According to the efficient market hypothesis the stock price for a company should be evoked immediately when new and unpredicted information about the company’s value is published. A publishing of a qualified audit opinion that disclose previously unknown negative aspects of a limited liability company, should thus result in a negative impact on its share price. Previous studies in the field, on the other hand, show conflicting results. In some cases, a negative impact has been found, in other cases a positive impact has been found while in some cases no impact could be observed. The study's selection framework consists of 223 Swedish listed limited companies which have received a qualified audit opinion during the fiscal years 2011-2018. A stratified random sample was made where 142 companies were examined. This study aims to examine what relationship can be found between an audit opinion and abnormal returns for the company's share. Abnormal returns indicate the difference between expected returns and observed returns. The study is performed according to an event study with event windows of three different extents, from 1 day up to 21 days. The abnormal return on the shares has been studied according to the Market model. The results of the study are in line with previous research and show conflicting results. Over event windows of 21 days and 3 days, the majority shows a positive abnormal return and in contrast, the majority shows a negative abnormal return in terms of the event day only. It can be stated that investors on the Stockholm Stock Exchange react negatively only to going concern opinions. The results may further indicate that the Swedish market is efficient where reactions to new information in auditor opinions are immediate, rather than over time. The results may also indicate that investors are not the primary stakeholders to which the auditing profession should be adapted to in Sweden.

Does value investing work on the 21-st century Swedish stock market? We examine the performances of the FScore strategy (Piotroski 2000), the V/P strategy (Frankel and Lee 1998), and a combination of these (Li and Mohanram 2019) on the Swedish stock market between 2000-2020. We find that they produce significant and substantial average raw returns during the period, much above the total return of a comparable market index. However, only the abnormal return of the FScore strategy is statistically significant, even though that of the combined strategy is higher. Based on a very low power of the Fama and French (2015) five-factor model in explaining the returns of the V/P and combined strategies, we argue that the insignificance is most likely due to under-diversification. / Fungerar värdeinvestering på 2000-talets Svenska aktiemarknad? Vi undersöker hur FScore-strategin (Piotroski 2000), V/P-strategin (Frankel och Lee 1998) och en kombination av dessa (Li och Mohanram 2019) har presterat på Svenska aktiemarknaden mellan 2000-2020. Vi finner att de under perioden gett upphov till signifikanta genomsnittliga avkastningar som är klart högre än Stockholmsbörsens totalavkastning. Dock är det endast FScore strategin som ger upphov till signifikant abnormal avkastning, trots att den från den kombinerade strategin är högre. Baserat på att avkastningarna från V/P-och kombinerade strategin knappast kan förklaras av Fama och French (2015) femfaktormodell argumenterar vi för att den statistiska insignifikansen troligtvis härstammar från underdiversifiering.

A large proportion of the farming in Kenya and Eastern Africa is performed by smallholding farmers. At the same time, consumers are expecting to find foodstuff more close by and in a more convenient way than most smallholding farmers can provide. Crowdsourcing can efficiently be applied to many problems where many small producers need to collaborate to create the complete product, without exposing much of the complex process to the end consumers. Using semi structured interviews, systematic literature review and prototyping, the application of crowdsourcing to reach and empower smallholding farmers was explored. The findings were used to create recommendations in the form of guidelines that are expected to serve as ground work and background to future studies within the area. In general, a mobile based platform for crowdsourcing was found to be viable while still having some problems with the intended target market. Three primary factors which affects the potential success were identified; The generally low availability of internet to smallholding farmers (limited by high prices), lacking education which can limit comprehension of more complicated processes, and smartphones with limited capacity for advanced applications. / En stor del av jordbruket i Kenya och östra Afrika utförs av småbönder. Samtidigt förväntar sig konsumenter att kunna hitta matprodukter närmare och på ett mer bekvämt sätt än de flesta småbönder kan erbjuda. Crowdsourcing kan effektivt tillämpas på många problem där flera små producenter behöver samarbeta för att skapa den kompletta produkten utan att utsätta slutkonsumenten för den komplexa processen. Med hjälp av semi-trukturerade intervjuer, systematisk litteratur studie och prototyping, undersöktes tillämpningen av crowdsourcing för att nå och förstärka småbönder. Resultaten användes för att skapa rekommendationer i form av riktlinjer som förväntas fungera som grundarbete och bakgrund till framtida studier inom området. I allmänhet visade sig en mobilbaserad plattform för crowdsourcing vara realistisk, samtidigt som den fortfarande hade några problem med den avsedda målmarknaden. Tre primära faktorer som påverkar den potentiella framgången identifierades. Dessa var den generellt låga tillgängligheten av internet till småbönder (begränsad av höga priser), avsaknad av utbildning som kan begränsa förståelsen av mer komplicerade processer, och smartphones med begränsad kapacitet för avancerade applikationer.

The numerous previous attempts to simulate financial markets tended to be based on strong assumptions about markets or their participants. This thesis describes a more general kind of model - one in which deep reinforcement learning is used to train agents to make a profit while trading with each other on a virtual exchange. Such a model carries less inductive bias than most others - in theory, a neural network is capable of learning arbitrary decision rules. The model itself led to very simple results, but the conclusions from its construction will hopefully be of guidance to anyone implementing such a model in the future. / De många tidigare försöken att simulera finansmarknader har ofta byggt på starka antaganden om marknaderna eller deras deltagare. I den här avhandlingen beskrivs en mer allmän typ av modell - en modell där djup förstärkningsinlärning används för att träna agenter att göra vinst när de handlar med varandra på en virtuell börs. En sådan modell har mindre induktiva fördomar än de flesta andra - i teorin kan ett neuralt nätverk lära sig godtyckliga beslutsregler. Själva modellen ledde till mycket enkla resultat, men slutsatserna från dess konstruktion kommer förhoppningsvis att vara vägledande för alla som tillämpar en sådan modell i framtiden.

För att upprätthålla en blomstrande ekonomi i samhället är det viktigt att marknaderna och de finansiella systemen är välfungerande och rationella, eftersom stabil ekonomisk tillväxt ökar välfärden i samhället. En grundläggande förutsättning för detta antagande är att företag värderas med förnuft och rationalitet för att undvika övervärderingar, vilket i sin tur kan ledatill volatilitet och minskad likviditet som inte är fördelaktigt för att upprätthålla förtroende föraktievärdering. Den digitala eran vi lever i har gjort det möjligt för nästan vem som helst att agera investerare på olika börser. Börserna är och har under de senaste åren varit högre värderade än någonsin tidigare. Att investera är att fatta ekonomiska beslut genom att allokera medel i tillgångar, där du förväntar dig en avkastning på investeringen. När en investerare förvärvar sådana tillgångar baserar de vanligtvis sitt beslut på tillgängliga ekonomiska data. Denna ekonomiska data kan komma i olika former, det kan vara årsredovisningar, kvartalsrapporter, värderingar, nyheter om företaget, globala externa faktorer och i vissa fall rekommendationer från andraköpare. Alla investerare har inte den djupgående kunskap som krävs för att sätta ett fundamentaltvärde på en aktie i ett företag, detta medför en risk för övervärdering för företag. Det finns många modeller och metoder för att värdera ett företag och en typisk metod som används är substansvärdering. Kortfattat betyder det att du drar av ett företags totala skulder från de totalatillgångarna, vilket ger dig ett substansvärde på aktierna. Man skulle snabbt inse att detta inte speglar det verkliga värdet av alla företag och därmed inte ger den fullständiga bilden av marknaden och tillväxten. / To sustain a thriving economy in society it's important that the markets and financial systems are well functioning and rational, since stable economic growth increases welfare in society. A fundamental condition for this assumption is that companies are valued with reason and rationality to avoid overevaluations, which in turn may lead to volatility and decreased liquidity that are non-beneficial for maintaining a trust in stock valuation. The digital era we live in has made it possible for almost anyone to act as an investor indifferent stock exchanges. The stock markets are and have for the past years been higher value than ever before. To invest is to conduct economic decisions by allocating means in assets, in which you expect a return on the investment. When an investor acquires such assets they usually base their decision on the economic data available. This economic data may come in different shapes, it could be annual reports, quarterly reports, valuations, news about the company, global external factors and in some cases recommendations from other buyers. All investors don't possess the profound knowledge required to put a fundamental value on a stock in a company, this brings a risk of overvaluation for companies. There are numerous models and methods to value a company and a typical method that is applied is substance valuation. In short, that means that you subtract a company's total liabilities from the total assets, that gives you a substance value of the stocks. One would quickly realize that this doesn't reflect the true value of all companies and thus not giving the full picture of the market and growth. This study is written in Swedish language.

The study shows that multi-sided markets pose difficulties when the relevant product market is to be defined. These difficulties pertain to two questions. The first question is whether one or several markets should be defined. In this regard, it is not easy to extract a coherent method from the cases examined. Instead, the methods applied give the impression of ad hoc-solutions, where similar circumstances result in dissimilar outcomes. Indeed, it is hard to reconcile the different market definitions in Visa International MIF and MasterCard MIF. The uncertainties are not limited to these two cases, as the methods applied in Google Shopping too give rise to ambiguities. Why was the market for general search engine platforms separated into two distinct product markets, but the market for comparison shopping services encompassed both sides? Unfortunately, this discussion was not present in the decision. This only serves to reinforce the impression that these questions are solved on an ad hoc-basis. A clear method of approaching multi-sided markets is desirable, not least because the enforcement of competition rules must be characterized by consistency and foreseeability. Hopefully, the judgement in Google Shopping will bring further clarity to this. Nonetheless, the conclusion is that one market should be defined when differences between competitive constraints on the two sides are absent. E contrario, this means that two markets should be defined when such differences are present. This is true regardless of the market in question being a transaction or a non-transaction market. This method seems preferable to strictly adhering to the division of multi-sided markets into transaction or non-transaction markets. If the Commission’s analysis is correct in that there are no differences in competitive constraints on the two sides of comparison shopping services, in combination with crossing network effects, the platform’s multi-sidedness is a necessary trait for both sides. This means that a substitute has to be multi-sided in order for it to be included on the relevant product market, which minimizes the risk for false negatives. Vice versa, the definition of two markets allows for one-sided products to be included on the relevant product market, which minimizes the risk for false positives. This is important not only for the binary finding of dominance or non-dominance, but also the degree of dominance. As concluded above, incorrectly defining one market may artificially inflate the degree of dominance into false super-dominance, and incorrectly defining several markets may artificially dilute the degree of dominance. The second question is how substitutability should be measured. It is obvious from the cases examined that qualitative measures are used and not quantitative measures. The products’ characteristics, intended use, purpose, functionalities, users’ perceptions of the product, etc. were given much attention. The SSNIP test was not applied in any of the cases. The first conclusion to be drawn from the examination above is therefore that the difficulties regarding measuring substitutability on multi-sided markets mainly concern quantitative measures. The arguments against applying a SSNIP test related to the cellophane fallacy (in two different forms, one of which was deceivingly similar to the reverse cellophane fallacy) and differences in price sensitivities between the two sides. Network effects present an additional difficulty, which may lead to exaggerated results when measuring substitutability. The second conclusion to be drawn is that there exists a reluctance to apply a SSNIP test in a way that is tailored for multi-sided markets. One method that has been proposed is to apply the test on the total sum paid by both sides, while allowing the intermediary to adjust the increase in price in accordance with its price structure. The categorical dismissal of applying the test in this way suggests that adapted versions have some time to wait before being introduced into case law and decisional practice. If they, as their proponents argue, are a robust way of broadening the evidence of possible substitutability, this is unfortunate. The risk of defining the market overly narrow or overly broad is of course present in this regard as well. A broader spectrum of evidence therefore minimizes the risk of incorrectly finding both dominance and non-dominance.

Title: Credit Rating Impact on Information Environment – A study on the informational impact of credit ratings in financial markets using equity analysts’ performance as proxy. Introduction: The credit rating agencies provide risk assessment for a massive amount of financial assets around the world. These risk assessments are in turn used by numerous different market participants. The general idea behind this industry is that the credit ratings provide additional information or alternatively increase the quality of information in financial markets. Recent studies (most of which is written after the financial crisis of 2008) argue that there are several issues in the rating processes leading to failure to provide accurate ratings. Other studies still claim that credit rating agencies still provide useful information or alternatively increase the quality of information by sorting and ranking public knowledge of assets. We see the need for an investigating study examining the informational benefits of credit rating in the information environment of markets. Research Approach: How does the issuing of credit ratings impact the information environment in financial markets? Purpose: The study aim to contribute to the understanding of the current and historical effects that credit ratings have, and have had, on the information quality of markets and hence the efficiency of markets. Method: Our study takes a deductive research approach where the methodology is one of a quantitative and explanatory character. To analyze the effects on market information we use the BKLS model (Barron, Kim, Lim & Stevens, 1998), which uses equity analysts’ performance as proxy for the information environment. These data are then used in a long-term time-series study looking for long-term changes in analysts’ performance with yearly observations. Furthermore we test the instant market effects on stock prices from the issuing of a credit rating in a secondary short-term time-series study with daily observations. Conclusions: We find that the issuing of a credit rating in fact decreases the amount/quality of information available in financial markets (both public and private information). We contribute these effects to conflicts of interest in the rating processes and agency problems in the relationship between issuer and credit rating agency. Several practical examples of this are found such as ratings shopping, solicitation of ratings issuing, agencies offering consultant services and the lack of regulatory measures taken by regulators such as ESMA and SEC. We propose several ways of developing the research in this field; most importantly we want to see future studies on the differences between solicited/unsolicited issuing of ratings.

Syfte: Med ”Blue Ocean Strategy” avses skapandet av nya marknader utan konkurrens. Denna studie vill belysa hur fem svenska storföretag aktivt arbetar med att skapa nya marknader, stå emot konkurrens på befintlig marknad och slutligen om miljöarbete ses som en konkurrensfördel, vilket leder till en stärkt marknadsposition.   Metod: Studien angriper undersökningsproblemet med att anta en induktiv ansats med kvalitativa intervjuer. Arbetet baseras på djupintervjuer med företagsledare från fem svenska storföretag; Alfa Laval, Assa Abloy, Inwido, Lindab och Tetra Pak. Vidare antar studien ett hermeneutiskt förhållningssätt där tolkningen blir central. Resultat och konklusion: Resultatet av studien visar att få företag verkar för att inta en ny oetablerad marknad, så kallad ”blå ocean”. Fokus hos företagen i studien ligger på att bibehålla samt vinna nya marknadsandelar på befintliga marknader samt utöka till fler geografiska områden. Studien visar hur företagen arbetar både med kostnadsöverlägsenhet samtidigt som de arbetar med differentiering av sina produkter där samtliga företag idag arbetar med innovationsarbete vilket skapar möjligheter för att särskilja produkter från konkurrenters utbud. Detta till trots är företagen inte ”stuck in the middle” enligt Porters (1980) teori, utan stöder tesen om en hybridstrategi som visar på god konkurrenskraft om företaget är innovativt. Utöver det belyser studien digitaliseringens intåg på marknaden där både marknadsföring och handel i allt större utsträckning sker digitalt. Företagen i studien visar också på betydelsen av lokal närvaro, inträde på rätt geografiska marknader och värdet av goda kundrelationer. Slutligen belyses nödvändigheten att vara ledande avseende miljöfrågor och hållbara produkter. / Purpose: The “Blue Ocean Strategy” refers to the creation of new markets identified by no competition. This study highlights how five big Swedish corporations actively work to create new markets, resist competition on the existent market and if environmental work is seen as a competitive advantage, and thereby create a strengthened market position. Method: The study uses an inductive approach with qualitative interviews. The work is based on thorough interviews with corporate leaders from five big Swedish corporations; Alfa Laval, Assa Abloy, Inwido, Lindab and Tetra Pak. The study takes a hermeneutic approach in which interpretation becomes central. Result and conclusion: The result of the study shows that only few corporations work to create a new market or “Blue Ocean”. The focus of the studied corporations is to maintain their current market shares and to win new market shares on already existing markets. Their focus is also to expand into more geographical areas. The study describes how the corporations work with both overall cost leadership and at the same time with differentiation of their products. All corporations work with innovation, which creates possibilities to distinguish their products from competitors. Despite this, corporations are not “stuck in the middle” in accordance with Porter’s (1980) theories; instead they support the modification of a hybrid strategy, which shows strong competitiveness if the corporation is innovative. Further the study has identified the entry of digitalisation in which both marketing and trade more frequent occur digitally. The study also identifies the importance of local presence, the right geographical market entry and the value of good customer relationships. Finally the study illustrates the necessity to be in a leading position regarding environmental and sustainable products.

The global marketplace today encompasses 6 billion people. Many companies are beginning to see themselves as international rather than national acting on a global arena. An essential aspect of going abroad is to know where to go and why to go there. In order to be able to analyze a foreign market a company needs to do market research in the foreign market as to gather essential information. A firm which is facing a quick internationalization process is the Swedish direct sales firm of cosmetics Oriflame. Oriflame has grown quickly in developing countries but is not present in one of the biggest market for direct sales in Europe: France. The purpose of this thesis is to develop a theoretical framework to analyze foreign markets and apply it to the French market of direct sales in cosmetics and Oriflame. A qualitative study based on the 5 Cs framework for analyzing foreign markets has been carried out. Seven focus groups have been conducted in France and Sweden in order to obtain information about and comparability in consumer attitudes towards Oriflame’s marketing mix. Interviews have been conducted in order to get information about Oriflame as a company. Secondary data has been gathered from different sources for the theoretical framework as well as for the empirical research on issues such as culture, competition and market. This thesis has developed a theoretical framework to analyze foreign markets called the 5 Cs. The 5 Cs are based on: Company, Constitution, Competition, Customers and Culture. The 5 Cs is a very general framework and can be applied to a wide range of foreign markets and firms and was in this case applied to analyze a real world case of Oriflame and France. The analysis of the empirical findings found that there is potential for Oriflame to enter the French market in terms of consumer preferences and general market characteristics. However, it also found that what will probably determine everything in the end is whether Oriflame can be strategically committed to enter a mature West European market like France.

<p>The global marketplace today encompasses 6 billion people. Many companies are beginning to see themselves as international rather than national acting on a global arena. An essential aspect of going abroad is to know where to go and why to go there. In order to be able to analyze a foreign market a company needs to do market research in the foreign market as to gather essential information. A firm which is facing a quick internationalization process is the Swedish direct sales firm of cosmetics Oriflame. Oriflame has grown quickly in developing countries but is not present in one of the biggest market for direct sales in Europe: France.</p><p>The purpose of this thesis is to develop a theoretical framework to analyze foreign markets and apply it to the French market of direct sales in cosmetics and Oriflame.</p><p>A qualitative study based on the 5 Cs framework for analyzing foreign markets has been carried out. Seven focus groups have been conducted in France and Sweden in order to obtain information about and comparability in consumer attitudes towards Oriflame’s marketing mix. Interviews have been conducted in order to get information about Oriflame as a company. Secondary data has been gathered from different sources for the theoretical framework as well as for the empirical research on issues such as culture, competition and market.</p><p>This thesis has developed a theoretical framework to analyze foreign markets called the 5 Cs. The 5 Cs are based on: Company, Constitution, Competition, Customers and Culture. The 5 Cs is a very general framework and can be applied to a wide range of foreign markets and firms and was in this case applied to analyze a real world case of Oriflame and France. The analysis of the empirical findings found that there is potential for Oriflame to enter the French market in terms of consumer preferences and general market characteristics. However, it also found that what will probably determine everything in the end is whether Oriflame can be strategically committed to enter a mature West European market like France.</p>