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The last years trends of increasing globalisation and the decreasing importance of the nationstate has led to rising flows of travellers and information throughout the globe. This has affected the competition between destinations; they are now competing in a global market. The importance of placemarketing and representing a place identity, is today essential to attract customers from around the world. The purpose of this essay was to examine how Iceland as a place is represented through the photographs in horse tourism. The research questions asked were: How is the Icelandic landscape represented in photographs? How is people and horses represented in the landscape? And how can the horse be analysed as a part of the Icelandic landscape? The method used for research was image-analysis, a qualitative approach where horse tourism-websites and photographs on these websites were strategically selected. Theories used to analyse the result were concepts like place, nature and wilderness, described as social constructions. The research showed that Iceland as a place is represented through a selection of myths. The role of the Icelandic landscape might be explained as a dichotomy of two contrasting representations, the dramatic and untamed landscape, and the idyllic and romantic landscape. The Icelandic horse is represented as a powerful, mythological, and divine creature, interacting with humans but not fully tamed. It is also represented as free, wild and a part of the Icelandic nature. In the photographs people are represented as active in an adventure. They become integrated with nature by the connection to the Icelandic horse. In conclusion this study shows that Iceland is represented as a place with a powerful and romantic landscape. Where people can get access to nature by the horse, they become part of an adventure but they never fully control either the horses or the landscape. People are depicted as humble participants, being part of something more powerful then themselves, the great Icelandic nature.

The aim of this study is to analyze the choice of living in a peri-urban area as part of a livelihood strategy. The method used for collection of primary data for the study was in-depth interviews and questionnaires, undertaken with residents of Mbezi Luisi, a peri-urban area in Dar es Salaam. In order to analyze this material, a theoretical framework consisting of both livelihood frameworks and migration theories was used. In addition, previous research made on migration patterns and livelihoods of the people living in peri-urban areas in Sub-Saharan Africa was reviewed. The result of the study shows that people make active decisions in order to obtain a better life. From a livelihood perspective it was found that the peri-urban areas present unique livelihoods opportunities in comparison to urban and rural areas. I also found that a livelihood perspective may help urban and regional planners in their work.

Studien tar sin utgångspunkt i de ändringar i detaljplanerna som byggnadsnämnden nyligen antagit för områdena längs kusten vid Vantamansvägen och Glansabovägen strax söder om Åhus. Frågan om synen på området är aktuell och samrådet i samband med ändringarna avslöjar att boende i området inte delar kommunens syn. Syftet var att undersöka kommunens och de boendes syn på området och den ändring som gjort i detaljplanen. Det var också ett syfte att utagera varför kommunen valt att ta upp ändringarna enligt ett enkelt planförfarande framför ett normalt. Det beslutades sent i undersökningen att detaljplanen för området vid Vantamansvägen hade upphävts. I teoriavsnittet får vi ta del av forskning om vilka motiv som finns för fritidsboende. De tas också upp hur förhållandet med område där fritidshus och permanenthus finns i samma område kan se ut samt de planeringsfrågor man ställs inför vid kustnära lägen. Det senare visar sig i teorin vara något som ofta kan vara konfliktfyllt och inte helt enkelt. För att följa syftet och besvara de frågeställningar om hur synen på detaljplanerna var hos de boende och kommunen har en kvalitativ intervjustudie genomförts. Bland de intervjuade finns åtta stycken ägare av fritidshus och en tjänsteman på stadsbyggnadskontoret i Kristianstad kommun. Resultaten visar att de boende i fritidshusområdet är nöjda med hur området ser ut idag och vill därför också bevara det. Man ser fördelen med det havsnära läget och naturen där man använder det till flera olika aktiviteter kopplade till rekreation, liksom det får stöd från i teorin. Det framkommer också liksom teorin föreslår att det saknas intresse hos ägarna till fritidshus att omvandla det till ett permanentboende. Teorin föreslår att konflikter kan skapas när permanent och fritidsbosättning blandas och det finns ett visst stöd för att det riskeras även i detta område. Det resultatet går dock inte ihop med hur de ser på detaljplanen där flera faktiskt är nöjda eller åtminstone accepterade ändringen. Kommunen har tagit ett aktivt ansvar för planeringsfrågor längs kusten och det har funnits en aktiv vilja att skapa attraktiva boendemiljöer i kommunen. Detta intresse har visat sig skilja sig från de boende i områdets intressen. Det finns tydliga tecken på att kommunen inte lyssnat på de boende eller allmänheten utan valt att prioritera den politiska viljan och de fördelar kommunen hoppas kunna dra av att ändra detaljplanen, som exempel kan vi nämna att de önskar locka till sig fler och särskilt penningstarka invånare till kommunen. Det verkar dock som att området inom de närmaste åren inte kommer att användas som permanentbosättning och därmed kommer kommunen inte att vinna de fördelar de hoppats på.

Chinese rural enterprises (REs) have continued to grow rapidly since the end of the 1970s, and today these enterprises account for half of China’s industrial output, up from nine per cent in 1978. As a market-oriented nonstate sector, the development of the REs has significantly contributed to both China’s impressive post-reform economic growth and its transition away from a centrally planned economy. This thesis focuses on examining the following important, yet poorly understood, issues of the development of Chinese REs: patterns of local government investment decision-making and impact of local government on the capital structure of the REs through its capital investment and its influence on the REs’ access to bank loans and on the extent to which outstanding payments of taxes and other dues to government serve as an informal credit in the total capital of REs. the phenomenon of soft budget constraints in the RE sector; how it is affected by local government ownership of REs, and what the major sources of budget softness are among local government investment, bank loans, informal credits such as inter-firm arrears, and payment of taxes. the nature and characteristics of transaction costs facing REs and how economic and institutional factors such as the level of economic development, degree of marketisation, the role of local government as well as informal institutions may have affected these costs. The empirical studies of this thesis are based on a set of detailed data from a survey of 630 REs which was undertaken in Sichuan and Zhejiang provinces in 1990. The results of these studies show that in many respects of their operation, REs – especially those owned by local governments – tend to follow rules of neither a planned nor a market system, but those of somewhat in between. / Diss. Stockholm : Handelshögsk.

It has been argued that technology and productivity spillovers from foreign direct investment are the most important channels for the diffusion of modern technology to locally-owned firms in the MNCs’ host countries. Yet, existing empirical studies differ in their appraisals of the size and significance of spillovers. In this dissertation, we examine the technology imports of U.S. multinationals in 33 host countries, and more detailed information on foreign direct investment in Mexican manufacturing in 1970 and 1975, and propose – unlike earlier studies – that spillovers are not only exogenous effects of foreign presence, but also functions of various host country characteristics. We argue that the potential for spillovers from imitation of MNC technology depends on the technology imports of MNC affiliates – these, in turn, seem to be determined by factors such as the host country’s technological capability, the presence of technology transfer requirements, and the level of competition facing the affiliate. Some of the variables also appear to influence the local firms’ abilities and ambitions to imitate MNC technology. In addition, the effects of MNC presence on the level of competition (and the spillovers that occur when local firms are forced to become more efficient in order to maintain profits and market shares) are probably endogenously determined by the behavior of foreign affiliates and local firms: the two types of firms co-exist peacefully in some countries and industries, but compete fiercely in other locations. Consequently, spillovers may be important or insignificant depending on the characteristics of the host country. It is also possible that host country policies have some impact on spillovers. / Diss. Stockholm : Handelshögsk.

This dissertation deals with the multi-faceted phenomenon of knowledge conceptions. The aim is to describe the meaning of “academic knowledge” in today’s knowledge society from the perspective of “education” (a term used here in relation to the ‘liberal arts’ tradition as used in the English language or in German ‘bildung’) and “commodisation”. These two perspectives create a field of tensions in higher education. The study analyses the flow of knowledge in the process of commodisation - partly through a network of relations between societally-relevant actors, partly through career geography. The actors studied are: the state, the university, the university departments and the graduates/students. The research ‘design is a descriptive case study of Karlstad University during the years 1997-2007. The theoretical approach combines two perspectives; commodisation of academic knowledge and career geography. Commodisation is studied by the developments in higher education seen from a wider national and international perspective. Career geography entails both a geographical mobility and a social mobility of the students. The results show that there are different conceptions about academic knowledge from the different actors. Two different perspectives of commodisation of academic knowledge have been found, one from the “top down” perspective and one from the “bottom up” perspective. The top down perspective means that commodisation is driven mostly by the state and then is followed by the university and the university departments. In the bottom up perspective, commodisation is driven by the students. Furthermore, the results from the study of the Swedish state reveal an increasingly clear commodisation of academic knowledge with emphasis on economic growth, regional development and international competition.  However, Karlstad University’s and the university departments’ view of knowledge differs somewhat from that of the state’s, and aims instead to combine ‘commodisation of knowledge’ with ‘knowledge as education’ in its efforts to be a ‘learning university’. It is also shown that students appreciate this combined view. On a general level, the main argument from this dissertation is that it is necessary to place more attention on how to obtain a balance between the commodisation of academic knowledge and knowledge as “education” in today’s higher education system.

Diss. Uppsala : Uppsala universitet, 2005.

Diss. Uppsala : Uppsala universitet, 2005.

The aim of this thesis was to examine if the theoretical concept of spatial capital explains the distribution of the human capital and high incomes in an urban region using Stockholm county as an empirical example. The spatial capital theory suggests that geographical proximities can explain social and economic distributions in urban regions and is divided into two subcategories;position and situation capital where the former measures the geographical proximities to urban environments and cultural amenities and the latter measures to proximities to public transportation alternatives. The study was conducted using proximity analysis performed with Geographical Information Systems (GIS) in QGIS, and stepwise multiple linear regression analysis performed in SPSS. Human capital and high incomes were chosen as dependent variables due to their relevance to sustainable development, especially in regards to urban economics becoming more knowledge-based. Spatial capital was operationalized into five variables of measuring geographical proximities; distance to central business district (CBD), distance to regional urban cores, distance to nearest amenity, distance to nearest railway, and distance to nearest bus stop. The human capital was operationalized as tertiary education and income was measured as taxable earned income. All results demonstrated statistically significant effects on the dependent variables. Proximity to central Stockholm was the strongest explanatory variable regarding the distribution of human capital and high incomes in Stockholm county. When excluding this variable, distance to railways was proven to have the strongest effect on the distributions. The conclusion was that the spatial capital theory explains that the distance to central Stockholm and distance railways are the strong predictors for how human capital and high incomes are distributed in the county. The robustness of analysis and the empirical findings’ meaning in the context of regional planning in Sweden wasthen presented and discussed.