This thesis shows that illicit drug consumers in Vietnam who administer product via injection are vulnerable actors in a paradoxical global/glocal phenomenon rooted in historical complexities of globalisation. Therefore, responsibility for HIV risks should be shifted upstream from the level of individuals toward institutional processes that manufacture environments of harm. At the global level, the UN Milennium Development Goals do not provide the required level of leadership on HIV prevention for drug injectors. Association between globalisation, opiates and blood-born disease in Vietnam is not new and is inseparable from historical transportation, migration and trade processes. As a key locale in the Cold War, after 1975, and 1979 in particular, Vietnam was 'at distance' from increasing intra-regional trade flows across its western frontiers and northern border. As a consequence, it was hermetically sealed to nearby HIV sub-epidemics unfolding among heroin cons umers. A latent HIV risk environment awaited Vietnam should geopolitical grievances be resolved and it became re-integrated among Mekong sub-regional flows. Neo-liberal financial flows returned to Vietnam in 1993 and the Mekong was spanned in 1994. In 1995 it normalised relations with the United States, joined ASEAN and announced the resurrection of transportation linkages across the northern border with China. Mid-decade, its borders were made more porous at the same time as local opium production was reduced as part of the UN global programme against drugs. Exploiting enhanced trans-boundary mobilities intended for goods, opiate traffickers quickly transformed Vietnam into a transit nation and a marke for high-quality heroin well suited to a youthful population experiencing socio-economic change including new consumerism. Following traditional pathways, a radical transformation in the fluidity of drug consumption environs ensued, enabling more widespread and efficient flows of blood across complex boundari es. Analysis reveals that a spatio-temporal confluence of structural factors has created conditions which enabled this process. These factors are overlapping and they range from global influences, such as the collapse of the USSR, to micro-economic reform such as privatisation and modernisation of the domestic pharmaceutical sector. The transformation in opiate consumption from injecting opium to heroin injecting occurred faster than expert-driven prevention systems responded, even in time and space where this was most forseeable. Although the opiate transformation was highly predictable, there has been a time-lag of almost a decade between risk transformations and policy responses equated with harm reduction principles. The thesis shows that blame for HIV sub-epidemics in Vietnam should not be attributed to vulnerable youths and young adults. Expert-driven economic transition associated with global inegration has manufactured circumstances in which drug availability has risen dramatically at a time when emp loyment growth has been insufficient and a commercial sex industry has expanded. This research confirms the cimportance of new methods of risk environment analyses, particularly in relation to trans-boundary hazards associated with global flows, including trade and human mobilities.

Syfte: Större revisionsbolag har länge inom redovisningslitteraturen associerats med bättre revisionskvalitet jämfört med mindre revisionsbolag. På senare tid har frågan lyfts om större revisionsbolags höga revisionsarvoden beror på högre revisionskvalitet eller marknadsmakt. Denna studie bidrar med nya empiriska underlag inom jämförelsestudier mellan större och mindre revisionsbolag, där revisionsarvodet används som proxy för revisionskvalitet. Vidare tar denna studie, till skillnad från tidigare studier, även hänsyn till revisionskvalitet inom olika riskmiljöer.   Metod: Studien har använt sig av en kvantitativ metod med ett positivistiskt förhållningssätt genom arbetet. En deduktiv forskningsansats har tillämpats där tidigare forskning har legat som grund till studiens framförda hypoteser. Insamling av finansiella sekundärdata för totalt 2518 företag har utförts via databasen Thomson Reuters Datastream.   Resultat & slutsats: Studiens resultat påvisar signifikanta skillnader i revisionskvalitet mellan större och mindre revisionsbolag i studiens olika riskmiljöer. För studiens europeiska länder är förhållandet mellan större och mindre revisionsbolag likvärdiga medan de amerikanska revisionsbolagen skiljer sig signifikant revisionskvalitetsmässigt.   Förslag till fortsatt forskning: Studien har genomförts utan hänsyn tagen till kvalitativa faktorer som kan komma att påverka revisionskvalitet, vilket öppnar ett utrymme för komparativa studier med en kvalitativ inriktning. Det finns även möjlighet att utöka antalet börsmarknader för respektive land eller utvidga antalet länder i olika riskmiljöer.   Uppsatsens bidrag: Studien lämnar två bidrag till redovisningslitteraturen i form av nya empiriska bevis inom revisionskvalitet mellan större och mindre revisionsbolag samt unik forskning kring revisionskvalitetsstudier mellan riskmiljöer. Vidare lämnar studiens resultat incitament åt praktiker att granska revisionsmarknaden för eget vinstintresse samt svarar på normgivares funderingar kring marknadsbalansen mellan större och mindre revisionsbolag. / Aim: Big audit firms have long been associated with higher audit quality, compared to smaller audit firms. Recent studies suggest that the higher audit fees from bigger audit firm is affected by market misuse rather than better audit quality. This study provides new empirical evidence between the comparison of big vs small audit firm, where audit fees are used as proxy for audit quality. Furthermore, this study investigates different litigation environment that could affect audit quality.   Method: This study uses an quantitative based method with an positivist, deductive approach, were earlier studies have had an impact on our hypotheses. Financial information from 2518 companies has been collected from Thomson Reuters Datastream.   Result & Conclusions: This study's result provides significant differences of audit quality between big and small audit firms in different risk environments. For this study, the audit quality relationship between big and small audit firms are equivalent for the European countries while audit quality between big and small audit firms in the US differ significantly.   Contribution of the thesis: This study leaves two contributions to the extent audit literature, in terms of empirical evidence of audit quality between big and small audit firms and unique research results of audit quality in different litigation environments. Furthermore, the results of this study creates incentives for practitioners to review the audit market for self interests and answer legal setters concerns about unbalanced audit markets.   Suggestions for future research: The study has been carried out without consideration of qualitative factors that may affect audit quality. It’s opening a space for comparative studies with an qualitative approach. It is also possible to expand the number of stock exchanges for a country or expand the number of countries in different risk environments.