We study how individuals' formation of inflation expectations are affected by the stringent containment and economic support measures put in place during the COVID‐19 pandemic. Using the New York Fed Survey of Consumer Expectations (SCE) and the Oxford COVID‐19 Government Response Tracker (OxCGRT), we find that policies aimed at containing the pandemic lead to an increase in individuals' inflation expectations and inflation uncertainty. We also find some heterogeneity in the impact across different demographic groups.

[pt] A presente dissertação se propõe a analisar as formas de organização e resistências utilizadas pelos moradores da favela de Rio das Pedras frente ao avanço da pandemia de COVID-19. O estudo possui caráter exploratório de natureza qualitativa, a partir da realização de pesquisa bibliográfica e de campo, que se desenvolveu com entrevistas semiestruturadas realizadas junto à lideranças comunitárias, representantes de comunicação comunitária e gestoras de equipamentos públicos. O referencial teórico-metodológico considera a intensificação das desigualdades sociais, raciais e de gênero na pandemia com efeitos no enfrentamento do fenômeno socio-sanitário no Brasil. A partir da perspectiva crítica, refletimos sobre questões pertinentes a concepção de direito à cidade, permeada pela contradição da efetivação das cidades capitalistas e consequentemente das favelas cariocas, com ênfase ao processo de construção e consolidação da favela de Rio das Pedras. Frente ao advento da pandemia da covid-19, a dissertação analisa seu aprofundamento no contexto brasileiro, destacando-se o impacto da pandemia em territórios favelados, que historicamente são marcadas pela insuficiência das intervenções estatais. A favela de Rio das Pedras, que assim como os demais territórios favelados, se viu impactada pelo vírus da COVID-19 e teve que se virar para fazer frente às ameaças não somente sanitárias, mas econômicas, políticas e estruturais. Os principais resultados do trabalho se voltam para a constatação que a pandemia da COVID-19 desvelou ao mundo desigualdades sociais que historicamente impactam a vida de populações mais vulneráveis, dente esses, os moradores de territórios favelados. Frente à insuficiência nas medidas de enfrentamento ao vírus conduzidas pelo poder público, lideranças e coletivos favelados se organizaram em defesa da sobrevivência da população. Nesse contexto, conclui-se a importância de se defender a efetivação de políticas públicas em territórios favelados em diálogo com as potencialidades presentes nesses territórios. / [en] This present dissertation propose to analyze the forms of organization and resistance used by residents of the favela Rio das Pedras against the advance of the COVID-19 pandemic. The study has an exploratory character of a qualitative nature, based on bibliographical and field research, which was developed with semi-structured interviews carried out with community leaders, representatives of community communication and managers of public facilities. The theoretical-methodological framework considers the intensification of social, racial and gender inequalities in the pandemic with effects on the confrontation of the socio-sanitary phenomenon in Brazil. From a critical perspective, we reflect on questions pertinent to the conception of the right to the city, permeated by the contradiction of the realization of capitalist cities and, consequently, of Rio de Janeiro s favelas, with emphasis on the process of construction and consolidation of the favela of Rio das Pedras. Faced with the advent of the covid-19 pandemic, the dissertation analyzes its deepening in the Brazilian context, highlighting the impact of the pandemic in favelas, which historically are marked by the insufficiency of state interventions. The favela of Rio das Pedras, which, like the other favelas, was impacted by the COVID-19 virus and had to to get by to face not only health threats, but also economic, political and structural threats. The main results of the work turn to the realization that the COVID-19 pandemic revealed to the world social inequalities that historically impacted the lives of the most vulnerable populations, among these, the residents of favelas. Faced with the insufficiency of measures taken by the government to combat the virus, favela leaders and collectives organized themselves in defense of the survival of the population. In this context, it is concluded that it is important to defend the implementation of public policies in favela territories in dialogue with the potentialities present in these territories.

Purpose: The study aims to provide an overall picture of how the staff in housing with special services experience the loneliness of its clients in connection with the Covid-19 pandemic. Method: The empirical study is based on semi-structured interviews in connection with eight assistant nurses who work both at LSS accommodation and outside as accommodation support in their own homes. The study has been examined with thematic analysis within three themes as: the staff´s experiences of the client’s loneliness, the impact of the temporary restrictions on the client’s everyday life and the staff’s opportunities and challenges to counteract/meet loneliness during the pandemic. The study´s empirical data has been interpreted with the support of attachment theory and KASAM.  Results: The results shows that loneliness increased for the clients at the LSS accommodation. Especially in the beginning of the pandemic they found the mandated restrictions to be difficult. The staff found the situation to be challenging, even though no one was proven to be infected by the virus. Only a few had milder symptoms that have led to isolation. The staff experienced that they had a good resource situation and was able to cope with the challenges during the Corona pandemic. There was clear structures and open communications among the staff group. / Syfte: Studien syftar till att ge en samlad bild av hur personalen inom bostäder med särskild service för vuxna upplever ensamheten hos dess klienter i samband med Covid-19 pandemin. Metod: Studiens empiri är baserad på semistrukturerade intervjuer med åtta undersköterskor som arbetar både på LSS-boende samt ute som boendestödjare i det egna hemmet. Studien har granskats med tematisk analys inom tre teman som: personalens upplevelser av klienternas ensamhet, de tillfälliga restriktionernas påverkan på klienternas vardag och personalens möjligheter och utmaningar att motverka/bemöta ensamhet under pandemin. Studiens empiri har tolkats med stöd av anknytningsteorin och KASAM.  Resultat: Resultatet visar att ensamheten har ökat för klienterna på LSS-boendet. Speciellt i början av pandemin upplevde de att det var tufft på grund av bland annat de införda restriktionerna. Personalen tyckte situationen var en utmaning, även om ingen av klienterna hade någon bekräftad smitta utan endast hade symptom av mildare karaktär som ledde till isolering. I slutändan tyckte personalen att de hade haft tillräckliga resurser och har kunnat ta sig an utmaningarna som har tillkommit i samband med pandemin. De upplevde att det fanns tydliga strukturer och öppen kommunikation inom personalgruppen.

Världen ställdes 2020 inför en helt oväntad pandemi som pågick fram till 2022. Under pandemins gång tillkom flertalet olika lagar, stöd och begränsningar för både personer och företag. Vissa av dessa åtgärder var så extrema att ingen hade kunnat förutse att något sådant skulle ske. Eftersom detta hände hastigt uppstod en politisk osäkerhet där ingen riktigt visste vad som skulle hända i framtiden. Tidigare forskning har visat på att hastiga och oförutsedda förändringar angående politik, ekonomi eller lagar leder till en politisk osäkerhet och att denna osäkerhet i sin tur leder till en påverkan på företags användning av earnings management. Mycket tidigare forskning har gjorts inom ämnet earnings management men det finns inte många studier på covid-19 pandemins påverkan. Den forskning som finns är gjord på företag som ligger i andra länder än Sverige och har visat på en påverkan. Syftet med den här studien är därmed att se om även svenska företag har ökat sin användning av earnings management under pandemiåren 2021-2022. Studien utgår från en kvantitativ metod, med en deduktiv ansats och är en studie baserad på paneldata för åren 2018-2019 och 2021-2022. För att undersöka om earnings management har förekommit används den modifierade Jonesmodellen för att beräkna de diskretionära periodiseringarna som svenska börsnoterade företagen gjort. Urvalet bestod av 160 bolag som är listade på Large-, Mid- och Small cap-listorna på Stockholmsbörsen. Resultatet visar på att det finns en signifikant ökning i användningen av earnings management efter pandemins utbrott jämfört med före pandemin började. Vidare visar regressionsanalysen att pandemin hade en påverkan på förändringen. Men påverkan var liten och det finns en möjlighet att en annan variabel är den kausala variabeln. Uppsatsens språk i resterande del är svenska. / In 2020 the world faced an unexpected pandemic that continued until 2022. During the course of the pandemic numerous laws, subsidies and restrictions, both for private individuals and companies were implemented. Some of these measures were so extreme that no one could have predicted them in advance. Because this happened suddenly, political uncertainty arose whereby no one knew what was going to happen in the future. Previous research has shown that sudden and unpredicted changes regarding politics, economics or laws lead to political uncertainty and this in turn affects companies´ use of earnings management. There has been plenty of studies regarding earnings management conducted in the past, but very few exist that regards the effect of the covid-19 pandemic. The research that does exist, is about companies in other countries than Sweden and there the pandemic has had an effect on the use of earnings management. The purpose of this essay is to study whether Swedish companies have increased their use of earnings management during the pandemic years 2021-2022 as well. This study is a quantitative study with a deductive approach based on panel data for the years 2018-2019 and 2021-2022. To examine whether earnings management has occurred, the modified Jones model is used to calculate the discretionary accruals for the public Swedish companies. The sample consists of 160 Large, Mid and Small-cap companies listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange. The results show an increase in the use of earnings management after the start of the pandemic in comparison with the years before the pandemic. Furthermore, the regression analysis shows that the pandemic had an impact on this change. However, the impact was small and there is a possibility that some other variable was the causal variable. The rest of this thesis is written in Swedish.

In the light of a post-pandemic world, the concept of hybrid work environments has become significantly more important since the way of working has changed because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Not being dependent upon a set office spot to conduct one´s work-related tasks has created both positive and negative consequences for both the individuals and the organizations. In conjunctions with the increased importance of hybrid workplaces, we have seen an improved academic attention towards the area since scholars claim that the hybrid way of working is the future. Even though there has been an abundance of research conducted investigating the post-pandemic hybrid work environments, this thesis contributes to an area that according to us have been sparsely investigated through focusing on the effects on remote and/or hybrid workplaces and its employees due to the abruptness of the Covid-19 pandemic through the following research question:  “How has the abruptness of the Covid-19 pandemic affected remote and/or hybrid workplaces and employees?”  The research purpose of this study is to investigate how the abruptness of the Covid-19 pandemic has affected hybrid and/or remote workplace solutions and its employees. We deem to broaden the existing research whilst concurrently develop new theoretical knowledge and expand the overall understanding of the investigated area. The purpose of this study was fulfilled through conducting a qualitative study with seven semi-structured interviews with people that have worked within the same organization before, during, and after the pandemic to obtain their own personal experience regarding the effects of the implementation of hybrid work environments. Through applying a qualitative thematic analysis, the empirical findings were categorized into three overarching themes with following sub-themes that were identified as adequate and relevant to highlight.  The result of this thesis indicates that the abruptness of the Covid-19 pandemic affected the organizations and the employees in both a positive and negative way since the changes were perceived to be needed and appreciated but at the same time implemented in an abrupt fashion which worked as an epiphanic force for several cultural and psychosocial related issues for the employees. Lastly, our findings indicates that there is a need for further research within the investigated area to hopefully facilitate and aid the future organizations, managers, and employees who are planning of or are currently in the process of implementing hybrid work environments.

No description available.

En réponse à la pandémie de la COVID-19, les gouvernements ont mis sur pied des mesures sanitaires contraignantes afin de limiter la propagation du virus (p. ex., port du masque). Lors de cette crise, les individus sont appelés à coopérer en respectant les mesures sanitaires. De nombreuses études ont démontré que la confiance envers autrui était liée positivement aux comportements coopératifs. Néanmoins, il est possible que, dans le contexte d’une crise sanitaire, les individus soient moins portés à adhérer aux mesures sanitaires lorsqu’ils sont avec des gens en qui ils ont confiance. Ce mémoire vise à examiner si la confiance envers les autres mène les individus à moins coopérer, c’est-à-dire, à moins respecter les mesures sanitaires. Plus particulièrement, nous avons pour objectif de tester si les individus sont moins enclins à respecter les mesures avec leurs proches (p. ex., amis et membres de leur famille), et si ce phénomène peut s’expliquer par la plus grande confiance que nous portons envers nos proches comparativement aux étrangers. Pour ce faire, nous avons entrepris deux études. Dans les deux études, les participants devaient lire une vignette décrivant une situation sociale (p. ex., un concert dans un parc). Les participants devaient s’imaginer assister à la situation sociale avec soit leurs proches (p. ex., amis) ou des étrangers. Les participants devaient ensuite rapporter à quel point ils (1) respecteraient les mesures sanitaires (p. ex., maintiendraient une distanciation physique) et (2) feraient confiance aux autres personnes dans la situation. Il a été démontré que les individus faisaient davantage confiance à leurs proches qu’aux étrangers. Cette plus grande confiance était liée à une moindre adhésion aux mesures sanitaires lors d’interactions sociales avec les proches. De plus, les résultats de la deuxième étude ont montré que les individus étaient moins enclins à adhérer aux mesures sanitaires avec leurs proches, même lorsqu’ils moralisaient le respect des mesures (c’est-à-dire, percevaient comme moralement « mal » le non-respect des mesures). Ce mémoire met donc en évidence un lien négatif entre la confiance et la coopération – dans certains contextes, la confiance interpersonnelle peut nuire aux intérêts collectifs. / In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, governments implemented stringent preventive measures to limit the spread of the virus (e.g., mask wearing). During this crisis, individuals are called upon to cooperate by complying with preventive measures. Numerous studies have shown that trust in others is positively related to cooperative behaviors. Nevertheless, it is possible that, in the context of a sanitary crisis, individuals are less likely to adhere to preventive measures with people they trust. The purpose of this paper is therefore to examine whether interpersonal trust leads individuals to be less cooperative, i.e., less compliant with preventive measures. Specifically, we aim to test whether individuals are less likely to comply with measures with their close others (e.g., friends and family members), and whether this phenomenon can be explained by the greater trust we have in our close others compared to strangers. To do this, we undertook two studies. In both studies, participants were asked to read a vignette describing a social situation (e.g., a concert in a park). Participants had to imagine attending the social situation with either their close others (e.g., friends) or strangers. Participants were then asked to report the extent to which they would (1) adhere to preventive measures (e.g., maintain physical distancing) and (2) trust others in the situation. Results showed that individuals trusted their close others more than strangers. This greater trust was related to less adherence to preventive measures during social interactions with close others. Furthermore, the second study showed that individuals were less likely to comply with preventive measures with their close others, even when they moralized compliance (i.e., perceived non-compliance as morally "wrong"). This master’s thesis thus highlights a negative link between trust and cooperation - in some contexts, interpersonal trust can undermine collective interests.

Sammanfattning Inledning: Covid-19-pandemin blev i början av år 2020 en global hälsokris som drabbade hela världen och ledde till att länder snabbt införde åtgärder för att minska smittan och skydda befolkningen. En av de åtgärder som vidtogs i Sverige var att möjliggöra distansarbete för yrken, där det var genomförbart. Syfte: Studiens syfte var att undersöka sektionschefers syn på och erfarenheter av hur distansarbete påverkade arbetsmiljön under covid-19-pandemin. Metod: Data samlades in genom semistrukturerade intervjuer med tolv sektionschefer inom en stor svensk organisation. Dataanalysen genomfördes i form av en kvalitativ innehållsanalys på manifest nivå. Resultat: Analysen visade att distansarbetet under covid-19-pandemin hade både positiva och negativa effekter på arbetsmiljön. Vissa upplevde en bättre balans mellan arbetet och privatlivet tack vare möjligheten att utföra arbetsuppgifter hemifrån. Andra upplevde dock minskad motivation, försämrad samarbetsförmåga och mötte tekniska problem. Sektionscheferna anpassade sin ledarskapsstil för att hantera de utmaningar som uppstod i samband med distansarbetet. För att hantera distansarbetet på ett effektivt sätt var det nödvändigt med tillräckliga resurser, ökad kommunikation och mer samarbete. Sektionscheferna utnyttjade sin individuella handlingsfrihet som chefer för att ge stöd åt sina kollegor och sina medarbetare. Enligt sektionscheferna hade distansarbetet ingen betydande negativ inverkan på medarbetarnas välbefinnande. Slutsats: Distansarbetet hade såväl positiva som negativa arbetsmiljöeffekter. En positiv effekt var upplevelsen av ökad balans mellan arbete och privatliv medan en negativ effekt var minskad motivation. Distansarbete har blivit ett mer accepterat och utbrett arbetssätt efter covid-19-pandemin. / Abstract Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic emerged as a global health crisis in early 2020, im-pacting the entire world and leading countries to swiftly implement measures to reduce transmission and protect populations. One of the measures taken in Sweden was facilitating remote work for feasible occupations. Purpose: The purpose of the study was to investigate section managers' perspectives on and experiences of how remote work affected the work environment during the COVID-19 pan-demic.Method: Data was collected through semi-structured interviews with twelve section manag-ers within a large Swedish organization. Data analysis was conducted using qualitative con-tent analysis at a manifest level. Results: The analysis revealed that remote work during the COVID-19 pandemic had both positive and negative effects on the work environment. Some experienced a better work-life balance due to the ability to perform tasks from home. However, others encountered reduced motivation, impaired collaborative abilities, and faced technical issues. Section managers adapted their leadership styles to address challenges arising from remote work. Effective management of remote work required sufficient resources, increased communication, and enhanced collaboration. Section managers utilized their individual autonomy as leaders to support their colleagues and team members. According to section managers, remote work did not significantly negatively impact employee well-being. Conclusion: Remote work had both positive and negative effects on the work environment. A positive effect was the perception of improved work-life balance, while a negative effect was decreased motivation. Remote work has become a more accepted and widespread modes of work post the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Covid-19 pandemic prompted significant lifestyle changes, including physical inactivity and remote working. This cross-sectional study aimed to explore the prevalence of health-promoting physical activity (PA) and its association with demographic factors and remote working among Swedish adults (18-64 years) using secondary data collected during the Covid-19 pandemic. Health-promoting PA(HPPA) was defined according to WHO guidelines, and demographic factors were identified with the theoretical understanding of the Social ecological model for PA. Binary logistic regression was used to study the associations between demographic factors gender, age & occupation, and HPPA. Of the sample (n= 776), 50.3% were males, and the mean age was 43.6 years. The prevalence of health-promoting PA was 55 % in the total sample, 61% in males, and 48% in females. In occupation, the prevalence of HPPA was 63% in students and 49% in non-Manual workers. In logistic regression analysis, the odds of HPPA were lower in females (OR = 0.56; 95% CI 0.42- 0.75) than in males. In occupation, the odds of engaging in HPPA were lower in non-Manual workers (OR= 0.47, 95% CI, 0.27- 0.81) than in students/others. In conclusion, slightly more than half of the Swedish adults had health-promoting physical activity during covid 19 pandemic. However, HPPA was less common among females and non-Manual workers compared to males and students/others.

Bakgrund och problem: Verksamhetsstyrningen i Region Kronoberg betraktas ske på rutin och med en tydlig struktur vilket är väsentliga principer i Malmi och Browns styrpaket. När en kris inträffar väcks det frågor om hur verksamhetsstyrningen ska gå till då den rutinmässiga processen sätts i obalans. Att studera Covid-19 och de förändringar som krisen har medfört i verksamhetsstyrningen är intressant eftersom det aldrig tidigare har inträffat en kris med dessa dramatiska egenskaper. Egenskaperna har ökat behovet av en effektiv verksamhetsstyrning. Styrpaketet som är en del av verksamhetsstyrningen har kritiserats av forskare som menar att för mycket fokus läggs på det finansiella perspektivet. Covid-19 har bevisat att om störst fokus riktas mot den finansiella biten kommer krishanteringen inte kunna vara tillräckligt effektiv. Därmed behöver paketet vara mer socialt fokuserat. Eftersom att endast styrpaketet inte är tillräcklig i krissituationer brukar ledningen under kriser även utveckla en krishanteringsmodell som också blir en del av verksamhetsstyrningen. Syfte: Studiens syfte är att skapa en djupare förståelse för verksamhetsstyrningens roll i Region Kronoberg under Covid-19 och hur den har förändrats i en organisation som drabbas av en chockartad kris samt vilka lärdomar som krisen har gett upphov till. Metod: Studien som är en enfallsstudie har genomförts med medarbetare från högre och lägre positioner i Region Kronoberg. Uppsatsen har en kvalitativ forskningsdesign med semistrukturerade intervjuer. Insamlingen av det empiriska materialet beskrivs djupare i metodkapitlet. Utöver semistrukturerade intervjuer har även dokument används i syfte att komplettera intervjuerna. Slutsats: Studien visar på att styrpaket och krishantering, som är delar av verksamhetsstyrningen, har misslyckats i rollen som krishanterare under Covid-19. Den främsta anledningen till det är krisens långvarighet och modellernas brist på förmågan att vara   situationsanpassade. Eftersom pandemin inte var lik någon tidigare kris har drastiska förändringar i verksamhetsstyrningen förekommit. Ändringarna har bland annat identifierats i prioriteringar och planeringsprocesser. Uppsatsen för även diskussioner kring vilka lärdomar som finns av Covid-19, som i sin tur kan vara användbara inför en framtida kris. De främsta lärdomarna är att krisen kräver en god organisationsstruktur med tydliga roller. Detta gör att det behövs en högre grad av inkludering av personal, vilket i sin tur kräver en god kommunikation. Just de icke-finansiella aspekterna kommunikation och personal behöver få mer fokus i en långdragen kris. En ytterligare lärdom är att beredskapen för kriser måste vara högre för att minimera de negativa konsekvenserna. / Background and problem: Management Control in Region Kronoberg is characterized by routines and clear structures, which are crucial principles of Malmi and Brown's Management Control Systems as a package. However, when a crisis occurs, all the routines and structures of an organisation get disturbed. Thus, questions about how management control should be executed in a crisis arise. Studying Covid-19 and the changes it has brought in management control is fascinating since there has never before been a crisis with such dramatic characteristics. These exceptional characteristics have in turn increased the need for an effective Management Control. Management Control Systems as a package, which is a part of management control, has been criticised by some researchers who claim that too much focus is placed on the financial part of an organisation. Covid-19 pandemic has proven that managing a crisis by putting the major focus on the financial state of an organisation is insufficient. Management Control Systems as a package thus needs to be more socially oriented. Since Management Control Systems as a package only is not enough in managing a crisis situation, the management of an organisation usually develops a Crisis Management model, which also becomes a part of Management Control. Purpose: The study aims to generate a deeper understanding of the role of Management Control in Region Kronoberg during Covid-19 and how it has changed in an organisation which has been affected by a shock-like crisis as well as the lessons learned, which the crisis has given rise to. Method: The study is of type one-case and has been carried out with employees from both higher and lower positions at Region Kronoberg. The paper has a qualitative research design with semi-structured interviews. The collection of the empirical material is described in more depth in the method chapter. In addition to semi-structured interviews, documents have also been utilized in order to supplement the interviews. Master thesis, Master of Science in Business and Economics, School of Business and Economics at Linnaeus University in Växjö, Spring 2023.    Conclusion: The study has concluded that both the Management Control Systems package, as well as Crisis Management, which are parts of Management Control, have failed in their role as crisis managers during Covid-19. The main reason for this is the duration of the crisis and the models' lack of ability to be adaptive to current situations. Due to the fact that the pandemic was unlike any previous crisis, drastic changes in Management Control have occurred. The changes have been identified in priorities and planning processes, among other things. The essay also discusses the lessons that can be learned from Covid-19, which in turn may be useful for a future crisis. The main lessons learned are that the crisis requires a good organizational structure with clear roles. For this to be possible a higher degree of inclusion of personnel is needed, which in turn is achieved by clear communication. It is precisely the non-financial aspects such as communication and personnel that need to receive more focus during a long-term crisis. Another lesson learned is that preparedness for a crisis must be higher in order to dampen the unfavorable consequences of it.