Bachelor thesis. / Format: PDF. Bibl.

Magisteruppsats. / Format: PDF. Bibl.

Thesis (doctoral)--Göteborgs universitet, 1996. / Extra t.p. with thesis statement and English abstract inserted. Includes bibliographical references (p. 311-332).

This thesis shows the effect social learning has on various stakeholders involved in a project aimed at tackling a stormwater challenge in the city of Uppsala in Sweden and if social learning is a useful tool to address such an issue. Due to the onset of climate change societies are having to deal with increasingly complex issues. Finding sustainable answers to these challenges is proving difficult so alternative methods such innovation competitions much like the one studied in this paper are becoming attractive alternatives to conventional climate change mitigations approaches. By using an active participation method, this thesis attempts to study whether or not social learning is taking place in the innovation competition and if it is having an impact on the innovation competition. The study found that social learning is in fact taking place during the meetings which were attended but whether or not the resulting knowledge created as a result of the social learning was being used to the advantage of the stakeholders was compounded by communication issues outside of the project meetings.

The research paper assesses the local sustainable development work in Sweden. A theoretical framework has been constructed and applied to six Swedish municipalities. The framework is based on a holistic view and incorporates the structural (integration in the municipality, use of a management system), inclusive (involvement of the citizens), analytical (use of sustainable development indicator) and systematic (framework for sustainable development, sustainability policies) perspective of sustainable development work. In particular, the use and implementation of sustainable development indicators was in the research focus. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to examine the sustainable development work on the local level. The assessment showed that sustainable development work is to a different extent integrated in the municipality. Some municipalities have dedicated teams working with sustainable development, in other municipalities lies the responsibility on the department chefs. Overall, the municipalities try with the resources they have to work at their best for a sustainable future for their municipality. However, there is room for improvement in terms of structural implementation, use of effective tools and involvement of the citizens.

Due to several reasons, treatment methods for a certain waste are oftennot available locally in the waste handling and management industry. This is especially true for regions which are not densely populated. This requires transports, the majority of which consumes fossil fuel. To avoid this, local waste treatment methods need to be developed. In this work it is investigated how treatment of one hazardous waste is done; water and sludge containing oil. Based on sustainability criteria three novel methods are presented that can be conducted locally; mycoremediation, phytoremediation and electrocoagulation. The methods are evaluated in a case study of a recycling company. Mycoremediation and electrocoagulation were found to be suitable in the case study, as long as some criteria are fulfilled. In addition it is shown what barriers exist in law, policies and practices that hinder local treatment of water and sludge containing oil.

This is a thesis presents a differential gear which is found in a tracked vehicle called BvS10. The tracked vehicle is manufactured by BAE Systems Hägglunds AB in Örnsköldsvik, Sweden. The differential gear has a bolted house. The differential meets the requirement specifications, but the problem is that the bolts are sheared off because of the extreme torque that the differential is exposed to resist. Previous report on the differential show pictures of bolts which have been sheared off at the threads. This report is also includes three lists that explain seven different proposals which some are approved and some are not, and the report also presents the force, tensile, and shear stress. In a bolted connection there is both axial tension stress and radial shear stress, which can lead to wear out and broken bolts. To solve the problem, better bolts are need for the differential gear housing halves. The bolts are from M8 to M10 and all bolts are not directly compatible, so geometric modifications might have to be done. This reports proposes several solutions to this complex problem and also analyzes the proposed solutions. The report also describes various theories from a technical and a historical point of view. Two flow charts have been created to show the work towards the presented solution. Although the analysis to welded joints and wedge joints have been included in the proposed solution. The report propose a tight-fit bolt with a tolerance specially made for the differential gear, so the shear stress occurs at the non-threaded part of the bolt. The tight-fitted bolt is recommended to be M8 12.9 UNB because of it’s safety factor. Larger bolts may not directly fit in the differential housing halves due to there is no enough material.

The collection of taxes is something that affects almost every entity in society and often stir up heated feelings. Recent legislative changes have been made in Sweden to adjust to regulations in the European Union. These changes included the abolishment of mandatory auditing for small companies in 2011, leading to heavy debate regarding its effect on tax reduction. Has tax reduction increased when smaller companies are no longer under as heavy surveillance as in the past or is the effect negligible? This is the question that this thesis is trying to answer, namely: is there a connection between being audited and the level of tax reduction, measured as the effective tax rate, in which small Swedish companies partake in? Most of the previous research in the field is sparse when it comes to the effect this might have in the specific conditions of the Swedish market. These studies have mainly been conducted in an American setting and focuses either on large corporations and their reduction of tax liability or attempt to connect the characteristics of auditors with tax evasion. Some studies have been made in Sweden, dealing briefly with the matter but these studies have bypassed the connection between being audited and the level of tax reduction. With tax authorities trying to find new methods to refine their profiling of companies which reduce their tax liability, the thesis fits in well as an addition to both theory and practice. We have tested this connection by conducting a semi-quasi ex post facto experiment using a dataset containing annual reports from all small companies in the restaurant industry which is seen as the industry in which companies are most prone to tax reduction according to Swedish authorities (Skatteverket, 2014, p. 60-61). The dataset has then been altered in accordance with the studies by (Guenther 2014; Bianchi et al. 2014; Dalbor et al. 2004) which included winsorizing, cropping and removal of missing data. The studies of (Bianchi et al. 2014) and (Dalbor et al. 2004) were also used to form the control variables for the study. After the dataset was deemed fit for testing, STATA was used to statistically test the data. Initial results seemed to indicate that there was a positive significant correlation between being audited and the level of tax reduction of the company. However, the results of the propensity score matching based on company size indicated that the association was heavily reliant upon company size. We thus concluded that we cannot prove a statistically significant relationship between a company being audited and its level of tax reduction in the setting of our study. The implications of this finding are several. It helps to build onto existing knowledge regarding auditing’s effect on taxes paid as well as providing the tax authorities in Sweden with an insight into what indicators to use when streamlining their operations. Furthermore, it may add new arguments to be presented in the debate that has taken place in Sweden over the recent years following the legislative changes.

This thesis analyses the ideology of the Radical right-wing Populist Party, Sweden Democrats. The aim of the study is to see if and how the ideology of the Sweden Democrats has changed through its years of activity, by comparing the party in three periods. The focus in the analysis is put on the party's view on the Swedish national identity and on multiculturalism. The reason for analyzing the party's view on these two concepts is due to the fact that they can be seen as corner stones in a racist ideology. An explanation of the concepts will be presented in the theory chapter, which is later used in the analysis of the party. The study shows that the ideology of the Sweden Democrats has changed very little throughout its years of activity in terms of their view on the national identity and the multicultural idea. This as a result has led to a similar amount of change in the arguments that can be seen as racist, by the party.

Purpose - The purpose of the thesis is “To explore the Thai ICT market and identify differences with the leading market” Where the research questions are: 1. How are the main actors influencing the ICT market in Thailand? 2. How can the ICT market in Thailand be improved by identifying the gaps to the leading market? Method – For reaching the purpose a qualitative case study has been carried out, methods that are used are interviews, observations, document studies and literature study. Secondary data has been collected from document studies and was compiled in excel documents. Primary data has been collected from interviews, employees at Ericsson in Thailand has contributed when gather data about organizational culture. Interview with representatives from institutions in Thailand were made to achieve current data. Interviews were made to receive a primary source of information with high focus on the thesis subject and strengthen by secondary data. Findings – The most urgent problem to improve the ICT market in Thailand is to develop the infrastructure. The infrastructure needs to be developed in rural areas and urban areas. Institutions in ICT need to do active work on the market in order to expand and develop the market. Service operator’s needs to standardise and offer less price plans in order to minimize confusion among the consumers. The consumers need to increase their usage of ICT services in order to decrease the gap to the leading ICT market. One solution could be that the government push the development with all actors on the ICT market. Changing the foreign business act can lead to investments needed to expand the infrastructure. Further, creating a demand of higher technology from the consumer’s perspective will pressure the actors to develop robust network of high technology and benefit future development of technology. Implications – This study has been carried out on location in Thailand but communication has not been made in the national language in Thailand, which can contribute to misunderstandings of data. The study´s result is strengthened by being on location in Thailand, gathering primary data by interviews and do observations on place in the target environment. Delimitations – The delimitations have been made to look at the ICT market from Thailand’s perspective with learning’s from Sweden. Further, delimitations to explore the main actors that are influencing the market has been done. A market has many environmental forces and they needed to be restricted in this study.