Due to different types of benefits and advantages, it is an attractive alternative for graduates to become entrepreneurs, either during their studies or after completing their education. In addition to the benefits and advantages of becoming an entrepreneur, there can be a number of challenges and disadvantages that they face. This study aims to explore the motivating factors and challenges that student entrepreneurs face when it comes to starting their own company in Sweden. A qualitative approach is what has been selected for this study and tenstudent entrepreneurs who live in Sweden have been interviewed through open ended semistructured interviews. Using a thematic analysis, the results could be analyzed, and this study concluded that student entrepreneurs are motivated by flexible schedules, independence, follow in the parents' footsteps as self-employed, preserve family tradition, transform passion/ hobby into business, outlet for their creativity, they do not have to worry to become unemployed and their own personal skills motivate them. The challenges that student entrepreneurs face and have difficulty with are lack of resources, lack of networks, lack of administrative and entrepreneurial skills, lack of legal / formal help from various organizations, lack of support from business partners or family, negative personality traits and management of tax systems. A new challenge was also identified, and this challenge is about forming a strong and sustainable team and when it comes to finding the right people to hire.

It is considered that religion and internal motivations may act as guiding forces behind the thoughts and actions of individuals. The purpose of this thesis is to explore if religiousness and internal motivations may influence individual health behaviors. To explore these relationships, a convenience sample using a 5-minute Qualtrics survey with questions regarding religiousness, internal motivations, and health behaviors was developed. This survey was offered to UCF students over the course of a few semesters. It is hypothesized that individuals that indicate more religiousness and stronger internal motivations (greater internal locus of control and self-efficacy) will demonstrate more positive health behaviors. Data analysis was conducted using a statistical software package (SPSS) with univariate, bivariate, and regression analysis being performed. Results reveal that internal motivations and religiosity appear to be significantly associated with some of the specific health behaviors tested. Place of worship attendance was found to be significantly associated with a lower number of health behaviors compared to other religiousness-related questions. Of all the internal motivation statements included, feeling helpless when dealing with some problems in their life was significantly associated with the largest number of health behaviors tested. These findings are critical as the links established between religiousness, internal motivations, and health behaviors may serve as a point of emphasis when developing positive health interventions for individuals.

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This dissertation consists of three essays on theoretical analysis of economic agents' decision making and incentives. Chapter 1 gives an outline of the subjects to be examined in the subsequent chapters and shows their conclusions in brief. Chapter 2 explores the decision problem of a superordinate (a principal) regarding whether to delegate its authority or right to make a decision to a subordinate (an agent) in an organization. We first study the optimal contracting problem of the superordinate that specifies the allocation of the authority and wage in a principal-agent setting with asymmetric information, focusing on two motives for delegation, "informative" and "effort-incentive-giving" delegation. Further, we suggest delegating to multiple agents as a way of addressing the asymmetric information problem within an organization, focusing on another motive for delegation, "strategic" delegation. Chapter 3 analyzes the behavior of players in a particular type of contest, called "the weakest-link contest". Unlike a usual contest in which the winning probability of a group in a contest depends on the sum of the efforts of all the players in the group, the weakest-link contest follows a different rule: the winning probability of a group is determined by the lowest effort of the players in the group. We first investigate the effort incentives of the players in the weakest-link contest, and then check whether the hungriest player in each group, who has the largest willingness to exert effort, has an incentive to incentivize the other players in his group in order to make them exert more effort. Chapter 4 examines the decision making of software programmers in the software industry between an open source software project and a commercial software project. Incorporating both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation on open source project participation into a stylized economic model based on utility theory, we study the decision problem of the programmers in the software industry and provide the rationale for open source project participation more clearly. Specifically, we examine the question of how the programmers' intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, and abilities affect their project choices between an open source project and a commercial project, and effort incentives. / Ph. D.

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Bakgrund: Obstruktivt sömnapnésyndrom (OSA) kan påverkas positivt av fysioterapeutiska interventioner. Det är därför intressant att veta hur initial motivation och self-efficacy påverkar livsstilsförändring i form av fysisk aktivitetsnivå och fysisk kapacitet. Syfte: Undersöka hur initial motivation och self-efficacy förändrar fysisk aktivitetsnivå, och hur initial self-efficacy förändrar fysisk kapacitet, hos personer med OSA. Metod: Kvantitativ dataanalys med data från en tidigare RCT där personer med OSA fick Behavioral Sleep Medicine. Motivation (vid baslinje) och self-efficacy (vid baslinje) korrelerades med förändringen av fysisk aktivitetsnivå (från baslinje till 6 månader), och motivation (vid baslinje) korrelerades med förändringen av fysisk kapacitet (från baslinje till 6 månader). Kontroll- och interventionsgruppen jämfördes även i skillnad på aktivitetsnivå mellan baslinje och 6 månader. Resultat: Inga statistiskt signifikanta samband kunde påvisas mellan motivation och förändring av fysisk aktivitetsnivå (p = 0.439 och 0.615 för kontroll- respektive interventionsgruppen), motivation och förändring av fysisk kapacitet (p = 0.538 och 0.375 för kontroll- respektive interventionsgruppen), self-efficacy och förändring av fysisk aktivitetsnivå (p = 0.392 och 0.925 för kontroll- respektive interventionsgruppen), eller skillnad i förändring av aktivitetsnivå mellan kontroll- respektive interventionsgrupp (p = 0.545). Konklusion: Ingen tydlig koppling mellan initial motivation och self-efficacy till förändring av fysisk aktivitetsnivå och fysisk kapacitet kunde påvisas hos personer med OSA. / Background: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) can be positively affected by physiotherapeutic interventions. It is therefore interesting to know how motivation and self-efficacy affects lifestyle changes in the form of physical activity level and physical capacity. Purpose: To analyze how initial motivation and self-efficacy changes physical activity levels, and how initial motivation changes physical capacity, in people with OSA. Method: Quantitative data analysis using data from a previous RCT in which people with OSA were treated with Behavioral Sleep Medicine. Motivation (at baseline) and self-efficacy (at baseline) was correlated with the change in physical activity levels (from baseline to 6 months), and motivation (at baseline) was correlated with the change in physical capacity (from baseline to 6 months). The difference in the change in activity levels from baseline to 6 months was also compared between the control and intervention groups. Results: No statistically significant correlations were found between motivation and physical activity level (p = 0.439 and 0.615 for the control and intervention group respectively), motivation and physical capacity (p = 0.538 and 0.375 for the control and intervention group respectively), self-efficacy and change of physical activity level (p = 0.392 and 0.925 for the control and intervention group respectively), or difference in the control versus intervention group regarding change in physical activity level (p = 0.545). Conclusion: No clear connection between initial motivation and self-efficacy to change in physical activity levels and physical capacity could be found in people with OSA.

Yes / Purpose- Numerous studies have examined factors influencing eWOM providing behaviour. The volume of extant research and inconsistency in some of the findings makes it useful to develop an all-encompassing model synthesising results. Therefore, the aim of this study is to synthesise findings from existing studies on eWOM by employing meta-analysis, which will help to reconcile conflicting findings of factors affecting consumers’ intention to engage in eWOM communications. Design/methodology/approach- The findings from 51 studies were used for meta-analysis, which was undertaken using Comprehensive Meta-Analysis software. Findings- Factors affecting eWOM providing behaviour were divided into four groups: personal conditions, social conditions, perceptual conditions, and consumption-based conditions. The results of meta-analysis showed that out of 20 identified relationships, 16 were found to be significant (opinion seeking, information usefulness, trust in web eWOM services, economic incentive, customer satisfaction, loyalty, brand attitude, altruism, affective commitment, normative commitment, opinion leadership, self-enhancement, information influence, tie strength, homophily, and community identity). Originality/value- Applying meta-analysis helped reconciliation of conflicting findings, enabled investigation of the strengths of the relationships between motivations and eWOM providing behaviour, and offered a consolidated view. The results of this study facilitate the advancement of current knowledge of information dissemination on the Internet, which can influence consumer purchase intention and loyalty.