<p>Family businesses are a major part of everyday life and the society of Sweden. The majorityof existing companies and the companies that started are small family business, somethingseen in Gandemos (2000:6) study. Family businesses are defined by Anna Vikström, lecturerat Luleå University of Technology, as: "A company in which one or more members of onefamily owns the company, while one or more members of the family actively participates inmanaging the company's daily operations." The family is important in the company and thecompanies that are joint-stock-companies have statutory requirementes that they must have aboard, and this board is obviously represented by family members. The people who are a partof the family controling a company can according to authors within corporate governencecreate problems and therefore such as Nielsen & Lekvall (2008) demand that boards aretaking an external member to the board to get a better board and corporate governence. But isthere really a difference in how the family business boards of directors work according towhether they include an external member or not? In our observational study, we found thatthere are advantages in having an external person to be a member of a board that is made upof families and individuals who have a previous relationship with each other. The externalmember influences on the social processes that exist within the group and this has an effect onhow the board is working.</p> / <p>Familjeföretag är en stor del av vardagen och samhället i Sverige. Majoriteten av deexisterande företagen och de företag som startas är små familjeföretag, något som sesGandemos (2000:6) undersökning. Familjeföretag definieras av Anna Vikström, adjunkt vidLuleå Tekniska Universitet, som: ”Ett företag där en eller flera medlemmar av en familj ägerföretaget samtidigt som en eller flera medlemmar ur samma familj aktivt deltar i att ledaföretagets dagliga verksamhet.” Familjen är därmed viktig i företaget och de företag som äraktiebolag har krav på att det finns en styrelse, och i denna styrelse finns självklartfamiljemedlemmar representerade. Att personer som är del av en familj även ska styra ettföretag kan enligt författare inom styrelsearbete skapa problem och därför efterfrågarexempelvis Nielsen & Lekvall (2008) att styrelser tar in en extern ledamot för att få ett bättrestyrelsearbete. Men är det verkligen en skillnad i hur aktiva familjeföretagsstyrelser fungerarberoende på om de innehåller en extern ledamot? I vår observationsstudie har vi kommit framtill att det finns fördelar med att ha en extern ledamot i en styrelse som består avfamiljemedlemmar och personer som har en tidigare relation till varandra. Den externeledamoten påverkar de sociala processerna som finns inom gruppen och detta ger effekt påhur styrelsearbetet fungerar.</p>

Abstract This dissertation assesses the potential impacts of corporate governance codes and legislation on Directors and Officers (D&O) Liability Insurance. Corporate failures lead to numerous losses for stakeholders especially shareholders. Worldwide including in South Africa, this has resulted in an increase in legal liability claims against directors and thus insurers. Often these failures are ascribed to corporate governance breaches giving rise initially to corporate governance codes and more recently many countries are legislating certain aspects of corporate governance; this includes a codification of director‟s duties. South Africa, in-line with the United Kingdom, Australia and to an extent the United States has followed suit with the Companies Bill of 2008. This dissertation seeks to assess the possible effects of the codes of practice and new Companies Act on Directors‟ and Officers‟ Liability insurance. This will be done by ascertaining what impact the new Act will have on directors‟ liability using inter alia the Delphi Technique.

Lewellen ¡]1971¡^ proposed merge and acquisition ¡]M&A¡^ activity will change the tax incentives when one enterprise reorganizes its capital structure. In 1986, the empirical evidences provided by Gilson ¡]1992¡^ proved that the Tax Reform Act in U.S. was not only a critical tax incentive in M&A activities but also a superior synergy to the firms. Besides, in Lewellen¡¦s assumption, the alterations of enterprise¡¦s capital structures are the crucial elements of its tax burden, not the tax law itself. That¡¦s why accounting principle cannot be omitted in the research of capital structure. The Financial Supervisory Commission announced Taiwan will apply International Financial Report Standard ¡]IFRS¡^ in 2013. Thus, the tax issues in M&A activities will be vital for the firms due to the upcoming revolution of accounting principle in Taiwan. This document will list the tax incentives and risks after the implementation of IFRS in M&A activities. The tax incentives will not be the major motives in M&A transactions after the implementation of IFRS. If one enterprise actively manipulates the M&A activity for the tax benefits after the implementation of IFRS, the radical transaction will draw the National Tax Administration¡¦s attention and lose the goal of achieving better synergy after the M&A. Generally speaking, tax risks should be the dominant issues in M&A activities rather than the tax incentives. Due to the complicity of the tax law, identification of tax risks will be the most difficult part in the risk management process. This research will propose the concept of the Tax Risk Matrix as an instrument to identify the tax risk. The matrix is composed with the nationality of enterprise, types of transactions and taxation. For example, once the nationality of enterprise and types of transactions are determined, using this matrix can assist the management concerned to identify what kinds of tax risks they might confront. When the risks are anticipated, this research also comes up with a standard operation process for those enterprises involved in M&A as a tool to control the tax risks. For those complex and extensively different tax issues in the M&A transaction, the systematic methods proposed can decrease the tax risks for the firms. Moreover, the firms and the experts interested in M&A can also develop the best practical solutions with this process and bring up more propositions to the unreasonable and ambiguous articles in the tax law nowadays. In conclusion, the tax law should play a neutral role in the M&A activities not the favorable motives.

All life on Earth is based on and is constantly dependent on flows of water through every plant, every animal and every human body. This makes water Earth's most important natural resource. Lack of water can cause enormous suffering to faculty of agriculture, industry and local ecosystem. Although models, research and pure common sense shows the rational and positive in cooperating on shared water resources, it takes time to build up a stable cooperation between the different political states. Although a generalization is not possible, it is possible to find patterns that despite prevailing political situation, there is a willingness and desire to override political differences and seek a sustainable development in the region. Today there is a consensus among scientists that shared water combined with water shortages, often causes political conflicts. These disputes rather get the parties to realize that they are dependent on each other to get the water they need, and that they find ways to cooperate.

Regulation of the nonprofit sector is a subject of significant debate in the academic and professional literature. The debate raises questions about how to regulate the sector in a manner that addresses accountability while preserving the sector’s unique role in society. Central to the debate is the role of self-regulation. The nonprofit sector is recognized and defended as a distinct third sector in society. Cultural norms and values differentiate the purpose of the sector from the governmental and commercial realms. The legal regime secures rights, establishes organizational structures, and provides tax benefits that enable, reinforce, and protect participation in nonprofit activities. Nevertheless, government regulation is thought to be antithetical to sector autonomy, as well as an obstacle to flexibility and innovation. Selfregulation protects the sector’s political independence and its distinctiveness through the cultivation of shared norms, standards, and processes for ethical practices. Although self regulation is considered to be consistent with the autonomous nature of the sector, it is also criticized as a weaker form of regulation. The ability to address regulatory issues expressed in the broader debate is limited by how we frame nonprofit regulation. The problem with advancing our understanding of self-regulation has to do with how we conceptualize nonprofit regulation. Government and self-regulation are conceptualized and studied as distinct options for regulating the sector. Missing in the nonprofit scholarship is a theoretical framework capable of reframing nonprofit regulation as a system of governance that depends on self-regulation. This represents a glaring gap in the research. Neglecting the institutional context that explains the structure and functioning of the nonprofit sector has led to an oversimplification of nonprofit governance. To study the effects of self-regulation on the functioning of the sector, I argue that we must first frame what is relevant about how the nonprofit sector is governed. The Institutional Analysis and Development (IAD) Framework outlines a systematic approach for analyzing institutions that govern collective endeavors. The objective of this dissertation is to introduce the IAD as an approach for examining self-regulation not as an alternative to government regulation but as an important part of nonprofit governance. / Includes bibliography. / Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2014. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

Background: The Swedish fund savings have developed strongly over the past two decades. Together with this development, the knowledge that the earth's population is facing an extensive climate challenge has also increased. For many people today, living sustainably has become a central aspect of everyday life, and when it comes to investing their savings, the majority of Sweden's fund savers state that sustainability is something that is taken into account when choosing an investment. Investments in funds that based on measuring tools, show a high degree of sustainability have thus increased. This raises the question of whether these sustainable funds can generate a higher alpha and thus a better risk-adjusted return than the less sustainable alternatives available on the market. Previous studies have shown differences of opinion, which means that it is relevant to examine how these different types of funds perform against each other in the Swedish market.   Purpose: The aim of this study is to analyze whether fund savers that are investing in sustainable funds can generate a higher alpha and thereby a better risk adjusted return than fund savers that invests in less sustainable alternatives.   Methodology: The study was conducted with a quantitative method and a deductive approach. Sustainability ratings have been collected for 253 funds from a measuring institute. For these 253 funds, data in the form of net asset value have been collected between the period 2016 - 2020 monthly. These funds have then been evaluated based on risk-adjusted returns where regression analysis has been the groundwork for finding answers to whether alpha has been achieved compared to the market or not. Results obtained have then been statistically examined through various tests.   Conclusion: After completed study, there were no signs that studied sustainable funds have given rise to a better risk-adjusted return than the less sustainable alternatives available on the market. Of the 253 funds included in the study, only five funds showed a risk-adjusted return statistically different from zero, where three had a negative return and two a positive return. When the 253 funds were divided into four different quartiles based on sustainability ratings, it appeared that the funds with a positive risk-adjusted return were placed in quartile four, which was the one with the highest sustainability rating. However, this may be based on chance and a result of two in a sample of 253 gives clear indications that efficiency prevails in the market.