Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is widely discussed in the business community in terms of its effectiveness. However, studies of factors that can affect CSR are not so many. The purpose of this study is to evaluate of the impact of ownership structure on Environmental and Social performance. This study was conducted on the example of 174 cases among Swedish companies, listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange, Environmental and Social performance, which was represented by the largest information provider Thomson Reuters. Using the experience of previous studies, a model of relationship between ownership structure and Environmental and Social performance was founded and a multiple regression analysis was performed. The most significant result of the study, confirmed by previous empirical studies and theoretical literature, is the existence of a relationship between capital structure and CSR performance. Foreign investors, who came to the Swedish market, have a stable positive connection with performance. This form of ownership, like majority control, did not find sufficient evidence to the impact on Environmental and Social performance in this study. The Minority control and Joint Minority and Management control showed no influence on performance in Swedish companies.

O objetivo deste estudo foi analisar os condicionantes das decisões de investimento das empresas familiares. Para tanto, utilizou-se de um referencial teórico baseado em conceitos como estrutura de propriedade e controle familiar, heterogeneidade das empresas familiares, choques exógenos causados por crises econômicas e situação de restrição financeira. Esses conceitos foram empregues com o propósito de dimensionar seus impactos nas decisões de investimento das empresas familiares listadas em bolsa nos períodos entre 2006-2016. Em termos teóricos, os investimentos foram separados em dois tipos: investimentos em CAPEX e capital circulante líquido. Embora nem todos tenham sido utilizados em todas as fases da pesquisa, esses dois tipos de investimento foram o cerne e a variável dependente da pesquisa. Outras variáveis importantes foram Empresa Familiar, bem como suas outras sete configurações, e as variáveis de interação como idade, grau de maturidade, tamanho, tangibilidade e situação financeira. Outro ponto considerado pela pesquisa foi o impacto do cenário macroeconômico sobre as decisões de investimento. Os resultados encontrados mostraram que as empresas familiares investem menos do que as empresas não familiares em CAPEX, ocorrendo o inverso para o capital circulante líquido. Isso corrobora com as análises teóricas promovidas por Anderson, Duru e Reeb (2012) e Chrisman e Patel (2012) sobre os ideais de autopreservação e aversão ao risco aos quais as empresas familiares estão sujeitas. Quanto aos períodos de choques de liquidez, as empresas familiares apresentaram quedas severas para investimentos em CAPEX e quedas menos acentuadas para o capital circulante líquido. Por fim, em relação à situação de restrição financeira e os resultados financeiros passados evidenciou-se que empresas familiares com maior tangibilidade e com resultados passados positivos investem mais do que as empresas não familiares, o que também está de acordo com a teoria sobre autoconfiança e busca pela perenidade em empresas de controle familiar. / The objective of this study was to answer the following research problem: what are the determinants of the investment decisions of family companies? To do so, the research used a theoretical framework based on concepts such as family ownership and control, the heterogeneity found in the various types of family businesses, exogenous shocks caused by economic crises and the situation of financial constraint of the companies. These concepts were used to understand how each of them impacted the investment decisions of listed companies in the period between 2006-2016. In conceptual terms, the investments were divided into two types: investments in CAPEX and working capital ratios. Although not all were used at all stages of the research, these three types of investment were at the heart and the research-dependent variable. In addition to this variable, other important variables were both the Family Enterprise variable (as well as its other seven configurations) and the variables of interaction with age, maturity level, size, tangibility and financial situation. Another point considered by the research consisted in analyzing how the macroeconomic scenario impacted investment decisions. The results found that family firms invest less than non-family firms (in all configurations) in CAPEX. However, the opposite occurs for the working capital ratios. This corroborates theoretical analyzes promoted by Anderson, Duru and Reeb (2012) and Chrisman and Patel (2012) on the ideals of self-preservation and risk aversion to which family firms are subject to making decisions involving risks and uncertainties. Comparing the results in periods of liquidity shocks, the results of the family companies showed severe declines for investments in CAPEX and less declines in working capital index. Finally, the results found when considering the situation of financial constraint and the past results provided that family companies with greater tangibility and with positive past results invest more than non-family companies, which is also in accordance with the theory on self-preservation and search for perpetuity in family businesses.

Bakgrund: De enskilda privata skogsägarna är en heterogen grupp som har genomgått en förändring under de senaste åren. Olika karaktärsdrag och olika förhållanden till skogen leder till olika värden med ägandet. Studien undersöker skogsägarnas incitament och beslutsfattande genom att studera skogsägarnas socioemotionella värden med hjälp av SEW-teorin. Syfte: Studien förklarar (1) vilka förutsättningar hos skogsägare som leder till socioemotionellt välstånd och (2) hur det socioemotionella välståndet påverkar beslutsfattande.  Metod: Studien baseras på en kvantitativ tvärsnittsdesign för att undersöka studiens syfte. Hypoteserna har utvecklats utifrån SEW-teorin och forskning kring skogsägande. För att testa hypoteserna har en enkätundersökning genomförts i samarbete med Södra Skogsägarna. Slutsats: Studien bevisar att SEW-teorin är en applicerbar teori på skogsägare. Det visar att det socioemotionella välståndet påverkar skogsägarnas incitament och beslutsfattande. Studiens resultat visar även att deras socioemotionella och ekonomiska värden ökar tillsammans. Studien finner vissa indikatorer på faktorer som genererar SEW samt finner flera effekter av SEW på skogsverksamheten. / Background: The private forest owners are a heterogeneous group that has undergone a change under the past years. They have different characteristics and different relationships to their forest, that leads to their values with their ownership. The study examines the incentives and decision-making process through socioemotional values of forest owners using the SEW-theory. Purpose: The study explains (1) the conditions of forest owners that lead to socioemotional wealth and (2) how socioemotional wealth affects decision making. Method: The study is based on a quantitative cross-sectional design to investigate the purpose of the study. The hypotheses have been developed based on SEW-theory and research on forest ownership, a survey was conducted in collaboration with Södra Skogsägarna.   Conclusions: The study proves that SEW-theory is an applicable theory for forest owners. It shows that socioemotional wealth affects the incentive and decision making of forest owners. The results of the study also shows that their socioemotional and economic values increases together. The study find some indication of factors generating SEW and some initial evidence of effects on the forestry orchestrated by SEW.

My creative project explores toys as means to express economic issues of globalization. By exploiting the educational and imaginative aspects of toys for adults and children, I intend to reflect on the impact and pressures of globalization on employment, technology and environment. In creating these toys I hope to make a visual statement concerning critical issues of human survival, sustainability and the divisive side of globalization.

Il presente lavoro, riconoscendo la rilevanza che le aziende familiari detengono all’interno del contesto internazionale, con particolare riferimento a quello italiano, si propone di analizzare la loro propensione verso l’implementazione della strategia di acquisizione. In particolare lo studio, composto da tre paper tra loro connessi, è volto a delineare una “fotografia” del tessuto imprenditoriale italiano rilevando le caratteristiche delle aziende familiari e della tipologia delle operazioni di crescita per via esterna da queste conseguite. Inoltre, la ricerca fornisce delle comparazioni con le operazioni svolte dalle imprese non familiari così da comprenderne similitudini e differenze evidenziando come la partecipazione della famiglia proprietaria, sia in termini di proprietà che di gestione, incida sulla predisposizione ad acquisire. Il primo paper indaga l’attitudine delle imprese familiari e non familiari ad acquisire, mostrando tipologie e caratteristiche delle operazioni di crescita per via esterna da queste conseguite nel periodo 2000 – 2014. Il secondo lavoro, approfondito il ruolo della distanza culturale ed economica tra acquirente ed acquisita, verifica se le aziende familiari hanno economicamente beneficiato dell’implementazione della strategia di crescita per via esterna. Il terzo contributo analizza come le differenti modalità e livelli di coinvolgimento diretto della famiglia alla vita d’impresa incida sulla predisposizione ad acquisire. / The aim of this work, which recognizes the importance of family-owned firms in the international environment – focusing in particular on the Italian context – is to analyze their propensity to implement the acquisition strategy. The study, composed of three interrelated papers, is intended to “take a picture” of the Italian entrepreneurial fabric, by detecting the features of family firms and the type of growth operations through acquisitions. Furthermore, this research outlines comparisons with the operations led by non family firms, in order to understand similarities and differences by highlighting how the role of family owner, both in terms of property and management, influences the propensity to acquire.  The first paper examines the propensity of family and non family firms to acquire, showing the types and features of the growth operations through acquisitions in the timeframe 2000 - 2014. The second paper, after studying in depth the role of the cultural and economic distance between the acquirer and target, checks whether family firms benefitted from the implementation of acquisition. The third paper analyses the influence of the several implementation procedures and the level of direct involvement of the family in the life of the firms on the propensity to acquire.