The diploma thesis is focused on optimizing of tax burden of taxpayers via relocation of their headquarters into tax havens. It contains comparison of tax burdens of model taxpayers in different variations of change of their tax residence. It suggests recommended process for deciding about choice of suitable tax haven.

The master thesis deals with the issue of taxation in selected tax havens. The thesis first outlines the characteristics of particular tax havens and the basic concepts related to this issue. Afterwards, selected tax havens, their tax system and companies that can be cre-ated there are analysed. Subsequently, on a model example are outlined advantages of taxation in selected tax haven.

Eighty-five percent of all firms operating in Nigeria are small-and medium-sized business enterprises (SMEs) and contribute almost 55% to the gross domestic product (GDP) in Nigeria. Capital flight and other growth inhibitors pose threats to the sustainability of SMEs in Nigeria. This exploratory multiple-case study was to determine strategies SME leaders use to sustain business operations in Nigeria. The study participants consisted of 15 SME leaders from 3 regional manufacturing firms who had successfully implemented strategies to sustain SMEs in Nigeria. Bertalanffy's general systems theory and Freeman's stakeholder theory were the conceptual frameworks used in the research. The data collection processes included semistructured interviews and reviewing company documents. After analyzing the interview data and validating through member checking, 5 core themes emerged during the data analysis process: creating new markets, encouraging opportunity for sustainable growth, securing additional funding sources, employee participation in decision making, and gaining competitive advantages. The findings may promote social change among the business community leaders by identifying essential characteristics to improve the posterity of SMEs in Nigeria.

This oral interpretation thesis studies the use of oral interpretation in social contexts. The context chosen was the Hospice movement, which deals with assisting terminally ill persons and their families through the stages of death and bereavement. A readers theatre script was compiled for "Ann's Haven: Hospice of Denton County," which was selected for the locus of this thesis. The script was presented to various civic groups for the purpose of informing the public and eliciting support for Ann's Haven. It was found that oral interpretation is a viable rhetorical tool and is well liked by audiences as a means of public enlightenment.

This study concerns the dynamics of Chinese strategic minerals policy and its effects on Zambian copper mining between 2016-2020. The essay employs a complementary—theories congruence analysis using Resource Security Theory, Debt Trap Diplomacy, and the Pollution Haven Hypothesis in order to analyse China’s actions and ascertain their effects on Zambia. The study found that China has a large presence within Zambian copper mining through the use of state-owned enterprises, aiding China in its goal of supplying domestic copper demand, and thus addressing resource security. These state-owned enterprises act within the Belt and Road Initiative framework. China is not using Debt Trap Diplomacy in Zambia, but may be able to in the future. China’s presence is negative for the Zambian environment. The moving of mining from China to Zambia has a positive impact on the Chinese environment.Chinese state-owned enterprises are far less stringent in abiding by environmental laws in Zambia than in China. The study shows that Resource Security Theory and the Pollution Haven Hypothesis hold strong explanatory value for the case of China in Zambian copper mining. Debt Trap Diplomacy proved a weaker theory, as natural resources have not been exchanged for debt write-off.

Purpose: This thesis investigates the relationship concerning traditional safe haven assets, gold and US 10-year treasury bonds during periods of market instability, specifically during the economic concerns raised by the COVID-19 pandemic. It assesses the hedging and safe haven properties of these assets and their dynamic nature throughout two periods of unconventional monetary and fiscal policy measures by the Federal Reserve & US Congress respectively. Furthermore, the study explores a unique divergence between the price movements of the two assets, as well as potential changes in their properties and relationships. Theoretical Perspective: The study is anchored in theoretical concepts based on previous research such as Modern Portfolio Theory, Safe Haven Theory and Hedging Theory. These theories explain asset behaviours during financial turmoil and the relationship between gold and US 10-year treasury bonds during financial crises. The research gap and research questions were formulated based on the information gathered. Methodology: The research employs a quantitative, explanatory approach, anchoredin objectivism and realism, focusing on testing established theories through empirical data. Using a deductive methodology, it investigates potential changes in the dynamic between traditional safe haven assets, gold and US 10-year treasury bonds. Empirical Foundation: Based on a thorough literature review, this study integrates insights from past research and with new data emerging from the pandemic's influence on financial markets and subsequent policy action. The empirical evidence is integrated through quantitative analysis, leveraging ARCH/GARCH models and quantile regression to understand asset performance amid market shocks and policy changes. Conclusion: The findings indicate that gold did not initially act as a hedge against bonds but did so against other assets such as Oil, USD, and BTC during the height of COVID-19. In the recovery phase, this relationship shifted, with gold emerging as a hedge against bonds while its hedging capacity against Oil and Real Yield was negated. Additionally, gold's role as a safe haven against bonds was consistently unsupported across both periods studied. Furthermore, a portfolio analysis revealed a shift in investment strategy, from a balanced gold-bonds mix during the crisis to a sole preference for gold in the recovery phase, adapting to the evolving market conditions and policy changes.

I en tid där skolor stängs ner för gott som en strategi för att möta utmaningar som exempelvis segregation inom västerländska skoldistrikt är det värt att reflektera över hur de påverkar barn och deras välbefinnande. Bakgrunden till uppsatsen bygger på ett större projekt av Flensner & Svensson (2023) kopplat till skolstängningar. I uppsatsen har projektets data från hösten 2021 använts. Metoden är kvantitativ och den upplevda känslan av trivsel, trygghet och tillit jämfördes mellan elever som bytt skola och de som inte bytt skola. Det var 1349 elever i åldrarna 10–15 år som deltog i undersökningen. Data från projektet analyserades med hjälp av Pearsons korrelationsanalys och ett oberoende t-test. Resultaten visade att trivsel, trygghet och tillit korrelerar positivt med varandra. Elever som svarade på enkäten och hade bytt skola trivdes i genomsnitt lika bra jämfört med de som inte hade bytt skola. Dessutom fanns en signifikant skillnad i upplevelsen av trygghet, där de som inte bytt skola kände sig tryggare. De som bytt skola upplevde en högre nivå av tillit. Eftersom många av de tillfrågade valde att inte svara skulle det kunna ha påverkat generaliserbarheten av resultatet. Diskussionen belyser skolstängningars effekt på elevernas upplevelse av trivsel, trygghet och tillit i skolan. / At a time when schools are being closed for good as a strategy to meet challenges such assegregation within Western school districts, it is worth reflecting on how they affect children and their well-being. The background to the essay is based on a larger project by Flensner & Svensson (2023) linked to school closures. In the essay, the project's data from autumn 2021 has been used. The method is quantitative, and the perceived sense of well-being, security, and trust was compared between students who changed schools and those who did not. There were 1,349 students aged 10–15 who participated in the survey. Data from the project were analyzed using Pearson's correlation analysis and an independent t-test. The results showed that well-being, security, and trust correlate positively with each other. Pupils who responded to the survey and had changed schools were on average just as happy compared to those who had not changed schools. In addition, there was a significant difference in the security experience, where those who did not change schools felt safer. Those who changed schools experienced a higher level of trust. As many of the respondents chose not to answer, this could affect the generalizability of the results. The discussion highlights the effect of school closures on students' experience of well-being, security, and trust in school.

Edwards Amasa Park (1808-1900) of Andover championed Edwardsean Calvinism in the United States from the Jacksonian era until the very close of the nineteenth century by employing rhetorical strategies that lent his New England theology fresh apologetic usefulness. The thesis demonstrates that Park has been incorrectly identified as a Taylorite but, extending the argument of Joseph Conforti, ought to be viewed as re-casting his inherited Hopkinsian exercise scheme into a fresh historical synthesis influenced by contemporary patterns of thought. Park’s own training at Andover in the irenic divinity of Moses Stuart and Leonard Woods, his application as rhetorician of the work of Hugh Blair and George Campbell and his exposure in Germany to the Vermittlungstheologie of Friedrich Tholuck and Julius Müller gave specific definition to his own theological project. Additionally, the thesis argues that Park ought not to be viewed as a romantic idealist in the line of Horace Bushnell or as a proto-liberal in advance of the Andover liberals who succeeded him. Park retained a life-long commitment to a commingled epistemology and methodology derived from Lockean empiricism, Baconian induction, natural theology and Scottish common sense realism. As a formidable apologist for his revivalist inheritance identified with Jonathan Edwards and Samuel Hopkins, Edwards Amasa Park conserved the substance and prolonged the influence of his beloved New England theology by securing for it modes of expression well fitted to his nineteenth-century audience.

La thèse est composée de trois parties. La première présente un certain nombre de mesures de dépendance extrême. Une application sur les actions et les obligations de 49 pays montre que la théorie des valeurs extrêmes multivariées conduit aux résultats différents de ceux issus du coefficient de corrélation, mais relativement proches de ceux obtenus du rho de Spearman conditionnel multivarié. Cette partie évalue aussi le risque de pertes importantes simultanées. La deuxième partie examine les déterminants des co-mouvements extrêmes entre 5 pays core et 49 pays non core. Les mécanismes de transmission des chocs varient de la période moins récente à la période récente, des pays développés aux pays émergents, des chocs normaux aux chocs extrêmes. La troisième partie étudie le rôle de valeur refuge de l’or sur la période 1986-2012. Les gains positifs extrêmes de l'or peuvent être liés aux pertes extrêmes du S&P. Cependant, ce lien n'est pas toujours valable, il évolue dans le temps et serait conditionné par d'autres facteurs. / The thesis consists of three parts. The first part introduces a number of measures of extreme dependency. An application on stock and bond markets of 49 countries shows the multivariate extreme value theory leads to results which are different from those from the correlation coefficient, but relatively close to those obtained from multivariate conditional Spearman's rho. This part also assesses the risk of simultaneous losses. The second part examines the determinants of extreme co-movements between 5 core countries and 49 non-core countries. Transmission mechanisms of shocks vary from less recent to recent period, from developed to emerging markets, from normal to extreme shocks. The third part examines the role of safe haven of gold over the period 1986-2012. Extreme positive gains of gold can be linked to extreme losses of S&P. However, this relationship is not always valid, it evolves over time and could be determined by other factors.

Cette thèse concerne les possibles définitions et intégrations de l'idée de « zone à attractivités fiscales » dans les documents concernant les paradis fiscaux, vieux problème devant lequel les chercheurs bloquaient depuis longtemps. Ici le problème est repris d'une toute autre façon en particulier dans le traitement des taux d'imposition, et dans des comparaisons des régimes fiscaux de chacun des pays du Proche Orient. Tout cela nous a conduit à introduire le concept de notation fiscale. Nous le faisons en tenant compte autant que possible de tout critère possible qui nous permette de déduire théoriquement une notation générale. Il ressort de cela que dans une comparaison avec plusieurs pays du Proche Orient le Liban n'est pas, théoriquement du moins, une soi-disante « zone à attractivité fiscale »... Cela conduit à introduire une approche relativisée dans une tentative de définition scientifique des paradis fiscaux. C'est ainsi qu'on peut considérer qu'à chaque instant peuvent naître un ou plusieurs paradis fiscaux en fonction des changements de critères ou de leurs modalités. L'intérêt de cette approche est de permettre de considérer une définition plus scientifique des paradis fiscaux. Empiriquement, nous avons mis en place une importante enquête auprès de 300 personnes, englobant des contrôleurs fiscaux, des employés de banque et des gens d'entreprises. Nous en déduirons que la notion de paradis fiscal est loin de pouvoir s'appliquer au Liban et que ce ne serait en fait qu'une légende. / This thesis aims at defining and integrating the ‘zone of fiscal attractions' notion within the framework of Tax Havens, an old problem in front of which the investigators have not reach any solution since longtime before. Over here, the problem is considered from another angle, namely the treatment of tax rates, hence a comparison of fiscal regimes for each country of the Near-East was necessary to be able to deduce a fiscal notation. Taking into consideration every possible criteria which allows us to deduce theoretically a general notation, Lebanon, through the comparison between several countries of the Near-East, is not supposedly a “zone of fiscal attraction” theoretically…this leads us to introduce the approach of the relativity which has served to define scientifically the Tax Haven. For this reason, one or several Tax Haven can be created each and every moment with the changes incurred in the criteria and variables. The interest of this approach is to enable us to define scientifically the idea of Tax Haven. Empirically, an important questionnaire carried on fiscal controllers, bank employees, and firm employees, to demonstrate that the idea of Lebanon as a Tax Haven, is only a legend. This has been deduced through a group of 300 interviewed people.