La crise financière de 2009 a ravivé le débat entre les classiques et les keynésiens concernant le rôle de la finance dans le cycle d’affaire. Cette thèse étudie les conséquences macroéconomiques des imperfections du marché de crédit ainsi que quantifie leur impact sur le marché de travail. L’interaction entre chômage et frictions financière passe par l’hypothèse que les postes vacants sont financés par des fonds externes qui sont plus couteux qu’un financement interne, de par de l’impact de l’asymétrie d’information sur le marché du crédit. Il est alors montré, à l’aide de simulation d’un modèle DSGE calibré sur données US., qu’un choc financier négatif, i.e. un choc qui augmente la prime de risque sur le marché du crédit ou un choc qui détériore le bilan des entrepreneurs, réduit de manière significative les capacités d’emprunt, et, par conséquent, la création d’emplois diminue spécialement. En outre, un choc d'incertitude engendre une augmentation du taux de chômage et rend cette augmentation plus persistante en période de crise. Ce résultat est confirmé par une évidence empirique qui consistait à estimer un modèle VAR bayésien, où des variables de marché de travail réelles et financières. / The crisis of 2009 raised the question whether the financial conditions matter for the business cycles and the propagation of shocks originating in the financial sphere. I tried to drive a fine analysis of this issue using micro-founded general equilibrium models. The modelling choice was backed by empirical motivations. In three essays, i study the impact of monetary and financial shocks on growth and labour market dynamics. First, an expansionary monetary policy eases credit conditions, raises risk tolerance and the quality of borrowers and generates a liquidity effect. The potency of the monetary policy and the size of the credit channel depend considerably on the degree of financial frictions in the credit market. Second, a restrictive monetary policy shock, an positive credit shock and a positive uncertainty shocks have similar effects on the economy: they plunge the economy in a recession, with output, job creations, and hours worked decreasing, while unemployment and job destructions increase. In all cases the interest rate spread increase, therefore indicating that financial conditions deteriorate, which is interpreted as a sign that financial frictions play a critical role in the propagation of these shocks. Third, the interaction between financial and labour market frictions does exist. The interplay between the two indeed plays a role in propagating the shocks. A shock to net worth, a credit shock and an uncertainty shock play a non-trivial role for the dynamics on the labour market.

Bakgrund: Det råder inga tvivel om att revisorn har en explicit funktion till att stärka redovisningens trovärdighet. I det sociologiska perspektivet kan vi även förstå revisorns funktion som en producent av komfort medan vi i det ekonomiskt rationella perspektivet ser revision som ett medel för att minska informationsasymmetri. Covid-19 har orsakat omfattande utmaningar bland både företag och revisorer, vilket lyfter frågan om hur olika aspekter i revisionen har påverkats av att revidera företag med en uttalad riskfaktor. Riskfyllda företag i denna studie avser företag som har fått en utfärdad going concern-anmärkning. Sådana bedömningar har varit svåra för revisorn under covid-19, mot bakgrund av den ovisshet som präglat pandemin. Av den orsaken var det intressant att undersöka om revisionsprocessen har förändrats under covid-19 genom att analysera om det skett en förändring av revisionsarvodet och längden för revisionsprocessen. Syfte: Syftet med denna studie är att analysera förändringen av revisionsprocessen i samband med ökade risker i företag i en orolig samhällskontext. Metod: Studien är av kvantitativ karaktär då vi undersöker om det skett någon förändring av revisionsarvodet och längden på revisionsprocessen under covid-19. För att besvara syftet har relevanta variabler från årsredovisningar inhämtas för att göra tre olika statistiska undersökningar. Syftet var att undersöka frekvensen av skillnader och samband mellan variablerna. Slutsats: Resultatet visar att det skett en förändring av revisionsarvodet under covid-19. Resultatet påvisade även att det inte skett en förändring av revisionsprocessens längd under covid-19, även fast det förelåg en viss samvariation mellan revisionsarvode och längden på revisionsprocessen. Resultaten har visat tendenser till att kunna förklaras och förstås med hjälp av informationsasymmetri och skapande av komfort. / Background: There is no doubt that auditors have an explicit function to strengthen the credibility of a firms’ accounting and reporting. In the sociological perspective it can be understood that auditors function as a producer of comfort, meanwhile in the economical rational perspective, auditors are a function to reduce information asymmetry. Covid-19 has caused extensive challenges for firms and auditors, which enlightens the issue of auditing troubled firms. Troubled firms are in this study referenced to firms that have been assessed with a going-concern opinion. Going-concern opinions was difficult for the auditors to review during Covid-19, in the light of the uncertainties that bear the stamp of the pandemic. For this reason, it was interesting to study if the audit effort had changed during covid-19 by analyzing the possible changes in audit fees and audit reporting lag. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to analyze the changes of audit effort in association to increased risk in firms in context to a crisis. Method: The study identifies with a quantitative orientation as it studies the changes of audit fees and audit reporting lag during Covid-19. In order to achieve the purpose of the study, pertinent variables from the firms’ annual reports have been obtained to perform three statistical analyses. The purpose was to study the changes between two years and the correlation between the two variables. Conclusion: The results suggest an increase in audit fees during Covid-19. The results also indicate no change in the length of audit reporting lag during Covid-19, even though a covariance between audit fees and audit reporting lag was identified to a certain extent. The results have shown to be understood with support by information asymmetry and establishment of comfort.

Due Diligence is today an important part of the transaction process through sales of properties and is an important process for both sellers and buyers. The process intends to review an asset before a transaction to minimize the risks associated with the acquisition by detecting weaknesses and verify the asset's characteristics. The use of Due Diligence has become increasingly common over the past twenty years in the Swedish real estate market and there is no indication that this trend will decrease but rather increase. Although there is widespread use of the process both in acquisitions of corporations and properties, both in Sweden and in the rest of the world, it is costly for the purchasers and the concept is far from fully developed. This thesis aims to clarify what the real estate market thinks about the potential development of the process itself and the role of the actors. The main question is what opportunities exist to develop the concept of Due Diligence in real estate transactions. Given the high economic values that are found in real estate transactions, it is highly relevant to perform Due Diligence and therefore it is also important to review the opportunities to change this process if it is requested and feasible. The conclusions of the thesis shows that the actors in the real estate market believes that there are opportunities for development in the use of Due Diligence The possibilities includes seller's expanded role in information gathering , process delays , clearer and more transparent processes and a continuous development of the actors’ own processes. The thesis concludes with four proposals for a development process: An increased use of Due Diligence conducted by the seller as a complement to the buyer's own investigation, clearer procurement of consultants from the real estate owners, more accessible information earlier in the process from the sellers and consistent monitoring of the implemented processes. / Due Diligence utgör idag en viktig del av transaktionsprocessen vid överlåtelser av fastigheter och är en viktig process för både säljare och köpare. Processen avser att granska en tillgång inför en transaktion för att minimera riskerna med förvärvet genom att upptäcka brister och kontrollera tillgångens egenskaper. Användningen av Due Diligence har blivit allt vanligare de senaste tjugo åren på den svenska fastighetsmarknaden och inget tyder på att denna utveckling kommer att avta utan snarare tillta. Trots att det finns ett utbrett användande av processen både vid företags- och fastighetsförvärv, i både Sverige och i övriga världen, så är det kostsamt för beställarna och konceptet är långt ifrån färdigutvecklat. Detta examensarbete har som syfte att klargöra vad fastighetsmarknaden anser om potentiella utvecklingsmöjligheter av själva processen och de aktiva aktörernas roller. Den huvudsakliga frågeställningen är vilka möjligheter som föreligger att utveckla konceptet Due Diligence vid fastighetstransaktioner. Med tanke på de stora ekonomiska värdena som finns i fastighetstransaktioner är det högst relevant att utföra Due Diligence och därför är det också av stor vikt att se över möjligheter att förändra denna process om det efterfrågas och är genomförbart. Slutsatserna i examensarbetet visar på att aktörerna på fastighetsmarknaden anser att det finns utvecklingsmöjligheter i användandet av Due Diligence. Möjligheterna innebär bland annat säljarens utökade roll i informationsinsamlingen, processens tidsåtgång, tydligare och mer transparenta processer samt ett kontinuerligt utvecklingsarbete av aktörernas egna processer. Examensarbetet avslutas med fyra förslag avseende en utveckling av processen: Ett ökat användande av Due Diligence genomförd av säljaren som komplement till köparens egen granskning, tydligare upphandlingar av konsulter från fastighetsägarna, mer tillgänglig information tidigare i processen från säljarna och konsekventa uppföljningar av genomförda processer.

Det populära förfarandet fastighetspaketering som idag är branschnorm, innebär att det ägande bolaget överlåts och utseendet på transaktionsprocessen förändras. Förändringen innebär en utökad undersökningsprocess, i form av en Due Diligence. Due Diligence innebär vanligtvis en undersökning av fastighetens tekniska, ekonomiska och juridiska aspekter. Fastighetspaketeringar medför däremot en ytterligare undersökning parallellt av bolaget. Syftet med studien är att undersöka hur mindre aktörers transaktionsprocess påverkas vid förvärv av paketerade fastigheter samt vilka konsekvenser deras Due Diligence får. För att uppnå studiens syfte har en kvalitativ metod använts för att begrunda det empiriska materialet. Det empiriska materialet grundar sig på fyra semistrukturerade intervjuer med respondenter från mindre fastighetsbolag.  Studien visar att transparensen på den svenska fastighetsmarknaden är högre än genomsnittet, trots detta förekommer asymmetrisk information. Den asymmetriska informationen kan däremot motverkas genom en Due Diligence. Därav krävs det att informationen i en Due Diligence bearbetas på ett korrekt och kontrollerat sätt, om så inte vore fallet utmynnar det i en kostsam process. På så vis är mindre fastighetsbolag villiga att betala kostnaden för informationen i en Due Diligence. Bearbetas inte informationen fullständigt kan det leda till lägre lönsamhet, vilket studien påvisar vara en avgörande faktor för mindre fastighetsbolag. / Packaging of Real Estate is today considered a popular transaction method and an industry norm. A result of the procedure is that the owning company is transferred in the transaction, however this means that the appearance of the transaction process changes. The change involves an extended investigation process, in the form of a Due Diligence. Due Diligence usually refers to an investigation of the property’s technical, financial and legal aspects. Packaging of real estate, on the other hand, entails an added parallel investigation of the company. The purpose of this study is to investigate how the transaction process affects smaller real estate companies by the acquisition of packaged properties, and what consequences it has on their Due Diligence. To achieve the purpose of this study, a qualitative method has been used to gather our empirical data. The empirical material is based on four semi-structured interviews with four different interviewees from smaller real estate companies. The study shows that transparency in the Swedish real estate market is above average, despite this, asymmetric information occurs. The asymmetric information, on the other hand, can be counteracted by Due Diligence. Therefore, it is required that the information in a Due Diligence is processed in a correct and controlled manner, otherwise it results in a costly process. Therefore, smaller real estate companies are willing to pay the cost of information in a Due Diligence. Failure to process the information completely can lead to lower profitability, which the study shows is a decisive factor for smaller real estate companies.

Asymmetrical information gaps perceived by procurers creates barriers when introducing sustainability in public procurement. The prerequisite for addressing these have therefore been studied. The asymmetrical information gap perceived by the procurer has been studied from the perspective of contract theory, since procurements can be regarded as a contract between two parties. To study this, five functional-oriented public procurements with different sustainability demands and needs have been studied. The approach of the study has been of qualitative nature and was conducted through interviews. The interviews revealed that the use of dialogues was perceived as a good way of reducing the asymmetrical information gap. However, it was experienced as time consuming. The use of incentives proved to be a more situational solution, it cannot solely reduce the information asymmetric gap perceived by the procurer. It also emerged that the dialogue process could be regarded as a form of market incentive. Hence, the need for a more time-efficient approach for the dialogue processes when using functional oriented public procurements. Such a model has been compiled based on the information from the interviews. The purpose of the model is to increase the prerequisites for sustainability in public procurement by addressing the asymmetrical information perceived by the procurer. / Informationsasymmetrin upplevd av offentliga upphandlare skapar barriärer vid introduktionen av hållbarhet i upphandlingarna. Där av har förutsättningarna för att adressera dessa studerats. Det informationsasymmetriska gapet upplevt av upphandlaren har studerats utifrån ett kontraktsteoretiskt perspektiv. Detta då upphandlingar kan betraktas som ett kontrakt skrivet mellan två parter. För att studera detta har fem stycken funktionsorienterade upphandlingar med olika hållbarhets inriktningar och behov studerats. Studiens angreppssätt har varit av kvalitativ natur och genomförts med hjälp av intervjuer. Av intervjuerna framkom det att användandet av dialoger upplevdes som ett bra tillvägagångssätt för att reducera det informationsasymmetriska gapet. Dock upplevdes det som tidskrävande. Användandet av incitament framkom vara en mer situationsbaserad lösning. Detta gör att användandet av incitament inte ensamt lämpar sig för att reducera det informationsasymmetriska gapet upplevt av upphandlaren. Det framkom även att dialogsförandet har kunnat betraktas som en form av incitament för marknaden. Där av behovet för ett mer tidseffektivt tillvägagångssätt för dialogsprocesserna vid användandet av funktionsorienterade upphandlingar. En sådan modell har sammanställts med hjälp av den insamlade informationen från intervjuerna. Syftet med modellen är att öka förutsättningarna för hållbarhet i offentliga upphandlingar genom att adressera den informationsasymmetri som upplevs av upphandlaren.

Denna studie kommer att utforska hur dolda bud påverkar tilliten till budgivningsprocessen, där syftet med studien är att undersöka påverkan på förtroendet hos köpare, säljare och potentiella köpare på bostadsmarknaden. Med denna undersökning vill vi ta reda på vilka utmaningar dolda bud skapar för att tillföra kunskap och lärdomar för mäklarbranschen. I arbetet diskuteras det hur dolda bud har bidragit till en opålitlig budgivningsprocess, där de inblandade aktörerna ofta misstänker att mäklaren har undanhållit information. Detta sker trots att Fastighetsmäklarlagen inte innefattar en reglerad budgivning ännu, där säljaren i nuläget avgör om budgivningen ska hållas öppen eller vara stängd. Forskningsstudiens teoretiska ramverk består av tillit, risk och osäkerhet, transparens och asymmetrisk information. Påverkan på transaktionskostnader och det marknadsmässiga perspektivet behandlas även i det teoretiska ramverket. Arbetet baseras på en kvalitativ undersökning med semistrukturerad intervjuteknik som består av nio genomförda intervjuer. Dessa baseras på deltagare som tidigare varit i kontakt med dolda bud i en försäljningsprocess. Resultatet av studien visar att det finns en stor okunskap om fenomenet dolda bud vilket i sin tur skapar missförstånd och misstro. Slutligen visar forskningen på att det finns en rad faktorer som påverkas negativt av de dolda buden med ett fåtal skillnader mellan de inblandade aktörerna. De främsta slutsatser som framhävs i forskningsrapporten är förtroendets påverkan hos de olika parterna, då ett flertal vann medan andra förlorade i budgivningsprocesserna. / This study will investigate how hidden bidding affects trust in the bidding process where the aim of the study is to investigate the impact on the trust of buyers, sellers and potential buyers in the housing market. With this survey, we want to find out what challenges hidden bids create in order to add knowledge and lessons for the brokerage industry. The work discusses how hidden bids have contributed to an unreliable bidding process where the parties involved often suspect that the broker has withheld information. This is despite the fact that the Real Estate Agents Act does not yet include regulated bidding, where the seller currently decides whether the bidding should be kept open or closed. The research study's theoretical starting points consist of trust, risk and uncertainty, transparency, and asymmetric information. The impact on transaction costs and the market perspective is also addressed in the theoretical framework. The work is based on a qualitative survey with a semi-structured interview technique consisting of nine completed interviews. These are based on participants who have previously been in contact with hidden bids in a sales process. The results of the study show that there is a great deal of ignorance about the phenomenon of hidden bids, which creates misunderstandings and mistrust. Finally, the study shows that there are several factors that are negatively affected by the hidden bids with a few differences between the parties involved. The main conclusions that are highlighted are the impact of trust on the part of the various parties, as several won while others lost in the bidding processes.

The purpose of this study is to explore how IFRS 15 have influenced Swedish auditors and financial analysts’ understanding of companies’ revenue transactions. How accounting structural changes under IFRS 15 contribute to potential informational effects remains a largely unexplored topic. By applying asymmetric information theory, behavioral decision theory and the concept of uniformity versus uniqueness, this study explores potential factors that influence information intermediaries’ understandability of companies’ revenue transactions. This study uses an explorative approach consisting of 8 semi-structured interviews with Swedish auditors and financial analysts working in the telecommunication and construction industry. From a practical point of view, this study may assist the IASB and other regulators in obtaining a better understanding of information intermediaries’ ability to appropriately interpret and use financial information under IFRS 15. From a theoretical standpoint, the findings can provide areas of potential future studies in the field of accounting information research. Although the implementation of IFRS 15 has a limited quantitative accounting effect, this study finds that the implementation contributes to informational effects on financial analysts and auditors’ information environment. The findings indicate that the perceived informational effects are dependent on entities' application of the standard; intermediaries’ accounting knowledge and experience; as well as companies' transparency and manipulating incentives.

[pt] Esta tese é composta por três artigos empíricos que utilizam dados de venda de uma cadeia de lojas de produtos eletroeletrônicos e de características de seus clientes. O primeiro investiga o efeito de características, como gênero, idade, escolaridade e renda, na probabilidade do cliente de receber desconto. Ele tem o objetivo de averiguar se a autoridade de decisão de preço final dada aos vendedores está sendo bem usada. Quando há discriminação de preços, clientes com renda mais alta devem ter menor probabilidade de receber descontos. Por outro lado, descontos podem ser dados por outros motivos, diferentes daquele desejado pela firma. Uma vez que o cliente percebe que o vendedor tem poder de decisão sobre o preço final, ele pode desejar começar um processo de barganha para reduzir o preço que pagará. O resultado deste processo pode também depender das características do cliente, se estas afetarem a habilidade de barganhar. Neste caso, quanto maior a habilidade do cliente de barganhar pelo desconto, maior este será. Como encontramos que a probabilidade de receber descontos aumenta com a renda e escolaridade do cliente, e o valor do desconto também é maior para pessoas com mais alta renda e mais educadas, concluímos que o desconto não está sendo dado como resultado de discriminação de preços, mas como o resultado de uma barganha. O segundo artigo estima o efeito de informação assimétrica sobre o financiamento da compra de produtos, usando o plano de pagamento escolhido e as características não observadas do cliente. Decompomos o efeito em seleção adversa e um componente causal, usando técnica similar à usada por Adams, Eivan and Levin (2009). Encontramos um efeito marginal significante e concluímos que o efeito causal da escolha do plano de pagamento é maior que aquele causado pela seleção adversa. Um aspecto chave da estratégia de identificação é a escolha da variável exógena. Usamos uma variável binária que é um quando a compra é feita num mês de saldão, meses estes quando há um plano especial: onze parcelas sem juros. A variável usada claramente influencia a escolha do plano de pagamento, mas o repagamento não depende diretamente dela, uma vez que nosso instrumento não está associado ao valor do colateral do empréstimo. O terceiro artigo estuda o repasse para os preços da primeira redução de IPI de 2009. A redução ocorreu para quatro diferentes produtos: refrigeradores, fogões, máquinas de lavar e tanquinhos. Observamos o efeito do IPI nos preços e nas características dos clientes. Encontramos que a ocorrência da redução do IPI gera uma redução de 5,97 porcento no preço, quando usamos um modelo linear simples e uma redução de 2,98 porcento no preço, quando usamos um efeito fixo de produto. Gênero, idade, renda e escolaridade dos clientes que compram eletrodomésticos não mudam significativamente com a redução do IPI. / [en] This dissertation is composed of three independent empirical articles that use data on home and kitchen appliances and image equipment sales of one specific chain store and their clients characteristics. The first one investigates the effect of the client s characteristics, such as gender, age, education and income, on the probability of receiving a discount. It intends to investigate if the pricing authority that is delegated to the salespeople is being well used. If the effect of delegation were to implement price discrimination, clients with higher income would have a lower probability of getting a discount. On the other hand, discounts can be given for a different reason than the one desired by the firm. Once the customer recognizes that the salesperson has some discretion over the prices, she may wish to engage in bargaining to decrease the final price. The outcome of this process may also depend on the customer s characteristics if they affect the customer s skill in bargaining. In this case, the greater the client s ability, the bigger the discount. Since we find that the probability of receiving a discount is increasing in the client s income and education, and the value of the discount is also bigger for people with higher income and better education, we conclude that the discount giving is not a result of price discrimination, but a result of a bargaining process. The second article estimates the effect of asymmetric information on consumer loans, using the payment plan chosen by the client and his observable characteristics. We decompose the effect into an adverse selection and a causal component using a technique similar to Adams, Einav and Levin (2009). We find significant marginal effects for both components and that the causal effect of the payment plan choice is greater than the one caused by the adverse selection. A key aspect of the identification strategy is the choice of the exogenous variable. We use a dummy variable that is one when the month of the purchase is one of the saldão months, that is, when one special payment plan is also available: eleven monthly payments, with zero interest rate. The variable used clearly influences the payment plan choice but the repayment behavior does not depend directly on it, since it is not directly related to the value of the debt collateral. The third article studies the retail market effects of the first tax stimulus episode of 2009, when the government reduced the IPI (Industrialized Products Tax) of certain categories of kitchen and home appliances. Tax rates vary depending on the product. The reduction occurred to four different products: refrigerators, stoves, washing machines and non automatic washing machines. We estimate the effect of the IPI reduction on prices and the composition of demand. We find that the IPI reduction lead to a 5.97 percent reduction on price, when we use a simple linear model and a 2.98 percent reduction, when we control for product fixed effects. The characteristics of consumers who acquire the appliances do not change significantly with the reduction.

Purpose: The study aims to describe and analyze how investors are influenced by information in decision-making processes regarding equity and debt-based crowdfunding. Theories: Elaboration Likelihood Model, Asymmetric information and previous relatable studies.  Method: Qualitative method with semi-structured interviews. Conclusion - The results from the study showed that central factors can lead to debt-based projects and peripheral factors to equity-based projects. The decision-making processes differed in the two different types of crowdfunding according to the security, or uncertainty, of the project. It also turned out that investors preferred debt-based crowdfunding projects. The study also proved the importance of information for the investors differs whether it is a debt- or equity based project.

Titel: Prissättningen av IPOer  Författare: Cornelia Virsén och Izabel Wästlund  Handledare: Katarina Eriksson  Bakgrund och problemformulering: Prissättningen av IPOer är idag ett välstuderat forskningsområde. Tidigare forskning visar på att IPOer i olika delar av världen är underprissatta. Vilka variabler som driver prissättningen och aktiekursutvecklingen under första handelsdagen skiljer sig dock åt mellan olika forskare och än råder inte konsensus mellan tidigare forskning. I slutet av 2019 bröt Covid-19-pandemin ut, vilken föranledde samhälleliga restriktioner och en markant förändring i samhällsaktiviteten som fick en påverkan på den svenska ekonomin. Sedan april 2022 klassas Covid-19 inte längre som en pandemi vilket öppnar för möjligheten att studera huruvida det går att urskilja olikheter i förklarande variabler vid prissättning av IPOer innan, under och efter Covid-19.   Syfte: Syftet med studien är att analysera huruvida IPOer genomförda på den svenska marknaden är underprissatta. Därtill ämnar studien till att analysera likheter och skillnader i de utvalda variablernas påverkan på prissättningar av IPOer på den svenska börsen före, under och efter Covid-19.   Metod: Studien följde en kvantitativ forskningsstrategi med en deduktiv ansats. Studien tillämpade t-tester för att analysera huruvida IPOer genomförda på den svenska marknaden är underprissatta. Vidare genomfördes enkla linjärregressioner samt multipla linjärregressioner för att analysera utvalda variablers påverkan på IPOers prissättning. Urvalet uppgick till 224 IPOer vars aktiekursutveckling studerades dess första handelsdag.   Slutsats: Studiens genomförda t-tester för perioderna före Covid-19, Covid-19 och efter Covid-19 visade samtliga på icke-signifikanta resultat. De enkla linjärregressioner samt multipla linjärregressionerna visade enbart på tre signifikanta variabler under samtliga perioder som statistiskt kan sägas förklara prissättningen. Resultatet visade på att småbolagseffekten, ex-ante osäkerheter och signalering var tre teorier, vilka kan sägas förklara en IPOs prissättning. Marknadsförhållanden under studiens tidsperiod indikerade att marknaden befann sig i en cold issue market, vilket skulle kunna vara den förklarande orsaken till studiens resultat.    Nyckelord: IPO, underprissättning, beteendefinans, asymmetrisk information, hot/cold issue market, Covid-19 / Title: The Pricing of IPOs  Authors: Cornelia Virsén and Izabel Wästlund  Supervisor: Katarina Eriksson   Background and problem statement: Pricing of IPOs is currently a well-studied research area. Previous research indicates that IPOs in different parts of the world are underpriced. However, the variables driving pricing and stock price performance during the first trading day differ among researchers, and there is still no consensus in previous research. In late 2019, the Covid-19 pandemic broke out, leading to societal restrictions and a significant change in societal activity that impacted the Swedish economy. Since April 2022, Covid-19 is no longer classified as a pandemic, which opens up the opportunity to examine whether there are differences in explanatory variables in the pricing of IPOs before, during, and after Covid-19.   Purpose: The aim of this study is to analyze whether IPOs conducted in the Swedish market are underpriced. Additionally, the study intends to examine similarities and differences in the impact of selected variables on the pricing of IPOs on the Swedish stock exchange before, during and after Covid-19.   Method: The study followed a quantitative research strategy with a deductive approach. T-tests were employed to analyze whether IPOs conducted in the Swedish market are underpriced. Furthermore, simple linear regressions and multiple linear regressions were conducted to examine the impact of selected variables on the pricing of IPOs. The sample consisted of 224 IPOs which stock performance was studied on their first trading day.   Conclusion: The conducted t-tests in the study for the periods before Covid-19, Covid-19, and after Covid-19 all yielded non-significant results. The simple linear regressions and multiple linear regressions only revealed three significant variables across all periods that can be statistically considered as explanatory factors for pricing. This result demonstrated that the small firm effect, ex-ante uncertainties, and signaling were three theories that could explain the pricing of an IPO. The market conditions during the study period indicated that the market was in a cold issue market, which could potentially be the explanatory factor behind the study's findings.   Keywords: IPO, underpricing, behavioral finance, asymmetric information, hot/cold issue market, Covid-19.