This thesis is concerned with exploring the equity market price discovery process, the translation and incorporation of new information into stock prices, by studying both what information is included in this process and which valuation methods are used to translate that information into a value. The overarching research question posed in this thesis is: How is equity valued? The overarching question is broad and has been divided into the following sub questions: What valuation methods do companies use when valuing takeover targets? What valuation methods do sell-side analysts use when valuing equity? What factors explain the variation in the use of valuation methods by sell-side analysts? To what extent do sell-side analysts utilize non-financial information in their reports? These questions are addressed in four separate essays. Findings of the thesis emphasized that valuation behavior is contextual to several specific circumstances. Findings showed that companies valuing takeover targets used sophisticated valuation methods to a higher extent than did sell-side analysts. Findings also showed systematic differences in the choice of valuation methods among sell-side analysts. With regards to the use of non-financial information and information on Intellectual Capital this thesis showed that the context of the target firm dictates which information is relevant for predicting future performance, and hence is used by analysts. Additionally, the accessibility of information is an important factor affecting what information is used in the valuation process. Understanding the valuation behavior of the different actors on the capital market is to understand the pricing process of the market, and as such the contribution of this thesis has been to shed more light on the cornerstone of market efficiency- the ability of market actors to identify and buy (sell) under priced (over priced) stocks.

Entrepreneurship and Intellectual Capital (IC) have become important concepts for economies around the world over the last decades, even though, due to their multidisciplinary nature, different definitions have been developed concerning these concepts. There are some authors who regard these phenomena as being in strong opposition to traditional theories, such as economics, accounting, finance, to mention a few, but they have played a vital role for a better understanding of the success and/or failure of firms. In this paper we are going to address the factors influencing the success of the entrepreneurial firm, focusing on IC and the entrepreneur as the main contributors to this outcome. A theoretical model of analysis is presented illustrating how entrepreneurs utilize IC to lead firms towards success, which at the same time contributes back to the experience of the entrepreneur. The model will then be tested by applying it on BPM (Bau- & Projektmanagement GmbH), a German project management firm founded by Peter Christa that specializes in administrating small, medium, and large public construction projects, especially in the field of hospital redevelopment and expansion.

Under senare år har det från många håll hävdats att redovisningen är föråldrad och ger en felaktig bild av företagens värde. Kritiker menar att det inte finns någon koppling mellan ett företags redovisade värde och dess marknadsvärde. Detta beror främst på att redovisningen inte beaktar det intellektuella kapitalet. Intellektuellt kapital består bland annat av humankapital, varumärke, patent, kundrelationer och informationssystem. Då ett varumärke kan anses vara en betydande tillgång i sig vill vi avskilja det från det intellektuella kapitalet och behandla det separat. Uppsatsens syfte är att undersöka hur intellektuellt kapital och varumärke kan aktiveras som tillgångar i Föreningen Uppsalaekonomernas redovisning och vilka monetära värden det skulle ge. Vi avser även att undersöka vad en aktivering skulle kunna ha för nytta för föreningen. Värdet på det intellektuella kapitalet i föreningen analyseras genom Skandianavigatorns fem fokuseringsområden, där humanfokus konstateras vara det mest centrala. Monetära värden på intellektuellt kapital och varumärke tas fram genom egna värderingsmodeller, och värdena uppskattas till 9 523 895 kronor respektive 1 949 500 kronor när man värderar dem separat. I balansräkningen justeras posterna däremot ner till 8 767 645 kronor respektive 1 193 250 kronor för att dubbelräkning inte ska ske. Nyttan med aktiveringen anser vi är relativt stor. Höga tillgångar kan tänkas ge en positiv bild av föreningen, vilket gör att företag kan bli villiga att satsa mer pengar i den. Det är också ett kvitto för beslutsfattarna i föreningen på det värde medlemmarna och varumärket har, vilket gör att de lättare kan avgöra hur stora satsningar som bör göras. Slutligen tycker vi att en utökning av redovisning är användbar för att kunna göra jämförelser med andra ekonomföreningar och mellan föreningens olika verksamhetsår.

Företagens personal är idag en stor resurs, i många företag en av de största, men kan trots detta inte tas upp som en tillgång enligt dagens redovisningsstandards. Det finns idag många olika normgivande organ men det är FASB (Financial Accounting Standards Board) som har sammanställt de tre kriterier som en resurs måste uppfylla för att tillgodoräknas som en tillgång i företagens redovisningar. De tre kriterierna är: att resursen skall förväntas innebära ekonomiska fördelar för företaget i framtiden, den skall kontrolleras av företaget samt att den skall ha uppkommit som en följd av en inträffad händelse. Ett av problemen med humankapitalsredovisning idag ligger i att företagen inte anses kontrollera personalen på ett sådant sätt som FASB kräver. Detta kriterium brister i och med att personalen kan gå hem när arbetsdagen är slut eller säga upp sig när det så vill. Företagen kan idag synliggöra sitt humana kapital genom en tilläggsnot eller som ett supplement till de traditionella årsredovisningarna. Det har dock gjorts många försök att hitta lösningar på problemet med att tillgodoräkna humankapitalet som en tillgång, dock alla utan hållbara resultat. Det har emellertid tagits fram många modeller för att kunna värdera humankapitalet, bland annat SkandiaNavigatorn, IC-rating och The Intangible Assets Monitor. Dessa modeller användes flitigt under stora delar av nittiotalet men är idag inte alls lika omfattande. För externa intressenter kan utelämnandet av humankapitalsredovisningen innebära att de går miste om essentiell information, som bland annat påverkar deras beslutsfattande. Vårt arbete har dock påvisat att det råder stor brist på interesse bland de externa intressenterna, för de mjuka fakta som humankapitalet presenterar. Det bristande intresset ser vi som en stor anledning till att det har skett en depreciering av humankapitalsredovisningen över åren. Även bristen på tillförlitlighet och jämförbarhet, som är två viktiga termer i redovisningssammanhang påvisas vara en stark orsak till att värderingsmodellerna inte appliceras i så stor utsträckning av företagen. / Companies employee are today a large resource, in some cases even one of the largest. Because of the accounting standards of today the companies are not allowed to show the human resources as an asset in their accounting reports. Even though there are a number of normative institutions, it is FASB that has summed up the three criteria that a resource has to fulfil to be allowed to count as an asset. The three criteria are; the resource are expected to involve economic profits to the company in the future, it is supposed to be controlled by the company and also it has to arise due to an happened event. One of the accounting problems of today is that the companies do not seem to control the employees in a way that FASB (Financial Accounting Standards Board) demands. The criteria lack due to the fact that the employees are allowed to go home at the end of the workday or resign when ever they please. The companies of today are able to make the human resources visible in their accounting thru an addendum or a supplement to the ordinary annual financial report. However, several attempts have been done to find a solution of the problem to allow the human resources as an asset, still with no lasting results. Nevertheless, a number of models have been created to estimate the value of the human resources, among others there are SkandiaNavigator, IC-rating and The Intangible Assets Monitor. The models were frequently used under the majority of the nineties but today we are not using them in such a large-scale. For external partners could the leave out of the human capital accounting mean that they might loose essential information that might influence their decision-making. Our job has despite this, showed a large lack of interest from the external partners, for what the soft facts the human capital is an indicator of. The lack of interest could be a contributed fact to why it has been a depreciation of human capital accounting over the years. Even floss on reliability and comparison, which is two important terms in accounting context, seems to be a strong reason why the valuation models do not apply in a large scale by the companies.

The purpose of this study was to explore the composition of intellectual capital (IC) by addressing the research question: What are the knowledge-based activities and outputs which comprise the IC of a university medical department? A conceptual framework was developed to highlight the importance of activities. The conceptualization of IC was further developed using concept mapping. Education administrators’ perceptions were solicited to derive IC used in a research faculty of a Canadian university. The results indicate that IC can be understood in terms of activities and outputs. Clinical faculty can be expected to engage in research and its supervision, education, obtaining qualifications, clinical and professional practice, and service. Within these categories, individual activities and outputs were not considered to be of equal importance or impact. Among seventy activities and outputs, articles in internationally refereed journals was ranked as most important, whereas teaching awards was ranked as having the most impact.

The purpose of this study was to explore the composition of intellectual capital (IC) by addressing the research question: What are the knowledge-based activities and outputs which comprise the IC of a university medical department? A conceptual framework was developed to highlight the importance of activities. The conceptualization of IC was further developed using concept mapping. Education administrators’ perceptions were solicited to derive IC used in a research faculty of a Canadian university. The results indicate that IC can be understood in terms of activities and outputs. Clinical faculty can be expected to engage in research and its supervision, education, obtaining qualifications, clinical and professional practice, and service. Within these categories, individual activities and outputs were not considered to be of equal importance or impact. Among seventy activities and outputs, articles in internationally refereed journals was ranked as most important, whereas teaching awards was ranked as having the most impact.

This thesis increases the understanding of networking and especially the role of third parties in the network infrastructure. That networking is an important activity that plays a central role for companies’ success is common sense in today’s highly changing environment. However, the role of third parties operating within the networking infrastructure has only been research sparingly. As the author’s literature review showed even though we have knowledge about the network process and attributes of the different actors there is still a lack of theories to explaining them. For instance, it is still unknown how the third party can successfully bridge structural holes and how its specific characteristics influence the network. Furthermore, it is unclear how this is affecting the people and consequently the companies involved in the network. The empirical focus of this thesis is on the Swedish Chamber of Commerce in the Netherlands and the empirical study consists of a qualitative case study. Data is collected through documents, participant observations and qualitative interviews in the Netherlands. The research shows that the third party has succeeded in provide a business and social platform that facilitate the process of combination and exchange of intellectual capital and this creates business opportunities for the members of the network. The study contributes to the research about the third party in the network infrastructure by identifying three success processes how the third party can contribute to the business network and this are: firstly, in combining and exchanging knowledge through a well-developed network structure. Secondly, through creating anticipation and motivation between the members for sharing of knowledge and thirdly, when bridging the gap between different actors with various kinds of knowledge. The thesis also provides suggestions for how the third party can improve their work to create and deepen relationship within networking. As the thesis demonstrates the role of the third party in a network and as more business is done within networks and with the help of a third party, it also has practical implications. In particular, the study is beneficial for the Swedish Chamber of Commerce, but also for other third party organizations that aim to improve their role in the networking process.

Problem: Utvecklingen i världen går mot en allt mer kunskapsinriktad ekonomi där den immateriella tillgången intellektuellt kapital blir viktigare bland företag. De redovisningsprinciper som finns idag baseras på principer från så tidigt som 1400-talet då man ville bokföra transaktioner för in- och utbetalningar av pengar. Principerna modifierades något under den industriella revolutionen för att man skulle kunna sätta upp materiella ting som tillgångar. När man nu går in en ny revolution, den mänskliga, hur är synen på det intellektuella kapitalet och hur redovisas kapitalet som inte får ske i företagens balans- och resultaträkning. Syfte: Studiens syfte är att studera vad som skett med utvecklingen av intellektuellt kapital i kunskapsföretagens årsredovisningar och undersöka vilka faktorer och omständigheter som påverkar utvecklingen. För att se på hur efterfrågan ser ut på information om det intellektuella kapital granskas även dess roll vid förvärv och värdering av företag. Teori: Studiens teoretiska referensram tar först upp centrala begrepp i studien såsom kunskapsföretag samt tar upp ett antal modeller som föreslår olika sätt att visa företagens intellektuella kapital i siffror. Till sist presenteras tidigare forskning inom ämnet som kommer användas i analysen. Metod: Valet av metod för denna studie är kvalitativ och ansatsen är deduktiv. Empirin har tagits fram genom flertalet intervjuer med forskare och revisorer samt genom granskning av fem kunskapsintensiva företags årsredovisningar. Slutsats: Synen på intellektuellt kapital har utvecklats i viss utsträckning då företag är alltmer medvetna om vikten av att behålla och utveckla sitt humankapital. För att det intellektuella kapitalet på ett tydligare sätt ska åskådas i de finansiella rapporterna krävs det i framtiden att högre instanser ger företag rekommendationer för hur de ska gå tillväga. / Purpose: The purpose of this study is to analyze the development of the intellectual capital in knowledge-based company’s annual reports and explore which factors and circumstances that can affect this development. In order to see how the demand is for information about intellectual capital in annual reports, its role in acquisitions and valuation of companies is examined. Method: This study is based on a qualitative method with a deductive approach. The empirical data has been gathered through interviews with two researchers, one auditor and two managers for valuation and acquisition. There have also been examinations of five knowledge-based company’s annual reports. Conclusions: The view of intellectual capital has developed to some extent since corporations are increasingly recognizing the importance of maintaining and developing its human capital. For the intellectual capital to be viewed in a clearer way in the financial reports it is required that in the future higher instances give companies the adequate advice in how to do so.

The study investigates the relationship between intellectual capital and share prices on the Nasdaq OMXS30 companies between 2001 and 2010. This, by using content analysis to score the companies' disclosure of intellectual capital and linear regression to test for a relationship with the corresponding share prices. We find a significant positive relationship between Price and Intellectual capital only for one of its subcategories: Internal Capital. The other two, Human Capital and External Capital, were both negatively correlated, explaining why we could not see a relationship between our total Intellectual capital score and price. Apart from this, we see that the average IC disclosure increased significantly during our researched time period and that IC disclosure in knowledge-intensive companies is statistically higher than for capital-intensive companies when it comes to External Capital and Human Capital. For Internal Capital, as well as for Total intellectual capital disclosure, we could not see any difference.

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