The thesis deals with the combination of the personal life and working life. The target of the thesis is the analysis of necessity to bring in harmony both roles of young people in the age of 20-35 years; the question is if they try to combine the personal life with the professional life and also if they consider the female and male role in present society as equal from the viewpoint of opportunities for the development of work carrier. The analysis of combination of the personal life with working life consists of three stages. The first stage, analysis of conflict of ideas with reality, was elaborated based on the results of investigation having the form of a questionnaire. The output of the second stage, analysis of personal experience of the interrogated persons, are results of individual personal talks deepening the quantitative research which. The last stage is the analysis of strengths and weaknesses. Based on them and based on the theoretical principles acquired from the professional literature, the recommendations were formulated which should result in a more effective harmonization of the personal life and working life.

Pavement friction have become a characteristic of interest due to its impact on road safety. The demand of the transportation agencies for equipment to measure the friction of their pavements grew. Different companies developed in parallel way different devices to satisfy that demand. This generate that the different transportation agencies are using different devices to measure the same characteristic. In order to determine a threshold for the adequate friction levels, the need to compare those data was created. Several attempts to harmonize those measurements have been developed, but have demonstrate that not produce harmonious results among some devices. Also, there are new equipment like the Continuous Friction Measurement Equipment (CFME) that offer some advantages compared to the traditional Locked Wheel Trailer (LWST) that also generate the need to compare historical data to the collected with the new device. This thesis is proposing an interconversion method between the measurements from a CFME as the SCRIM and the LWST. / Master of Science

The focus of the study is on financial reporting for non-U.S. firms registered with the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) but using International Accounting Standards (IAS). This study addresses two issues, (1) whether the comparability of financial reporting among firms using IAS in credit and equity financing jurisdictions increases over time and (2) the associated capital market implications. The motivation for the study is the SEC's ongoing assessment of IAS for possible use by non-U.S. registrants for listing and capital raising in the U.S. Previous research on variations in financial reporting practices has revealed distinctly different types of financial reporting depending on country of origin. Moreover, some research suggests that such differences in financial reporting tend to persist in spite of harmonization efforts of accounting standards. This study suggests that there may be a systematic difference between credit and equity firms' financial reporting that is manifested by the fact that credit firms' adjustments to U.S. GAAP are greater than the adjustments made by equity firms. This systematic difference has had the following capital market consequences for credit firms, (1) a decreasing strength of association between accounting earnings and share prices post-1994, (2) an increased bid-ask spread post-1994, and (3) a decreased trading volume post-1994. This may be an indication that on the average firms reporting under IAS fail to meet an important part of the SEC's second assessment criterion with respect to high quality and full disclosure, namely comparability. In addition, it seems that the revisions made by International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) have not resulted in more congruent financial reporting among firms reporting under IAS over time.

<p><strong><em>Objective:</em></strong> The IFRSs are getting more popularity all over the world. IAS 39 is one of the most sophisticated standards included in the IFRS jurisdiction, which mainly addresses the recognition and measurement of financial instruments and hedge accounting. When these instruments had been <em>off-balance sheet</em> hidden, accounting scandals were the consequences. Capturing these risky instruments in the body of the financial statements, according to IAS 39, implies diverse accounting choices where the selection is tied to managers' judgment.</p><p>The Swedish GAAPs have been criticized in the literature of being less conservative than the US GAAPs. Sweden as an EU member has mandated the adoption of IFRSs in the consolidated financial statements of all listed companies, since 2005. No published research has studied the effect of IAS 39 diverse accounting practices on <em>de facto</em> harmonization and comparability in Sweden. The current study fills this gap in the literature, and goes beyond to investigate whether the selected accounting choices are associated with the industry sectors.</p><p><strong><em>Methods:</em></strong> A sample of 50 companies listed in NASDAQ, Stockholm in the financial and the industrial sectors is selected. Secondary data are obtained from the 2007 annual reports of the selected companies. Six accounting practice categories are detected under the standard. Herfindahl (H) index and Chi- square test are applied on the data.</p><p><strong><em>Results:</em></strong> The results show a relatively low harmonization and comparability in most of the accounting practices, and variation in associations between accounting practices and sectors. This infers to the risk of producing non-comparable financial statements that may distort the value of accounting numbers, the content of financial statements and negatively affect market participants.</p><p><strong><em>Conclusion:</em></strong> Much effort is still needed to enhance <em>de facto</em> harmonization and comparability of financial reporting. Further research is also motivated in order to develop a harmonization theory that support standard setters in revising the existing standard to eliminate inconsistencies in accounting choice selection and enhance comparability.</p><p> </p>

<p>Patent law has during time evolved from industrial inventions to also include intellectual inventions. Patentability has as well changed with time. For technology to be patentable it must be considered to be a technical solution to a problem, and today genetic inventions are considered to be such a technical solution. From the beginning plants and animals were not considered as inventions; however, technology progress urged modifications of existing legislation to meet development progress within technology. European as well as international harmonization have been carried out in this field to ensure uniformity.</p><p>The exclusion from patentability for plant and animal varieties can be found in several sources of law; this study focuses on the exclusions in Article 4 of Directive 98/44/EC on the legal protection of biotechnological inventions, as well as in Article 53b of the European Patent Convention. After two specific cases from the European Patent Office the scope of the exclusion from patentability for plant and animal varieties was questioned. The two cases ONCO-mouse and Plant Genetic Systems had different outcomes, patent was granted in one case and not in the other; and that raised confusion as to the definition of plant and animal varieties, as both cases concerned genetic modification.</p><p>Although there is no clear definition of plant and animal varieties, case law provides guidance to a certain extent, the reasoning in the case law also gives guidance as to where the judiciary is heading in its interpretation. There is more legislation concerning plant varieties, and the definition of this term might be considered to be clearer. The general opinion seems to be that what is said about plant varieties should be applied mutatis mutandis to animal varieties, and vice versa, however this may be questionable in some cases. The lack of a clear definition of the terms plant and animal varieties might result in a lack of legal certainty in this field, as demonstrated by the questioning of the two contradicting cases mentioned above.</p><p>Rapid developments in the field of biotechnology imply that the patentability of plants and animals will be assessed on other grounds in the future. As biotechnology is an expanding area, the acceptance of new controversial inventions may occur on a more regular basis. Time will tell if this is the case.</p>

The harmonization of accounting among the member states of the EU has been going on since the late 1960s. In 2001 it was decided that all listed groups within the EU should use the accounting standards IAS/IFRS issued by the International Accounting Standards Board in their consolidated accounts from 2005. All countries are also free to allow use of IAS/IFRS in individual accounts as well if they want to, which would be a step towards further harmonization. The use of these standards imply a changed way of accounting, adapted to provide relevant information to the capital market instead of the traditional continental European use of the prudence concept of conservatism to protect creditors. The use of these new standards creates problems in relation to the Swedish connection between accounting and taxation which implies that the financial accounting is the base for taxation. To continue to use this connection while introducing IAS/IFRS in individual accounts would have effects on the tax base as there will be a risk of distribution of untaxed profits and having to pay tax on unrealized profits. Therefore the purpose of this thesis is to investigate how the most practical connection between accounting and taxation in Sweden should be formulated within the near future in relation to the use of IAS/IFRS and the development of accounting harmonization within the EU. To gain relevant data to be able to fulfill our purpose we have chosen a qualitative method. We have conducted four semi-structured interviews with five interviewees knowledgeable in accounting and taxation. The data retrieved through the interviews have been analyzed by the use of data reduction in matrixes. Our overall conclusion is that the connection between accounting and taxation needs to be changed. The most likely and suitable solution in the near future would be to keep the connection where the accounting is used as a base for taxation and remove the connection where tax rules affects the accounting. We advocate a use of IAS/IFRS in individual accounts for larger companies and that potentially arising issues due to the kept connection will be solved with specific tax rules. We do not deem complete disengagement with development of a new tax rule system to be a usable solution at the moment. Furthermore, we cannot see any signs of accounting harmonization among SME:s within the near future.

Patent law has during time evolved from industrial inventions to also include intellectual inventions. Patentability has as well changed with time. For technology to be patentable it must be considered to be a technical solution to a problem, and today genetic inventions are considered to be such a technical solution. From the beginning plants and animals were not considered as inventions; however, technology progress urged modifications of existing legislation to meet development progress within technology. European as well as international harmonization have been carried out in this field to ensure uniformity. The exclusion from patentability for plant and animal varieties can be found in several sources of law; this study focuses on the exclusions in Article 4 of Directive 98/44/EC on the legal protection of biotechnological inventions, as well as in Article 53b of the European Patent Convention. After two specific cases from the European Patent Office the scope of the exclusion from patentability for plant and animal varieties was questioned. The two cases ONCO-mouse and Plant Genetic Systems had different outcomes, patent was granted in one case and not in the other; and that raised confusion as to the definition of plant and animal varieties, as both cases concerned genetic modification. Although there is no clear definition of plant and animal varieties, case law provides guidance to a certain extent, the reasoning in the case law also gives guidance as to where the judiciary is heading in its interpretation. There is more legislation concerning plant varieties, and the definition of this term might be considered to be clearer. The general opinion seems to be that what is said about plant varieties should be applied mutatis mutandis to animal varieties, and vice versa, however this may be questionable in some cases. The lack of a clear definition of the terms plant and animal varieties might result in a lack of legal certainty in this field, as demonstrated by the questioning of the two contradicting cases mentioned above. Rapid developments in the field of biotechnology imply that the patentability of plants and animals will be assessed on other grounds in the future. As biotechnology is an expanding area, the acceptance of new controversial inventions may occur on a more regular basis. Time will tell if this is the case.

Objective: The IFRSs are getting more popularity all over the world. IAS 39 is one of the most sophisticated standards included in the IFRS jurisdiction, which mainly addresses the recognition and measurement of financial instruments and hedge accounting. When these instruments had been off-balance sheet hidden, accounting scandals were the consequences. Capturing these risky instruments in the body of the financial statements, according to IAS 39, implies diverse accounting choices where the selection is tied to managers' judgment. The Swedish GAAPs have been criticized in the literature of being less conservative than the US GAAPs. Sweden as an EU member has mandated the adoption of IFRSs in the consolidated financial statements of all listed companies, since 2005. No published research has studied the effect of IAS 39 diverse accounting practices on de facto harmonization and comparability in Sweden. The current study fills this gap in the literature, and goes beyond to investigate whether the selected accounting choices are associated with the industry sectors. Methods: A sample of 50 companies listed in NASDAQ, Stockholm in the financial and the industrial sectors is selected. Secondary data are obtained from the 2007 annual reports of the selected companies. Six accounting practice categories are detected under the standard. Herfindahl (H) index and Chi- square test are applied on the data. Results: The results show a relatively low harmonization and comparability in most of the accounting practices, and variation in associations between accounting practices and sectors. This infers to the risk of producing non-comparable financial statements that may distort the value of accounting numbers, the content of financial statements and negatively affect market participants. Conclusion: Much effort is still needed to enhance de facto harmonization and comparability of financial reporting. Further research is also motivated in order to develop a harmonization theory that support standard setters in revising the existing standard to eliminate inconsistencies in accounting choice selection and enhance comparability.

This work considers international cooperation or harmonization in patent law and analyzes the two main international patent law governance institutions: the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and the World Trade Organization (WTO). A welfarist approach is adopted, proposing that international patent law should improve global welfare, subject to assumptions that the preferences of the world population are heterogeneous, that governments try to maximize the welfare of their citizens, and that international legal organization faces collective action problems. Normatively desirable patent law harmonization reconciles strong reasons for preserving diversity (including the static and dynamic satisfaction of local preferences and adapting to unpredictable change) with strong reasons for cooperation (reducing duplication in patent prosecution, and reconciling imbalanced national externalities, incentives to innovation and costs). The last reason leads to a system of national treatment and minimum standards. The risks presented by the skewed nature of invention are addressed in the international patent system through a form of regional insurance. These reasons for cooperation present two linked but separable collective action problems, supporting the existence of two international institutions to govern patent cooperation. WIPO is best positioned to address duplication in patent prosecution. The WTO is best positioned to address imbalanced national externalities, incentives and costs. However, both the WIPO and the WTO are needed to provide a comprehensive international governance system. Questions about the WTO dispute resolution system, the TRIPs Council, and the WTO’s legitimacy are addressed by advocating a trade stakeholders’ model. Whether international patent law should be seen as a multilateral obligation or a nexus of bilateral obligations is explored. Given diverse national preferences and high uncertainty surrounding the welfare effects of specific patent policies, the process of harmonization is inevitably a political process. This political aspect directly connects the topic of patent law harmonization with the institutional analysis of WIPO and the WTO. The implementation of welfare-enhancing patent law cooperation is best guarded by a process with a wide range of political inputs and transparency. Ultimately, only good international governance can deliver on the potential of the international patent system to promote international innovation, economic growth and world-wide prosperity.

The globalization is the period of economic transformation according to the business competition. A number of multinational companies from industrial countries have to move their productions to a new emerging country which has a lower-labor cost, a strategic location, as well as an access to production material. Sweden is one of those countries that decide to re-locate their business center in other countries. The capital of Swedish companies has been distributed especially in Asian countries. Thailand is one of destinations that Swedish companies prefer to put the capital because of its labor cost, human quality, and strategic location. The objective of this thesis is to present the consequence of multinational companies from Sweden in Thailand as the main purpose. The economic relationship and cultural harmonization between these two countries will be discussed. This study is a qualitative research which requires qualitative methods to analyze data. Qualitative interviewing, case study and second data analysis has been the main approaches for data collection. The result of the study brings the conclusion that the capital movement from Sweden to Thailand during the globalization brings the positive development to both sides. Sweden gains more business revenue both in Thailand and Asian region, while Thailand gains wealth and sustainable development from the Swedish investment.