: industries, port industries, real estate companies, power grid companies and aggregators. The results from the pre-study show that the existing flexibility markets have been important for participating players to understand how they should integrate a flexibility market as a part of their businesses. It has been shown that there are several challenges in the flexibility projects, such as inadequate communication, lack of automated processes and low liquidity on the markets. In the interview study, it could be discerned that most industries, port industries and real estate companies have flexibility resources and potential to participate as flexibility providers in a flexibility market. In the same segments, obstacles were identified regarding the lack of technical equipment to be able to offer flexibility and an uncertainty about the level of remuneration that can be expected from the flexibility market for flexibility providers. Power grid companies sees flexibility markets as a good alternative for managing capacity shortages and that the potential is great for the future. Aggregators are believed to play a significant role in flexibility markets and be an enabler for companies with smaller flexibility resources and limited knowledge. In total, 12 of the 15 companies surveyed were interested in participating in a flexibility market in Gothenburg. Based on theory, a flexibility market can be seen as an innovative market and that the establishment process involves various market stabilizing actions. Flexibility markets also imply a need for innovative business models for market participants. Regarding the obstacles and challenges identified in the flexibility markets during the thesis, there are risks of market failure caused by asymmetric information, high transaction costs, bounded rationality, and externalities.

The growth of online content has paved the way for independent creators to produce their own videos. Platforms like YouTube have empowered the users to distribute such content and continues to be a major player in the world of video on demand. A substantial part of the production is music, which has been notoriously difficult to license given the complex ownership situations. This has enabled companies like Epidemic Sound to provide an alternative solution that reduces the hassle of licensing down to acquiring a subscription. The large user base that these companies have results in them needing in-house developed tools to manage their licensing. These tools can often be less adapted to their intended internal users, as the major usability work is directed to customer facing products. This thesis addresses the issues of not adapting in-house developed tools to the end users’ needs by focusing on evaluating the current interface and produce a design proposal for how these tools can be designed to better serve the user. Semi-structured interviews were held with 7 participants who used the tool in their day to day work. These were then analyzed and the findings were incorporated into a non-functional prototype developed in Figma. This prototype was subsequently evaluated and the results indicated that the major key to heighten the perceived usability of the tool was to present the information gathered in a clear and structured way. / Tillväxten av onlinebaserat innehåll har drivit fram en ny typ av enskilda videokreatörer. Platformar som YouTube har erbjudit användarna att distribuera innehåll och är fortsatt en stor spelare inom streaming. En väsentlig del av produktionen är musik, något som har varit ökänt svårt att licensera givet den komplexa ägarskapet. Detta har öppnat en möjlighet för företag som Epidemic Sound att erbjuda en alternativ lösning som reducerar problemet ner till att införskaffa en prenumeration. Den stora användarbasen som dessa företag har resulterar i att de behöver utveckla egna verktyg för att hantera sin licensering. Dessa verktyg är ofta inte anpassade för deras tilltänkta, interna användare då majoriteten av användbarhetsarbetet fokuserar på produkter för slutkunden. Den här avhandlingen adresserar detta genom att utvärdera det nuvarande användargränssnittet och producera ett designförslag för hur dessa verktyg kan designas med användaren i åtanke.

Addressing climate change is a major undertaking. Agricultural soil has the potential to assist in decreasing the concentration of GHGs in the atmosphere by storing CO2 in the soil. Carbon offset markets have been suggested as a cost effective means of reducing GHG emissions. Farmers can increase their soil sink potential by applying Beneficial Management Practices (BMPs) that enhance carbon sequestration through improvements to soil, nutrient and livestock management practices (Fulton et. al., 2005). Whether or not a market for carbon offsets will emerge depends on a number of factors which mainly are related to the profitability of the BMPs and the costs of implementing a carbon contract. Provided that a market for carbon offsets emerges, the effectiveness of the market depends, in part, on the degree to which buyers and sellers in the market comply with the terms of the contracts they sign. The resource costs associated with monitoring and verification may result in incomplete monitoring. As long as monitoring is not perfect, non-compliance will be an issue. <p>The analysis that will be performed in this thesis introduces non-compliance in the economic analysis of carbon-offset market. The purpose of this work is to examine the overall cost effectiveness of the carbon-offset market when introducing non-compliance. <p>Firstly the theoretical model investigates the incentives for different farmers to participate in the carbon offsets market as well as incentives for engaging in cheating. The model recognizes farmers heterogeneity with respect to cost differences and examines the economic determinants of farmers non-compliance as well as the consequences of non-compliance on the performance of the carbon-offset market. Results support the standard finding that the extent of producers non-compliance decreases with an increase in the audit probability and/or an increase in the penalty per unit of non-compliance. In addition, the number of producers participating in the carbon offsets market is shown to increase with an increase in the carbon-offset price.<p> The analysis then introduces intermediaries in the market that will take care of trading carbon offsets as well as monitoring producers. The traders role in this study is played by an IOF (investor owned-firm) or a PA (producers association). Within the IOF, the analysis focuses on the monopoly and oligopoly structures. The key role of the traders is to guarantee, based on the amount of monitoring that is undertaken, that the emitters purchase only carbon offsets that actually correspond to sequestered carbon. The analysis then examines three cases for the group that monitors farmers compliance a group owned by for-profit traders, a government-run agency and a group owned by the PA trader. This part of the thesis examines what impact the involvement of the traders in the carbon-offset market has on non-compliance, as well as how the structure of the monitoring group affects non-compliance and the amount of carbon offsets traded in the market. The results of the analysis show that the monitoring groups always undertake sufficient monitoring to ensure that full compliance is achieved thus, while non-compliance is possible, it does not occur in equilibrium. The finding suggests that the formation of a government monitoring agency can potentially increase traded output and lower the price paid by emitters, still these changes are likely to be small, particularly when the trading sector is monopolistic. The overall analysis in this chapter shows that the optimal amount of enforcement, and as a result the cost effectiveness of a carbon-offset market, depends on the nature of the organization that undertakes the enforcement. <p>The next consideration of the thesis is the heterogeneity attributed to the timing of sequestration by different farmers. The analysis focuses on the carbon offsets pooling by considering two structures for the aggregator: a for-profit aggregator and a producers association. Pooling resources enables the farmers to benefit from economies of scale. The pricing schedule used by the aggregator is a two-part tariff. The two-part tariff is used as a way of providing an incentive for the farmers sequestering large amounts of carbon to participate in the pool. The study considers two alternatives for the coefficients that might be used to decide on the amount of carbon offsets to which each farmer will be entitled: default coefficient and custom coefficients. Each situation is modeled in a principal agent framework. <p>The analysis examines how the aggregator will target the monitoring service for different group of farmers. The investigation reveals that, under different scenarios, a PA or a FPA (for-profit aggregator) might lead to the formation of a heterogeneous pool or a homogeneous pool of each type. <p>The last issue investigated in this dissertation is the coexistence of a FPA and a PA in the default coefficient case. The analysis show that both aggregator structures can exist together in the market in the same time if the savings in the monitoring costs made possible by the PA are smaller than the cost of organizing the pool. If this condition is not satisfied the FPA cannot survive in the market and the producers association will dominate. <p>In addition to providing a better understanding of how the carbon-offset market may perform when introducing non-compliance, the results of this study can assist in assessing the cost effectiveness of the carbon-offset market when enforcement is undertaken by different organizations. Furthermore, the last consideration of the pooling option might help in selecting which type of pool a heterogeneous or a homogeneous one might perform better under different alternatives.