The aim of this dissertation, undertaken between 2012 and 2017, is to contribute towards the improvement of international joint venture (“IJV”) management in real estate development projects by analysing performance and factors, critical for the success of real estate IJVs. The assumption is that a real estate capital investor acts as the international partner of the IJV-construct, while local developers, operators and/or real estate professionals represent the local partner. The thesis focuses on the perspective of the real estate capital investor as a key actor in an IJV. The thesis adopts a systems approach in identifying and discussing the critical success factors of IJVs in the literature review, followed by the development of an integrated, theory-based framework that offers a theoretical conceptualisation of the research problem and key research questions. The methodology and research design were compiled using quantitative (questionnaire survey) and qualitative (focus group and semi-structured interviews) approaches. Data were collected from international capital providers investing as IJV-partners in real estate development using a mixed method approach, the thesis proposes and elaborates on a performance model for IJVs in real estate development, with an aim to ensure empirically valid performance measurement. The focus was to identify and justify determinants and their relationships. The empirical investigation in the thesis supports the notion that the investment process and the selection of the partner are particularly important for a project’s success in real estate development IJVs. In addition, aspects related to the structural and organisational dimension are relevant to the overall IJV performance. Moreover, the model has shown significant relationships between the (1) structural, organisational and investment dimensions on the one hand, and the (2) external, organisational and investment dimensions, on the other hand, for the overall success in the formation-stage. With respect to the post-formation stage, relationships between (1) partner and organisational dimension, (2) partner and investment dimension and (3) investment and organisational dimensions have been proven relevant to improve IJV performance in the context of real estate development IJVs.

This thesis investigates the impact of an EU-directive (directive 2011/61/EU) regarding the administration of alternative investments by fund managers (AIFMs) on the business models of AIFMs which became effective on June 22, 2013. This new fund regulation is expected to affect the business models of traditional AIFMs that were not previously subject to regulation but now have to comply with these rules. The potential effect of the Alternative Investment Fund Manager Directive (AIFMD) has been subject to contentious debate in the past. However, the outcomes of the AIFMD have not previously been considered post implementation and so will be investigated for the first time by this research thesis. This thesis explores the changes already driven by the AIFMD to understand its impact on traditional business models. These changes are currently initiated by fund managers in order to ensure a sustainable business. This thesis also investigates how the marketplace in which fund managers operate will change as a result of the AIFMD and how this change will impact traditional business models. Since the AIFMD only recently became effective, no quantitative data is available. Therefore, this research is based on exploratory research starting with an online survey sent to 200 fund managers managing different types of small, medium and large Alternative Investment Funds. The online survey asks general questions about the fund manager’s business, such as size, jurisdictions, investment types, etc. It also reveals the extent to which business models have been adapted to the requirements, in particular the operating conditions of the AIFMD and which requirements still need to be employed by the respective fund manager. Based on the results of the online survey, a small number of fund managers were chosen for personal interviews representing different types and size of managed funds as well as a variety of country locations. The samples were chosen in that way to allow generalization of the research findings for a broad range of different fund managers with different business models. The personal interviews enable confirmation of the findings achieved by the online survey as well as providing a deeper understanding of how fund managers perceive the impact of the AIFMD on their business model. The form of the interviews is flexible with open and spontaneous questions appropriate to the specific interview situation. This enables a more complex and sophisticated view of the change of traditional business models. Since the AIFMD was only recently realized and currently several AIFMD documents, such as specific guidance, is still outstanding, additional research is needed. Additional research could consider more quantitative data that is not yet available.

abstract: My dissertation is situated in the speculative—that rhetorical domain of human affairs concerned with conditions we cannot entirely predict or control. Specifically, my research investigates the polarization and unease many of us feel as we imagine a world in which humans are no longer in the driver’s seat. It offers a literate practice of framing to facilitate substantive talk about the possible effects of the impending technology. To pursue this line of inquiry, I draw from Kenneth Burke’s frames of acceptance and rejection. In particular, I developed a computer-based tool and tested the prototype in a pilot project. The study is designed to assess the technai (rhetorical problem-solving tools that transform limits and barriers into possibilities) I fashioned from Burke’s six frames of acceptance and rejection to prompt participants to articulate epic, tragic, comedic, elegiac, satirical and burlesque driving futures. Findings from the study reveal that the practice of framing helps scaffold participants’ thinking beyond the good/bad binary and toward more realistically complex understandings and expectations of the future of driving. For example, one student commented that “the frames guided discussion and added a well-rounded perspective that we individuals may not have otherwise taken into consideration.” Ultimately, this study demonstrates the power of effectively designed deliberative experiences. Technai teach useful practices to teachers, students, scholars – all of whom need opportunities to critically assess the risks and rewards of our technology-laden lives. This research pushes our scholarship to focus on rhetorics that surround speculative public scientific controversies like the driverless car, in order to advocate for our individual and collective well-being. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation English 2016

Na Teoria dos Sentimentos Morais, Adam Smith estabelece um esquema pluralista para explicar a aprovação moral, com quatro tipos de juízos morais: 1) em relação ao motivo da ação, o juízo que determina a conveniência ou inconveniência (propriety ou impropriety); 2) em relação aos efeitos imediatos da ação, o juízo determina seu mérito ou demérito; 3) ao analisar o acordo entre o ato e determinada regra geral de conduta, o juízo determina se o indivíduo agiu de acordo com seu dever; e 4) em relação aos efeitos não imediatos do ato, isto é, à maneira como esse ato se insere no funcionamento global da sociedade (juízo que Smith analisa sob o nome de aparência de utilidade). Esses quatro tipos de juízos se fundam na imaginação e formam a totalidade do princípio de aprovação que estrutura a parte especulativa de sua teoria moral. / In The Theory of Moral Sentiments, Adam Smith establishes a pluralist scheme to explain moral approbation, with four kinds of moral judgments: 1) regarding the motives of the agent, the judgment determines its propriety or impropriety; 2) regarding the immediate effects of the action, the judgement determines its merit or demerit; 3) analyzing if this act is a particular case of a general rule, the judgement determines if the agent has acted according to his duty; and 4) regarding the remote effects of the action, that is, the way this action is a part of the global operations of society (a judgement that Smith calls the appearance of utility). These four kinds of moral judgments are grounded in imagination and form the totality of the principle of approbation that structure the speculative part of his moral philosophy.

Dans La théorie des sentiments moraux, Adam Smith établit un schéma pluraliste, avec quatre types de jugements moraux, pour expliquer l'approbation morale : 1) par rapport au motif de l'action, le jugement en détermine la convenance ou l'inconvenance (propriety ou impropriety) ; 2) par rapport aux effets immédiats de l'action, le jugement détermine le mérite ou le démérite ; 3) analysant l'accord entre l'acte et ses règles générales de conduite, le jugement détermine si l'agent a agi conformément à son devoir ; et 4) par rapport aux effets révolus de l'acte, c'est-à-dire, à la manière selon laquelle cet acte s'insère dans le fonctionnement global de la société (ce dernier type de jugement moral est analysé sous le nom d'apparence d'utilité). Ces quatre types de jugements moraux se fondent dans l'imagination et forment la totalité du principe de l'approbation qui structure la partie spéculative de sa théorie morale. / In The Theory of Moral Sentiments, Adam Smith establishes a pluralist scheme to explain moral approbation, with four kinds of moral judgments: 1) regarding the motives of the agent, the judgment determines its propriety or impropriety; 2) regarding the immediate effects of the action, the judgement determines its merit or demerit; 3) analyzing if this act is a particular case of a general rule, the judgement determines if the agent has acted according to his duty; and 4) regarding the remote effects of the action, that is, the way this action is a part of the global operations of society (a judgement that Smith calls the appearance of utility). These four kinds of moral judgments are grounded in imagination and form the totality of the principle of approbation that structure the speculative part of his moral philosophy.

Owing to the ever increasing information deluge, it is becoming increasingly difficult to locate relevant information through traditional term-based search methods. Event–based text mining provides a more promising approach, as it also takes into account the semantic relationships between terms. Typical event representations only focus on identifying the type of the event, its par-ticipants and their types. However, additional information, which is essential for correct interpretation of the event, is often present in the text. This includes infor-mation about the polarity, certainty level, intensity/rate/frequency, type and source of the knowledge conveyed by the event. We refer to this additional information as meta-knowledge. This thesis focusses on our work involving the enrichment of events with meta-knowledge information. In this thesis we: • describe the annotation scheme designed specifically to capture meta-knowledge information at the event level• report on the corpora that have been enriched through deployment of the meta-knowledge annotation scheme• describe the work on automated identification of meta-knowledge including: - a broad-ranging study on analysis and identification of polarity of bio-events using three different bio-event corpora - a detailed study on analysis and identification of knowledge source in bio-events found in abstracts as well as in full papers - a first study on analysis and identification of bio-event manner• describe the initial work on a new approach to discourse analysis based on me-ta-knowledge annotations at the event level

The purpose of this thesis is to examine the use of commodity derivatives in the oil market. The thesis itself is divided into two main parts - theoretical and practical. The theoretical part is mainly focusing on the description of commodity derivatives in the oil market and the explanation of the mechanism of most often used derivative contracts. The second and more practical part of the thesis examine the use of these derivatives and all benefits and risks associated with trading in commodity derivatives. The potential threats arising from using derivatives as oil market contracts are explained on the example of corporate trading strategy of Matallgesellschaft AG.

The thesis analyzed the performance of 5,987 mutual funds using a database called Steele Mutual Fund Experts and compared the predicting ability of various measures of performance. The measures discussed in the thesis are Treynor Ratio, Sharpe Ratio, Jensen's Alpha, Graham-Harvey-1 (GH-1), and Graham-Harvey-2 (GH-2). The performance measures are mostly used by professional money managers and scholars for literary purposes.

近年來研究台灣農地價格的文獻顯示，都市周圍農地價格有暴漲的情形，靠近都會區的農地價格較高，農地收益無法適當解釋農地價格高漲的現象。至於投機活動對都會地區農地價格的影響為何？此乃本研究動機之所在。 　　本論文係以文獻歸納、訪談調查、統計分析的方式，嘗試探討投機活動對都會地區農地價格的影響，研究目的有三：一、分析影響農地價格的因素。二、分析都會地區農地投機活動對農地價格的作用是否大於都市發展負外部性的影響。三、對於以農地價格作為農地釋出指標之說法的合理性，依分析結果提出看法。 　　研究分析之結論，要述如下： 　　一、分析都會地區影響農地價格的因素，農業生產收益因素已不易解釋都會地區之農地價格。以距離因素來看，農地價格受至最近之都市計畫區發展界線距離顯著的影響。農地投機活動指標變數明顯影響農地價格，且為正向關係，故農地投機活動可能會促使都會地區農地價格的上升。 　　二、農地投機活動對農地價格的影響大於都市發展之負外部性效果。農地價格上漲可能不利於農業經營，因純粹欲農耕而購地者支付高於生產價值之地價，且農業使用的報酬較低，可能不易回收農地價格成本。 　　三、以農地價格作為農地釋放的指標，應斟酌再三。 　　本論文之檢討評估，要點如下： 　　一、農地投機活動之定義宜更明確。 　　二、有擴大樣本數的必要。 　　三、應再考量其他影響都會地區農地價格之可能因素。

Att spekulera i bostadsrätter har blivit ett alltmer populärt sätt att placera sina pengar. De senaste årens stora värdestegringar och låga riskexponering har lett till att bostadsrätter inte längre bara förvärvas för bostadsändamål. Med hjälp av djupintervjuer, rättsfall och lagtext syftar studien till att utreda hur styrelsemedlemmar i bostadsrättsföreningar förhåller sig till fenomenet samt vad det kan få för konsekvenser. Följder av lagändringar som skett samt möjliga förbättrande åtgärder diskuteras också. Erfarenheten av spekulationsköp varierar mellan föreningarna. Vissa har inte noterat något sådant överhuvudtaget, medan andra har konstaterat mer eller mindre uppenbara fall av antingen rena renoveringsköp eller köp med avsikt att hyra ut i andra hand. I nästan alla fall blir detta syfte tydligt först efter att man bott i bostadsrätten en viss tid. Det är alltså svårt att avgöra om det var avsikten vid själva förvärvet. Korttidsuthyrningar är en aktivitet som växer i popularitet i takt med den tekniska utvecklingen och delningsekonomin. En del föreningar har en uttalad policy där korttidsuthyrningar aldrig tillåts, ofta till följd av att man känner till det uppmärksammade vägledande rättsfall från hyresnämnden 2015. Exempel på problem som kan uppstå vid andrahandsupplåtelser i allmänhet är kriminell verksamhet såsom bordeller eller handel med droger, ökat slitage på fastigheten, större arbetsbelastning för styrelsen samt ökad otrygghet för grannar. Renoverings- eller s.k. flippingköp kan leda till störningar för grannar samt skador på fastigheten när arbetet inte utförs på rätt sätt. Att värva rätt kompetens till styrelsen är snarare ett allmänt problem som inte har någon direkt koppling till spekulationsköp. Lagändringar som syftat till att underlätta andrahandsuthyrning har haft både positiva och negativa konsekvenser. De har lett till att fler bostadstillfällen frigjorts, men innebär också en del tolkningssvårigheter. Styrelser har fått mer att administrera men kan samtidigt ta ut en avgift för arbetet vilket i sämsta fall resulterar i en nollaffär. För att underlätta tolkningen av lagtexten skulle förbättrad samordning kunna ske mellan exempelvis myndigheter och branschorganisationer för att ge ut riktlinjer till bostadsrättsföreningar. Fler föreningar skulle också kunna överväga att ansluta sig till en sådan organisation för att få bättre tillgång till stöd och rådgivning. Alla har dock inte ekonomiska eller tidsmässiga förutsättningar till en sådan lösning. Författarnas uppfattning blir till sist att spekulationsköp inte är ett omfattande problem på Stockholms bostadsmarknad idag. Förbättringar skulle kunna ske på olika områden främst för att underlätta styrelsearbetet, men varje förenings individuella förutsättningar och ambitioner blir avgörande för vad som faktiskt sker. / Speculating in condominiums has become an increasingly popular way of placing capital. Over the past few years, significant gains in value and low risk exposure have led up to that condominiums are no longer only acquired for residential purposes. Through interviews, law cases and law texts, the study aims to investigate if executives of the housing associations consider this to be a problem and what the consequences may be. Changes in the law and possible solutions are also discussed. The experience of speculative buying varies. Some housing associations have not noted such a thing at all, while others have detected more or less obvious cases of either purely renovation purchases or purchases with the intention of subleasing. In almost every case however, this purpose becomes apparent after using the apartment for a certain period of time. Hence, it is difficult to determine whether it was the main intention of the acquisition. Short term leases are an activity that grows in popularity in line with the technical development and the sharing economy. Some housing associations have an accepted policy where short-term rentals are never allowed, often due to an attention-paid law case of the Rent Committee in 2015. Examples of problems that may arise due to second-hand rentals in general are criminal activities such as prostitution or trade in drugs, increased wear and tear on the property, a heavier workload for the management and increased insecurity for neighbors. Renovation or so-called flipping purchases can cause disturbances to neighbors as well as damage to the property when work is not performed properly. Recruiting the right skilled people to the management seems to be rather a general problem that has no direct connection to speculation purchases. Changes to the law aimed at facilitating second hand leasing have had both positive and negative consequences. They have given more people a place to live, but also involved some difficulties in interpretation. The boards have got more to administer, however at the same time they can charge a fee for the work, which in worst case results in a zero-affair. In order to facilitate the interpretation of the law text, improved coordination would be achieved between, for example, authorities and organizations to issue guidelines to tenant-owner associations. More housing associations could also consider joining such an organization to get better access to support and counseling. However, all do not have the time or the economic conditions for such a solution. The authors' view finally turns out that speculation purchases are not a major issue in Stockholm's housing market today. Improvements could be made in various areas, primarily to facilitate the work of the board, but each association's individual conditions and ambitions will be crucial to what actually happens.