The frequency with which acquisitions occur in the South African business environment served as motivation to evaluate the effect of acquisition announcements on the share performance of JSE listed shares. The basis of the study was to use event study methodology to evaluate short term effects as well as to investigate size effects in acquisition announcements. Companies were grouped into small and large companies using market capitalisation as segmentation criteria. To evaluate effects on the share price and volume traded, the market demand curve for traded securities was used. It proved to be a useful tool specifically in the evaluation of smaller companies, where information asymmetry was prevalent. The shift in the demand curve was evaluated by constructing a Demand Curve Variable, which showed the direction (if any) of the change in the demand curve. Acquisition announcements by JSE listed companies over the last seven years were evaluated and confounding events were controlled for. The findings supported the fact that there exist differences in the results of the small and large company samples when making acquisition announcements, and that small companies have more pronounced negative effects subsequent to the announcement of an acquisition. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

This study investigates the influence that newspaper news and other determinants exercise on the decision-making of executives and hence on the expansion strategies and the performance of medium-sized companies in the Italian food sector. This sector is characterized by companies that have a turnover between 10 and 50 million Euros and, for the bigger ones in this range, around 100 and 200 employees. The use of interviews (questionnaires) and secondary data, combined with a news gathering process are adopted by the authors in order to describe how managers respond to the information coming from newspapers and what other types of knowledge (or intangible assets) there are that can help to downplay the increasingly negative reports of the general downturn in the Italian economy. Evidently, as these companies show growth in revenues and a tendency to adopt exporting as the main strategy to go abroad, newspaper reports seem not to have an influence on managers’ decisions whereas know-how, instinct and personal experience are considered important factors, crucial for the achievement of the companies’ success.

This diploma thesis is focusing on analysis of indebtedness and productivity at company level. The main aim is to analyse these two variables and find their relationship. The thesis is divided into two main parts, theoretical and practical. The theoretical part includes information about indebtedness and productivity issues, whereas the practi-cal part is focusing on analysing of these two variables and finding their relationship. It is focused on companies producing furniture. In the introduction of the practical part is a characteristics of furniture manufacturing industry according to the CZ-NACE and a summarization from a macroeconomic perspective. These companies are than cate-gorized by their size into micro, small, medium and large companies. The following chapters are aimed on a produc-tivity and indebtedness analysis according to each category and on analysis of their relationship. The last chapter is aimed on hypothesis that is supposed to find out, if the companies, that have long-term asset and indebtedness growth, have also a productivity growth. The conclusion includes a summary of all the analysis. According to the analysis was found out, that in some small groups of companies exist a significant relationship between productivity and indebted-ness. It is mainly about a medium and large companies.

The goal of this thesis is to find out if there is a relationship between company capital productivity and investment activity. Evaluation is done on a single sector of the national economy steel construction and steel goods manufacturing, with the exception of machines. In the first half of the practical part of this thesis, an analysis of capital productivity, investing activity, structure of long-time owned property and value added is done. After this, by using correlation and regression analysis, the relationship between variables capital productivity and investment activity is tested. For evaluation, the data from database Albertina, a database that collects data about companies in Czech Republic and Slovakia, are used. All tests are made in the Microsoft Excel and Statistica 12. This paper is supported by the Grant Agency of the University of South Bohemia GAJU 053/2016/S: Management of Innovations and Competitiveness of Small and Medium-sized Companies.

Abstract The thesis is trying to find out if Czech republic disposes really big companies in the manufacturing industry and analyze attitude of czech government towards important companies. Situation in Czech republic compares with Finland and Slovakia. Theoretical part describes certain types of market structures and their effect to competition. Reports competition concepts by chosen economic schools as well as antitrust policy and unfair competition. In the end it shows company types by size and interest groups that are connected not only with big companies. Analytical part research market concentration in czech manufacturing industry with special focus on market concentration -- company size relationship. Following part compares world largest companies with biggest czech, slovak and finnish ones. Last part points government attitude towards big companies by examples Škoda Auto, a.s., ČEZ, a.s., Slovenský plynárenský priemysel, a.s. and Nokia.

Indikatorer har blivit ett effektivt hjälpmedel för företag att mäta hållbarheten av verksamheten och presentera företagens arbete inom ekonomiska, miljömässiga och sociala frågor. Därmed har denna studie utformats med syftet att kartlägga vilka sociala och miljömässiga indikatorer, samt antal, som företag på Stockholmbörsen valt att rapportera. Vidare är syftet att undersöka huruvida faktorer som företagsstorlek och bransch har påverkan på antalet och typen av indikatorer som nämns i företagens rapporter. Denna studie klassificeras som dokumentstudie och tillämpar en kvantitativ metod med en deduktiv ansats. Populationen utgörs av 76 företag som är listade på Nasdaq OMX Stockholm som rapporterar utifrån ramverket GRI. Insamlingen av data har skett utifrån företagens årsredovisningar och hållbarhetsrapporter. Deskriptiva analyser har tillämpats för att undersöka mängden och frekvensen av rapporterade indikatorer. Regressionsanalyser har genomförts i programmet SPSS för att se om det förekommer några samband mellan antal indikatorer och faktorerna företagsstorlek samt branschtillhörighet. Studiens resultat presenteras i tabeller och under analysen har resultaten jämförts mot både den praktiska och teoretiska referensramen samt mot tidigare forskning. Studiens resultat visade en stor spridning gällande antal indikatorer som företagen väljer att rapportera samt att fler sociala indikatorer rapporterats än miljömässiga. Dessutom visade regressionsanalysen ett samband mellan antal indikatorer som företagen rapporterar och branschtillhörighet. Branscherna basmaterial och konsumtion rapporterar flest indikatorer medan finans- och sjukvårdsbranscherna rapporterar minst antal. Det erhölls inget positivt samband mellan företagsstorlek och antalet indikatorer.  Eftersom denna studie endast innefattar svenska företag och ser till ett år vore det av intresse att jämföra mängden indikatorer som rapporteras mellan olika länder samt att se eventuell förändring av hållbarhetsrapportering över en längre tid. / Indicators have been an efficient tool for companies to measure the sustainability of the business and present their work within economy, environmental and social questions. Therefore, this study has been designed with the aim to identify the type and quantity of social and environmental indicators reported by companies on the Stockholm Stock Exchange. Furthermore, the purpose is to examine whether factors such as company size and industry type have an impact on the number and type of indicators mentioned in the companies' reports. This study is classified as a document study and applies a quantitative method and a deductive research approach. The population consists of 76 companies listed on Nasdaq OMX Stockholm, which reports are based on the GRI framework. The collection of data was based on the company's annual report and sustainability reports. Descriptive analyzes were applied to investigate the amount and frequency of reported indicators. Regression analysis was conducted in the SPSS program to see if there is any correlation between the number of indicators and factors as company size and industry type. The study results are presented in tables and the analysis results have been compared with both the practical and the theoretical framework and the previous research. The result that emerged from the study showed that more social indicators are reported than environmental indicators and there is big variation when it comes to the number of indicators that companies choose to report. In addition, regression analysis showed a positive correlation between the number of indicators which companies report, and industry type. Industries like basic materials and consumption report the most indicators while the financial and healthcare industries reported the fewest. The study showed no positive correlation between company size and the number of indicators. Because this study is only performed on Swedish companies and is specified on one year, it would be of interest to compare the number of indicators reported between countries and to see change in sustainability reporting over time.

Som en konsekvens av alltmer investeringar inom forskning och utveckling (FoU), och dess betydelse för ekonomisk tillväxt, företagsresultat och välfärd, har denna immateriella tillgång fått ett ökat intresse bland forskare. Samtidigt pågår spekulationer om huruvida informationen om FoU, inte minst i läkemedelsföretag, påverkar kostnaden på eget kapital och hur olikakapitalkostnader påverkas av obligatoriska rapporteringskrav. Trots det har regleringen av FoU-rapportering fått lite uppmärksamhet. Exempelvis leder EU-direktiv till att FoUrapporteringen kan ses som frivillig istället för obligatorisk.Det huvudsakliga syftet med studien var att beskriva och analysera hur större omfattning av FoU-rapportering påverkar läkemedelsföretags kostnader på eget kapital och hur reglerad FoU-rapportering inverkar på läkemedelsföretags omfattning av sådan rapportering och deras kostnader på eget kapital. Urvalsramen bestod av läkemedelsföretag från Sverige, Belgien,Storbritannien, Tyskland, Frankrike, Norge, Schweiz och Danmark. Av 31 läkemedelsföretag uppfyllde 29 kraven för att ingå i studien. Multipla regressionsanalyser visar att reglerad FoUrapportering leder till att läkemedelsföretagens omfattning av FoU-rapportering generellt ökar,men utan att det påverkar deras kostnader på eget kapital. Vidare visar analyserna att större omfattning av FoU-rapportering inte har någon inverkan på läkemedelsföretags kostnader på eget kapital, men att läkemedelsföretagens omfattning av FoU-rapportering påverkas av storleken på läkemedelsföretag i länder som har oreglerad FoU-rapportering. / As a consequence of growing investments in research and development (R&amp;D), and its importance for economic growth, corporate earnings and welfare, the interest among researchers for this intangible asset has increased. At the same time, speculations regarding if the information about R&amp;D activities, not least in pharmaceutical companies, affects the cost of equity, and how different capital costs are affected by mandatory disclosure requirements. However, the regulation of R&amp;D-disclosure has received little attention. For example, the result of some EU directives is that R &amp; D-disclosure can be seen as voluntary rather than mandatory.The main purpose of the study was to describe and analyse how a more extensive R&amp;Ddisclosure affects pharmaceutical companies' cost of equity and how regulated R&amp;Ddisclosure affects the pharmaceutical companies extent of such disclosure and their cost of equity. The selection group consisted of pharmaceutical companies from Sweden, Belgium, Great Britain, Germany, France, Norway, Switzerland and Denmark. Out of 31 pharmaceuticalcompanies, 29 met the requirements to be included in the study. Multiple regression analyses show that regulating R&amp;D-disclosure leads to a general increase in the extent of R&amp;Ddisclosure by pharmaceutical companies, but without affecting their costs of equity. Furthermore, the analyses show that a greater extent of R&amp;D-disclosure has no impact on the pharmaceutical companies' cost of equity, but that the extent of R&amp;D-disclosure bypharmaceutical companies is affected by the size of pharmaceutical companies in countries that have unregulated R&amp;D-disclosure. / <p>Betyg D, 170915</p>

This thesis analyzes an impact of a company size to its effective tax rate. Back looking microeconomics principle is used for the analysis. A dependence of the effective tax rate and company size measured by the employee headcount is verified for the segment NACE 23 in the Czech Republic for the period 2003 -- 2012 in the thesis. The dependency is proved by a negative correlation between the effective tax rate and the company size. The thesis contains also the analysis of historical development of relevant sections of the Czech Income Taxes Act. An impact of particular items adjusting accounting profit or loss to the tax base is analyzed through an alternation coefficient. The alternation coefficient is calculated on the accounting/tax items of the particular company operating in segment NACE 23.

Sammanfattning Titel: Företagsstorlek och ESG-betyg Nivå: Examensarbete på Grundnivå (kandidatexamen) i ämnet företagsekonomi  Författare: Anton Samuelsson och Inga Kemi Handledare: Jan Svanberg Datum: 2021 – Januari Syfte: ESG-betygen spelar en nyckelroll som den vanligaste proxyn för hållbarhetsprestation inom hållbar finansiering. Tidigare studier visar dock att företag har incitament att vara kreativa med hållbarhetsupplysningar, som ligger till grund för ESG-betygen. Incitamenten kan överföras till företagsstorlek då större företag möter en högre press från samhället att vara hållbart ansvarstagande. Om företagens storlek är positivt relaterad till ESG-betyget behöver det också åtföljas av motsvarande förändring i hållbarhetsprestation. Återspeglar inte ESG-betygen hållbarhetprestationen riskerar kapitalet att fördelas mot icke-hållbara företag. Syftet med denna studie är därför att förklara sambandet mellan företagsstorlek och ESG-betyg. Metod: Studien utgår från en positivistisk forskningsfilosofi med en deduktiv ansats. Studien har en kvantitativ strategi och en longitudinell design som genomförts med data på ett urval bestående av 5 658 publika företag vilka erhållit ESG-betyg mellan åren 2015-2019. Studien baseras på sekundär data inhämtad från databasen Thomson Reuters Eikon. Data har analyserats i statistikprogrammet SPSS. Resultat &amp; slutsats: Studiens resultat påvisar att företagens storlek har ett positivt samband med ESG-betyget. Studiens resultat visar vidare att det positiva sambandet inte åtföljs av en ökad grad av hållbarhet. Således drar studien slutsatsen att ESG-betyget inte fungerar optimalt och är i behov av en snabb modifiering. Examensarbetets bidrag: Studiens resultat ger information till investerare som vill investera i hållbara företag. Eftersom ESG-betyget inte återspeglar hållbarhetsprestationen bör inte investerare förlita sig på ESG-betyget i investeringsbesluten. Studiens resultat ger också information till mätinstituten som tillhandahåller ESG-betyg. Då studien visar att det förekommer företagsstorlek-bias kan åtgärder göras för att få ESG-betyget att fungera mer korrekt. Studiens resultat ger vidare information till forskningen inom ESG-betygen. Detta genom att påvisa hur sambandet ser ut i verkligheten. Förslag till fortsatt forskning: Ett förslag till fortsatt forskning är att göra en liknande undersökning, men som innefattar fler mätinstitut som tillhandahåller ESG-betyg. I denna studie används miljödimensionen som proxy för datatillgänglighet och hållbarhet. Ett förslag till fortsatt forskning är att undersöka om detta också är applicerbart inom dimensionerna samhälle och företagsstyrning. Nyckelord: ESG-betyg, företagsstorlek, hållbarhetsrapportering, hållbarhetsredovisning, SRI / Abstract Title: Company size and ESG ratings Level: Student thesis, final assignment for Bachelor Degree in Business Administration Author: Anton Samuelsson and Inga Kemi Supervisor: Jan Svanberg Date: 2021 – January Aim: Investors play an important role in the global sustainability goals by allocating capital to sustainable companies. Previous research, on the other hand, shows that companies have incentives to be creative with sustainability information, which ESG ratings are largely based on. These incentives can be applied to company size. Larger companies face a higher pressure from society to be sustainably responsible. If the size of the companies is positively related to the ESG rating, it also needs to be accompanied by corresponding change in sustainability performance. If the ESG rating does not reflect sustainability performance, capital risks being allocated to non-sustainable companies. The purpose of this study is therefore to explain the relationship between company size and ESG ratings. Method: The study assumes a positivistic research philosophy with a deductive approach. The study uses a quantitative strategy and a longitudinal design implemented with data of a sample consisting 5 658 unique companies that have received ESG ratings, in the years 2015-2019. The study uses secondary data collected from the database Thomson Reuters Eikon. The data have been analyzed in the statistical software package called SPSS.  Result &amp; Conclusions: The results indicate that company size has a positive relationship with the ESG rating. The results indicate that the positive relationship does not attend on a higher level of sustainability. Thus, the study concludes that ESG rating does not function optimally and is in need of a quick modification Contribution of the thesis: The result provides information for investors interested in investing in sustainable companies. Since the ESG rating does not reflect the sustainability performance, investors should not rely on the ESG-rating in the investment decision. The result also provides information to the rating agencies which provide the ESG-ranking. As the study indicates that there exists a company size bias, actions can be taken to correct the ESG-ranking. The result of this study also provides information to the research field of ESG ratings. Suggestions for future research: A suggestion for further studies is to conduct a similar research but include other rating agencies of ESG ratings. A suggestion for further studies is to investigate if this also is applicable in the social and governance dimensions. Key words: ESG-rating, company size, sustainability reporting, sustainability disclosure, SRI

Background Equity research analysts publish reports containing recommendations and target prices for stocks. A lot of research has been carried out on the subject of accuracy in earnings per share forecasts. Studies have also been made regarding target price accuracy on different markets and for bigger companies. This study concerns the target price accuracy on the Swedish market and for companies from the lists OMX Stockholm Small Cap-, Mid Cap- and Large Cap. The difference from earlier studies is therefore the focus on target price accuracy difference between large and small companies. Aim The aim of this thesis is to analyze the target price accuracy on the Swedish market and compare this accuracy between big and small companies to see if there is any connection between company size and target price accuracy. Completion The study has been conducted with a quantitative method and a deductive approach. Data for 98 companies on the Swedish market has been collected to be able to calculate the absolute forecasting error for three, six- and twelve-month horizons. The absolute forecasting error is then analysed through a regression to be able to see if there is any connection between the absolute forecasting error and the variables beta, difference between highest and lowest target price, difference between target price and actual price, market capitalization, sales, trading volume and volatility. The accuracy has also been studied by looking at if the target price has been reached during the same time horizons. Results The results of this study show that the ratios of achieved buy recommendations and hold recommendations are higher for constituents of OMX Stockholm Large Cap whilst sell recommendations are more often achieved for OMX Stockholm Small Cap and OMX Stockholm Mid Cap constituents. Most differences are statistically significant at least at a 5% level of significance. The regressions show that at three and six-month horizons a higher Beta and trading volume leads to a smaller absolute forecasting error. Increased discrepancy, absolute target price potential, market capitalization, sales and volatility lead to a higher absolute forecasting error. At a twelve-month horizon, the absolute forecasting error has a positive relationship with discrepancy, absolute target price potential, market capitalization, trading volume and volatility. Beta and sales show a negative relationship with the absolute forecasting error. / Bakgrund Aktieanalytiker publicerar ofta rapporter innehållandes riktkurser och rekommendationer. Det har gjorts många studier på ämnet träffsäkerhet för vinst per aktie prognoser. Det har även gjorts studier på riktkursträffsäkerhet på andra marknader samt främst för stora bolag. Denna studie behandlar riktkursträffsäkerheten på den svenska marknaden för företag från listorna OMX Stockholm Small Cap- , Mid Cap- och Large Cap. Skillnaden från tidigare studier är alltså att fokus ligger på skillnader i riktkursträffsäkerhet mellan små och stora bolag. Syfte Syftet med denna studie är att beräkna aktieanalytikers träffsäkerhet avseende riktkurs på den svenska aktiemarknaden och jämföra denna träffsäkerhet mellan större och mindre bolag för att se om den skiljer sig åt. Genomförande Studien har genomförts med en kvantitativ metod och deduktiv ansats. Data för 98 bolag på den svenska marknaden har samlats in för att beräkna det absoluta prognosfelet för perioderna tre, sex och tolv månader efter utgiven riktkurs. Detta prognosfel har sedan undersökts genom regressioner för att se om det finns ett samband med variablerna beta, diskrepans mellan högsta och lägsta riktkurs, absolut kurspotential, marknadsvärde, omsättning, handelsvolym och volatilitet. Dessa variabler har valts då de visat skilja sig signifikant mellan stora och små bolag. Träffsäkerheten har även undersökts genom att analysera om aktiekursen någon gång uppgår till riktkursen under samma tidsspann som för det absoluta prognosfelet. Resultat Resultatet i denna studie visar att andelen uppnådda köp-och behållrekommendationer är högre för bolag tillhörande OMX Stockholm Large Cap medan säljrekommendationer uppnås oftare för bolag tillhörande OMX Stockholm Small Cap och OMX Stockholm Mid Cap. De flesta skillnaderna är statistisk signifikanta vid minst 5% signifikansnivå. Regressionerna visar att på tre samt sex månaders sikt leder högre Beta och handelsvolym till mindre absolut prognosfel. Ökad diskrepans, absolut kurspotential, marknadsvärde, omsättning och volatilitet ger ett högre prognosfel. På tolv månaders sikt uppvisar diskrepans, absolut kurspotential, marknadsvärde, handelsvolym samt volatilitet ett positivt samband med absolut prognosfel. Beta och omsättning har ett negativt samband.