Swedish wood product industry contributes significantly to the economy of the country. This industry adds more value to the sawn timber produced in order to manufacture different wooden products. Companies in Swedish wood product industry are presently seen as underdeveloped in terms of investments and developments in automation technologies. Automation technologies are seen by companies as a solution for improving productivity, product quality, manufacturing cost reduction and ultimately improving competitiveness. This has driven competing companies to pursue automation technologies that improve manufacturing processes. Literature in the Wood product industry field shows that there is need for extended automation technologies. The wood product industry has high degree of handcraft; for instance, some Swedish wood product manufacturers still have an essentially manual manufacturing process. This study seeks to understand the role of automation in the Swedish wood product industry and mainly focuses on the factors that drive and restrain companies in this industry to adopt and use automation technologies. An abductive research approach was applied, consisting of a literature review and multiple empirical case studies. The literature review was conducted to provide theoretical background on the general view of automation and the factors that affect adoption of new technologies in companies. The case studies were performed in collaboration with four wood product manufacturers within different business areas in order to analyse and compare similarities and differences in the factors that drive and restrain adoption of automation technologies. The findings imply that companies in the Swedish wood product industry face different factors that drive and restrain them from adopting automation technologies. The factors are both internal and external to the companies. Among the noticeable ones are the high product variety, lack of automation strategies, heterogeneous material property of wood, low competence levels regarding automation technologies, varying demands from the customers, and relationship with the suppliers of automation technologies. Regardles of the restraining factors faced by companies in the Swedish wood product industry, there is a great opportunity to improve their production systems in terms of automation technologies. There is now a growing treand in these companies to prioritise automation technologies as a competitive factor. This study contributes to the knowledge regarding the factors that drive and restrain the adoption of automation technologies and how companies could deal with such factors in the Swedish wood product industry.

Brands are an important part of consumers’ lives, and cultural aspects affect how consumers view brands. Though a great depth of research exists on branding and consumer culture, there is a lack of knowledge about Generation Y’s perceptions of clothing in Sweden, and specifically for men, across many countries. Different people purchase branded clothing for varied reasons and possess diverse needs that branded clothing may meet. Therefore, this study focuses on determining the perception of clothing and brands that Swedish men of Generation Y hold and examines the role branded clothing plays in their lives, in hopes of creating new knowledge within the chosen topic area.

This essay explores the Swedish state’s geopolitical view and creation, of the spatial spaces in and of the Arctic. With a critical geopolitical framework, a discourse analysis is conducted on the Swedish strategy for the arctic region, with the ambition to unfold the underlining spatial spaces, actors and dramas that this discourse creates. The result of this analysis shows that Sweden creates three different Arctic spaces within its geopolitical discourse; a Swedish Arctic, a Nearby Arctic and a Regional Arctic. This has major political consequences, which will be illuminated in the essay. Perhaps the most noteworthy being the ulterior theoretical view of the Swedish state regarding the environment and the relationship between the global space and the Regional Arctic, in relation to the threat of global and regional environmental deterioration.

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<p>Nitrogen deposition leads to environmental damage in areas where the nitrogen deposition is high. Southwest Sweden receives an annual nitrogen deposition of up to 20 kg N/ha. Nitrogen that is not assimilated by the vegetation is accumulated in the soil, which may lead to nitrogen saturation and an elevated risk of nitrogen leaching. Nitrogen leaching from forest areas in southern Sweden has proven to be higher than from agricultural areas, which have been thought to be the main contributors to elevated nitrogen levels in rivers and lakes. The amount of nitrogen that leaches depends on the fraction of the total nitrogen in the soil that consists of nitrate, since nitrate is easily transported through the soil. Nitrogen leaching increases after clear-cutting since the uptake by vegetation is greatly reduced.</p><p>In this study the soil chemistry of two clear-cut spruce stands in Halland, in southwest Sweden, has been analyzed. A previous study in these areas has indicated higher nitrate concentrations in the groundwater in one of the areas and thus a greater nitrogen leaching. Nitrogen deposition in the two areas is estimated to be the same and therefore the soil chemistry has been analyzed to evaluate if differences in the soil can have resulted in differences in the nitrate concentration in the groundwater. The hypothesis is that the area with higher nitrate concentrations in the groundwater has properties more favorable for nitrification, which would be especially apparent in a lower carbon to nitrogen ratio. The pH and storage of nitrate, ammonium, total carbon, total nitrogen and exchangeable cations was analyzed in soil samples from both areas. In addition, a study of stand properties and previous use of the areas was made.</p><p>The analyses performed in this study indicate that the soil properties could not explain the differences in nitrate concentration in the groundwater. The differences found between the areas were that the area with lower nitrate concentrations in the groundwater had higher nitrate and ammonium concentrations and higher pH in the soil. The reason for this might be that the soil in this area has larger capacity to bind elements. The fact that the soil samples were sampled during different seasons probably had a major effect on these results. The history and stand properties of the two areas were similar. According to site index one area was more fertile, which benefits nitrification. This fact was not confirmed by the analyses, but it probably caused the nitrification rate to be higher in this area.</p> / <p>Det stora nedfallet av föroreningar i form av kväve i framförallt sydvästra Sverige leder till försurning och övergödning av både skogsmarker och vattendrag. Kvävedepositionen i södra Sverige kan uppgå till 20 kg N/ha och år. Det kväve som inte tas upp av vegetationen ackumuleras i marken som efterhand riskerar att bli kvävemättad vilket ökar risken för kväveutlakning. Kväveutlakningen från svenska skogsmarker har visat sig kunna vara i samma storleksordning som från jordbruksmarker som anses vara en av de största orsakerna till ökande kvävehalter i sjöar och vattendrag. Kväveutlakningens storlek beror till stor del på hur stor del av markens kväveförråd som finns i den oorganiska formen nitrat eftersom den är en lättrörlig jon. Efter skogsavverkning ökar nitratutlakningen betydligt på grund av att det finns väldigt lite vegetation kvar som tar upp kväveföreningarna.</p><p>I den här studien har markkemin i två avverkade granskogsområden i Halland undersökts. Tidigare studier i dessa två områden har visat att halterna av nitrat var högre i grundvattnet i det ena området än i det andra, och således var även nitratutlakningen större i detta område. Eftersom kvävedepositionen anses vara densamma i de två områdena har markemin undersökts för att finna skillnader där som kan förklara de olika nitratnivåerna i grundvattnet. Hypotesen var att det ena området skulle ha mer gynnsamma förhållanden för nitrifikation, framförallt en lägre C/N-kvot. Markens förråd av nitrat- och ammoniumkväve, totalkol, totalkväve, utbytbara katjoner samt pH undersöktes i båda områdena. En studie av områdenas historia gjordes även för att kunna utesluta skillnader där som kunde ge upphov till skillnaden i nitrat i grundvattnet.</p><p>Slutsatsen som kan dras från studien är att de analyserade egenskaperna inte visade på mer gynnsamma förhållanden för nitrifikation i det ena området än i det andra. Ingen skillnad i C/N-kvot uppmättes. Skillnaderna som hittades var att området med lägst halter av nitrat i grundvattnet hade högst halter av oorganiskt kväve i marken och högre pH. Att nitrathalterna var högre i grundvattnet men inte i marken kan ha sin förklaring i att marken i det ena området har större förmåga att binda till sig kväve vilket gör att det inte lika lätt kommer ut i grundvattnet. Antagligen spelade det stor roll för dessa resultat att jordproven tagits vid olika årstider. Undersökningen av tidigare användningsområde i skogarna visade att de hade en tämligen liknade historia. Det ena området har enligt ståndortsindex högre bördighet vilket gynnar nitrifikation. Detta framgick dock inte av analyserna men är antagligen orsaken till de högre nitrathalterna i grundvattnet i detta område.</p>

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<p>The dependence on oil has increased in many nations as a result of increasing industrialization and oil has been the factor of many crises as well as many wars. This paper examines how the price of oil affects the unemployment in Sweden. The case of Sweden is interesting since its politics are very different compared to other industrialized countries when it comes to unemployment and benefits. Our main objective is to see whether a change in the oil price will cause a change in unemployment at a later stage. We perform linear regression analysis relating current changes in the variables and Granger causality tests to conclude if there exists a direct relationship.</p><p>The result we received from our linear regression test on current changes and our Granger causality test showed a relationship between the price of oil and unemployment in Sweden. In the linear regression relating current changes in these variables, a positive relationship was indicated. Due to the fact that some of the coefficient estimates are positive and some are negative in the Granger causality regressions, we can not conclude whether an increase in the price of oil will cause a positive or negative effect on unemployment.</p>

The long-term effects of large-scale changes in forestry, agriculture and other land use on habitats and the large-scale expansion of wind farming  affects bats foraging environments. In order to predict consequences of exploitations on local bat species and populations, good surveys are important. To get good background information for an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) it  is crucial to rapidly assess which areas are most important for bats. The aim of this work was to measure the importance of the two types of forest environment for bats foraging : forest areas located close to or far from the lakes. Bat activity and species diversity was measured with automatic ultrasound recorders in 211  nights of fieldwork at 155 locations in 23 areas in different parts of Sweden during June, July and the first two weeks of August 2011 and 2012. A total of 11 species were recorded in forest far from lakes and 8 species in forest close to lakes. Eptesicus nilssonii , Myotis sp. and Pipistrellus pygmaeus were the most common taxa in both habitat types. Activity levels were higher in the vicinity of lakes compared to forests far away from lakes. Species diversity calculated on base on Chao 2 was similar for both types of habitats . The results suggest that the forests close to lakes are the most important habitats to surveys for bats in Sweden and that inventory efforts should be primarily invested in them.

The ever-growing awareness of sustainable living brings us to Cleantech - a technology that aims to reduce pollution and enhance efficiency by developing environmentally friendly products and services. Investors nowadays claim they are moving towards investments incorporating CSR and ESG issues, which is closely connected to Cleantech investments. As a growing sector, the most concerning issue is the financing. Since Cleantech was introduced around 2006, the market has seen investors with different profiles. Among them venture capitalists (VC) have played a vital role in supporting Cleantech growth. It is noticeable that state-owned VCs, together with private VCs, have been actively participating in Swedish Cleantech investments. This study sets out to evaluate how public VCs differ from private VCs in terms of investment strategies, in Swedish Cleantech context. The results of the study aim to give an understanding of roles of different VCs in investment evaluations, which affect the decision making of their Cleantech investments. Through Cleantech Scandinavia’s database we have collected information regarding previous investments made in Swedish Cleantech between 2007 and 2011. The results showed that public VCs and private VCs had similar stage preferences, focusing at seed and commercialization stages with little touch on expansion stages. The co-investing activities were mainly targeted at energy related segments in Cleantech. Based on this rough understating about Swedish Cleantech investments we conducted semi-structured interviews with 11 VCs, both public and private, to gain a deeper understanding on their investment strategies. We found that the difference between public and private VCs lies merely in the sense that public VCs operates under governmental guidelines, which they have to comply with when making an investment decision. The majority of the public VCs must co-invest with private investors, which opens a door for private VCs seeking co-financing for Cleantech projects. Particularly public VCs with a regional focus work under both local governments’ and EU’s regulations, which make them restricted to some degree. On the contrary private VCs have the freedom to decide whatever they want under different circumstances. Apart from that, public and private VCs share a great deal of similarities in their investment strategies and evaluations in Cleantech investments.

The debate concerning face veiling has been brought in to view by several governments in Europe. Luca Mavelli studies the debate regarding the burqa using the concept of securitization and from that the objective of this study is to analyze the medial- and the political discourse in Sweden regarding the burqa. The formulated questions drawn from this is; who are the securitizing actors? According to the securitization actors, who can de defined as a referent object? Wherein is the threat according to the securitizing actors? Is it possible to recognize a difference between the medial and the political discourse? Furthermore the paper adopts the theoretical framework that is the concept of securitization, formulated by the Copenhagen School of security. The methodological foundation is based on a social constructivist approach and consequently uses Norman Faircloughs critical discourse analyzes as an analytical tool. Conclusions show that the two discourses often express similar results but a difference is apparent in how the debate is presented. Representatives of the political parties are defined as securitizing actors and to a certain degree so is the media. Furthermore, according to the securitizing actors the referent objects are Swedish traditions and culture, the threat lies in the values that are attached to the burqa.