This study examines the construction of children and children’s rights in the context of corporate responsibility. Businesses often work with children in their philanthropic work, but have not been expected to integrate children’s rights in their core activities. The relationship between businesses and children is therefore poorly understood. This study aims to develop a better understanding of this relationship by studying the construction of children in corporate responsibility policies and website presentations. The point of departure for the analysis is that children are a minority group, meaning that they share certain characteristics and face shared problems. In order to do this, CSR theories and previous CSR research is presented from a children’s rights perspective, which provides a theoretical framework for the empirical analysis. The analysis examines cases of current relationships between businesses and children. This is done by analyzing the construction of children in the corporate responsibility policies of six companies. In order to structure the analysis, a categorization system is used which defines six distinct relationships between business and children. The study found that the internal disagreements within the field of CSR has significant implications on children’s rights and their resolution is necessary for true integration of children’s rights into CSR. Further, the children were constructed vastly differently between the companies as well as between the categories. The relationship is also contingent upon the general recognition of responsibilities by a company.

IASB påbörjade utvecklingsarbetet av en ny standard efter den globala finanskrisen då den nuvarande standarden IAS 39 kritiserats hårt från flera håll för att vara för komplicerad och bristande i sin redovisning av finansiella tillgångar. IASB:s arbete resulterade i färdigställandet av IFRS 9 år 2016 med syfte att ersätta IAS 39 gällande finansiella instrument. Tillämpningen av IFRS 9 kan påverka ett företags finansiella tillgångar annorlunda gällande klassificering, omklassificering, redovisning och värdering samt nedskrivning. Det är möjligt att värdera finansiella tillgångar till verkligt värde eller upplupet anskaffningsvärde. Problemet inom de olika metoderna är den subjektivitet i redovisningen av finansiella tillgångar.Studien är en komparativ analys med en förutsägande karaktär utifrån typfall för att utreda hur en övergång från IAS 39 till IFRS 9 påverkar ett företags finansiella tillgångar. Typfallen i studien ämnar belysa väsentliga skillnader inom klassificering, omklassificering, redovisning och värdering samt nedskrivning och hur dessa skillnader påverkar de kvalitativa egenskaperna sett ur ett intressentperspektiv.Den redovisningstekniska analysen belyser de mest väsentliga skillnaderna som påverkar ett företags finansiella tillgångar. Den redovisningstekniska skillnaden analyseras därefter utifrån aktieägares och Finansinspektionens perspektiv för att undersöka hur IASB:s kvalitativa egenskaper påverkas. Aktieägare efterfrågar information som påverkar deras ekonomiska beslutsfattande och utvärdering. Finansinspektionen efterfrågar information som bidrar till en ökad finansiell stabilitet hos företagen.Syftet med studien är således att belysa de mest väsentliga skillnader mellan IAS 39 och IFRS 9 samt hur standardövergången påverkar aktieägare och Finansinspektionen utifrån IASB:s kvalitativa egenskaper. Studien illustrerar skillnaderna för klassificering, omklassificering, redovisning och värdering samt nedskrivning separat för att förtydliga väsentliga förändringar som uppstår vid en övergång från IAS 39 till IFRS 9. Studien redogör för de olika klassificeringsmöjligheterna med egna begrepp för lättare läsförståelse och en modifierad intressentmodell för analys av IASB:s kvalitativa egenskaper. Resultatet i studien indikerar att tillämpningen av IFRS 9 är främst av redovisningsteknisk karaktär i hur den finansiella informationen presenteras. Den yttersta skillnaden mellan IAS 39 och IFRS 9 avser nedskrivningsförfarandet av de finansiella tillgångarna.Aktieägarna påverkas positivt vid en standardövergång eftersom IFRS 9 i större utsträckning stärker IASB:s kvalitativa egenskaper. Finansinspektionen påverkas inte i samma grad som aktieägare. Den däremot mest signifikanta och möjligtvis mest positiva effekten vid en standardövergång för tillsynsorganet är att företagens finansiella stabilitet ökar. / IASB began the process of developing a new accounting standard after the global financial crisis. The current standard IAS 39 received criticism of being too complicated and lacking in its financial accounting of financial assets following the financial crisis. IASB’s process resulted in the completion of IFRS 9 which purpose is to replace the current standard IAS 39 concerning financial instruments. The implementation of IFRS 9 may affect a company’s financial assets differently concerning classification, reclassification, recognition, measurement and impairment. Financial assets can be measured at either fair value or amortized cost. The problem regarding these methods is the subjectivity of valuation of the financial assets.This paper applies a comparative analysis with the purpose of predicting the effects a transition from IAS 39 to IFRS 9 will have on a typical company’s financial assets. The hypothetical cases purpose is to highlight the most distinct differences between standards regarding classification, reclassification, recognition, measurement and impairment. The distinct differences are then analysed from an accounting perspective and a modified stakeholder theory.The technical analysis highlights the differences regarding the accounting treatment of a company’s financial assets. The analysis continues with an analysis on how IASB’s qualitative characteristics of accounting diverge between the standards for shareholders and Finansinspektionen. Shareholders request information which may influence their economic decision and assessment. Finansinspektionen request information and effects which will have a positive impact on a company’s financial stability.The purpose of this paper is thus to highlight the most distinct differences between IAS 39 and IFRS 9 as well as examining how the transition might affect shareholders and Finansinspektionen based on IASB’s qualitative characteristics. This paper illustrates the accounting treatment of classification, reclassification, measurement and impairment separately to elucidate the impact from a transition from IAS 39 to IFRS 9. This paper describes the different options for classification with additional terms to increase readability and a modified stakeholder theory to analyse IASB’s qualitative characteristics. The results of this paper indicate that the implementation of IFRS 9 led to changes mostly of technical nature in how to present the financial information. The most substantial difference between IAS 39 and IFRS 9 regards to the impairment treatment of financial assets.The shareholders are positively affected after a transition to IFRS 9 because the change strengthens IASB’s qualitative characteristics in a greater extent. Finansinspektionen is not affected to the same degree as shareholders. Although the most significant and positive effect for the regulatory institution with a transition may lead to increased financial stability.This paper is hereinafter written in Swedish.

Companies are expected to be good corporate citizens and fulfil expectations of both shareholders and stakeholders. Depending on their corporate objectives, companies undertake different CSR activities using their preferred financial resources. The relationship between these two notions is interesting to investigate in the Nordic context since companies in this geographical area are the global leaders in sustainability. We formulate the following research question as: What is the relationship between financial slack and the CSR performance in Nordic countries? As such, the purpose of this thesis is to investigate the underpinnings of whether companies choose to allocate their financial slack resources towards improving performance of CSR, or so called value creation. Doing so, we investigate the relationship between financial slack resources and CSR score. In adopting a regulatory position on the development of society, we conduct our research in accordance with the functionalist research paradigm, namely through commitment to the objectivist ontic and positivist epistemic research philosophies. We answer the research question using the deductive approach. Our research design is framed with an explanatory purpose relying on archival strategy to perform a quantitative study. The theoretical underpinnings for analysis comes in the form of legitimacy theory, the institutional differences hypothesis, Resource-based theory, slack resources theory, stakeholder and shareholder theory. We use multiple linear regressions to analyse cross-sectional data for the period between 2005 and 2015 collected from Thomson Reuters DataStream. Our result indicates that the relationship between financial slack and CSR performance in the following year is mixed with both positive and negative relationships being present. Our most important finding is a pattern indicating that during the year 2008 the relationship changed from being positive to negative. This implies that the more funds a company has at its discretion, the less likely it is for them to invest it in developing their CSR performance the following year. This could have severe negative implications on shareholders, stakeholders and society.

År 2011 konsulterade International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) med berördaintressenter och lokala standardsättare angående IASB:s agenda, vilket ledde fram till beslutom revidering av nuvarande föreställningsram. IASB avsåg revidera föreställningsramen medsyfte att uppdatera, förbättra och fylla de luckor som ansågs finnas. Revideringen mynnade uti ett antal tillägg och flera ändringar gällande skulddefinitionen. En av de mer betydelsefullaförändringar som gjordes var borttagningen av sannolikhetskriteriet, vilket var ett av deförslag som innefattas i IASB:s Exposure Draft som publicerades i maj 2015. Studiensproblemdiskussion visar på att nuvarande föreställningsram har erhållit mycket kritik, vilketlett fram till studiens syfte.Syftet med studien är att undersöka intressenters attityder till IASB:s revidering avskulddefinitionen i föreställningsramen, samt studera om intressenternas attityder till förslagetom ny definition skiljer sig mellan olika intressentgrupper. Studien ska hjälpa till att klargörahur organisationer förhåller sig till denna revidering och om det finns mönster iintressenternas attityder. Resultatet av studien ska sedermera hjälpa till att avgöra möjligakonsekvenser och om IASB bör fortsätta revideringen.Fram till 23:e januari 2017 hade sammanlagt kommentarer från 233 organisationer inkommittill IASB med synpunkter på revideringen. Urvalsprocessen medförde att 126 av dessa komatt ligga till grund för studiens empiri och analys. Eftersom avsikten med studien har varit attanalysera dokument för att tolka och skapa en djupare förståelse för intressenternaskommentarer har en kvalitativ innehållsanalys genomförts. Därefter har en abduktivforskningsansats anammats vilket innebär att studien har inslag av både deduktion ochinduktion.Resultatet av studien indikerar att en majoritet av respondenterna delar IASB:s uppfattningangående revideringen av skulddefinitionen. Av definitionens olika kriterier erhöll samtligafrämst positiva attityder, men inom varje kriterium fanns respondenter som motsatte sigIASB:s förslag. Endast en av totalt elva intressenter motsatte sig samtliga kriterier avskulddefinitionen. Den främsta kritiken riktades till IASB:s förslag att en skuld existerar omdet inte finns någon praktisk förmåga att undvika en överföring. Negativa attityder berördeockså att revideringen framstår otydlig och svårtolkad samt att vissa ändringar står i kontrasttill befintliga standarder.I studiens slutsatser framgår att det framkommer ett flertal mönster bland intressenternasattityder, däribland åsikten om att fler skulder kommer att recogniseras i balansräkningen.IASB anses därmed motsägelsefulla eftersom de förespråkar försiktighet, vilket kommer attminska då fler osäkra skulder recogniseras. Detta står i kontrast till vägledning i befintligastandarder och kan generera en hög grad av osäkerhet, vilket medför att finansiella rapportertolkas och framställs olika. Dessutom anses IASB motsägelsefulla med exkluderandet avsannolikhetskriteriet. Motsägelsen kring försiktighet och borttagningen avsannolikhetskriteriet kan också medföra negativa konsekvenser på den rättvisande bild företagbör redovisa. Utifrån dessa slutsatser bör IASB fortsätta revidera skulddefinitionen för attskapa tydligare riktlinjer och minska osäkerheten. / In 2011, the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) consulted with interestedstakeholders and local standard-setters regarding the IASB agenda, which resulted in adecision to revise the current Conceptual Framework. The IASB aimed to revise theConceptual Framework with purpose of updating, improving and filling gaps. The revisionresulted in a number of additions and several changes regarding the liability definition. One ofthe more significant changes was the removal of the probability criterion, which was one ofthe proposals included in the IASB Exposure Draft, published in May 2015. The study showsthat the current Conceptual Framework has received a lot of criticism, which led to thestudy’s purpose.The purpose of this study is to examine stakeholders’ attitudes towards IASB’s revision of theliability definition in the Conceptual Framework and examine whether the attitudes ofstakeholders is different between stakeholder groups. The study should help clarify howorganizations relate to this revision and if there are patterns in stakeholder attitudes. The resultof the study will then help to determine possible consequences and whether the IASB shouldcontinue the revision.Until January 23rd of 2017, 233 organizations had comment on the IASB’s revision. Thesewere examined and a defined selection was made which resulted in 126 comments that werethe basis for this study. Since the purpose of the study has been to analyse documents tointerpret and create a deeper understanding of stakeholder comments, a qualitative contentanalysis has been conducted. Thereafter an abductive research approach was used, whichindicates that the study has elements of both deduction and induction.The result of the study indicates that a majority of respondents share the IASB's viewregarding the revision of the liability definition. The different criteria of the definitionreceived mostly positive attitudes, but each criterion had respondents who opposed theIASB’s proposal. Only one of eleven stakeholders opposed all the criteria of the liabilitydefinition. The main criticism was directed to the IASB's proposal that a liability exists ifthere is no practical ability to avoid a transfer. Negative attitudes also addressed the revisionto be unclear, and difficult to interpret, and that changes are in contrast to existing standards.The study’s conclusions show that there are a number of patterns among stakeholders'attitudes, including the view that more liabilities will be recognized in the balance sheet. TheIASB is therefore considered contradictory as they advocate prudence, which will decrease asmore uncertain liabilities are to be recognized. This contrasts the guidance in existingIVstandards and can generate a high level of uncertainty, which means that financial statementsare interpreted and produced differently. In addition, the IASB is considered contradictorywith the exclusion of the probability criterion. The contradiction of prudence and the removalof the probability criterion can also adversely affect the faithful representation. Based on theseconclusions, the IASB should continue revising the liability definition to create clearerguidelines and reduce uncertainty.

Why do organizations adopt information systems? Is it just because of financial reasons, of concerns for efficiency? Or is it due to external pressures, such as competitor pressure, that an organization adopts an information system? And, how does the adoption take place? Is it a linear process, or is the process one of  conflicts? Does a specific person govern this process, or do we have multiple parties involved? What happens if these conflicts occur among those involved? How does the organization move on and achieve a successful information system adoption? By investigating two organizations, one international academic journal and one South American manufacturing company, this thesis aims to investigate the whys and hows of information system adoption, and aims to contribute to the discourse on information system adoptions in small organizations – an often underrepresented segment in information system adoption literature. By adopting different theoretical lenses throughout the five research papers included, this body of work suggests that even when seemingly simple, information system adoptions can become rather complex. The cases reveal that the role of information systems and issues related to information system adoptions are often not well thought-out in the early days of the organization. The actors’ understandings of adoption and consequences mature and the information systems become more intertwined. Common use of stakeholder theory introduces general stakeholders and their interaction with the focal organization. The cases reveal that the adoption process involves multiple actors, even within what would initially appear as a stakeholder, and that those actors can be in conflict with each other. These conflicts often lead to negotiations, and the cases reveal that these negotiations are opportunities of learning; the actors engage with the information system and with each other, gaining new knowledge about the issues at hand. The dissertation argues that there are various social worlds in information system adoptions, and various factors – ranging from organizational structure to social norms – that often affect why and how the organization undergoes an adoption process. The multiple power relations and divergent interests of stakeholders in these adoption processes, and how information systems affect other parts of the organization, reinforce the need for a well thought-out, flexible and reflexive approach to information system adoptions.

Public transport in many Sub-Saharan African cities consists of paratransit, mini-to-medium-sized buses, which provide public transport and operate demand-driven and unscheduled. This form of public transport is often seen as less safe, less dependable, and environmentally unfriendly. One common intervention is the development of a Bus Rapid Transit system. A Bus Rapid Transit system is characterized by its bus-only lanes and offers a cheaper solution to rail transit systems. The development of such a BRT system changes the structure of the public transport system as BRT often takes over the areas in which paratransit previously operated. This leads to clashes between the stakeholders of the two modes of transport, which can threaten the success of the system as well as the livelihood of the paratransit workforce. This paper uses socio-technical transition theory, as well as stakeholder theory, to provide a clear picture of the entire land passenger mobility system. The focus of this thesis lies on firstly, analyzing the question why the development of BRT is favored over the optimization of paratransit. Secondly, it looks at different interaction approaches between the multi- regimes scheduled public transport (BRT) and paratransit, which can lead to a successful public transport system. Lastly, socio-technical barriers (political, technical, socio-cultural, and economic) are analyzed to understand which obstacles have to be overcome and what corresponding measures are. The results show that the development of Bus Rapid Transit is favored over the optimization of paratransit. Paratransit is seen as unsafe and unreliable, while Bus Rapid Transit offers an efficient, reliable, eco-friendly solution which also targets vulnerable groups. Out of the four different interaction approaches, competition between BRT and paratransit, a hybrid form between paratransit and BRT, the replacement of paratransit, and the prohibition of paratransit, the hybrid form is seen as most successful, as it allows both systems to contribute their strengths. Lastly, the actors involved in the socio-technical system, and socio-technical barriers and corresponding measures were analyzed. The biggest take-away when looking at the actors of the land passenger mobility system is that all stakeholders have to be involved, which includes paratransit drivers and people working on and off the vehicles. This paper has shown that when these stakeholders are not included, there might be resistance that might compromise the success of the BRT. The socio-technical barriers used were divided into economic, financial, infrastructural, and socio-cultural barriers. A successful paratransit / BRT interaction benefits from the move from a target system to a monthly salary for the paratransit driver. There should both be regulations and incentives so that paratransit acts as a reliable partner for the BRT system. It should be noted that a successful BRT / paratransit interaction cannot easily be replicated in another country without looking at the urban form preconditions. Bus Rapid Transit is a feasible solution for many Sub-Saharan cities. For an encompassing public transport system to be successful and to outcompete the car, it is necessary that all stakeholders work together and contribute with their strengths.

Bakgrund: Under de senaste åren har intressent för hållbarhet ökat bland företag men för investerare är intresset för hållbarhet tudelad. Flera källor visar att investerare har ett ökat intresse för hållbarhet medan andra visar det motsatta och inte rekommenderar att flytta gynnsamma investeringar från företag med negativa miljöpåverkan.Syfte: Syftet med denna studie är att öka förståelsen för hur mycket investmentbolagen tar hänsyn till hållbarhet vid investering och hur investmentbolag bidrar till att deras företag ska arbeta mer hållbart.Metod: I uppsatsen används en kvalitativ forskningsmetod med tre semistrukturerade intervjuer över telefon.Slutsats: Studiens resultat visar att samtliga investmentbolag anser att hållbarhet har en avgörande roll om de vill investera i företag eller inte. Anledningen är för att hållbarhet är en förutsättning för att företag ska överleva på långsikt och samtliga investmentbolag vill hitta företag som kan generera ett långsiktigt värde. Alla tre investmentbolag skrivit under riktlinjer och ramverk som ska hjälpa bolagen att verksamma mot en hållbar miljö och arbetsklimat samt påverka bolagen till ansvarsfull investering. Om något företag som investmentbolagen äger bryter mot de uppsatta riktlinjerna kan investmentbolagen välja att avsluta sitt ägande av företaget. / Background: In recent years, the interest in sustainability has increased among companies, but for investors, the interest in sustainability is divided. Several sources show that investors have an increased interest in sustainability, while others show the opposite and do not recommend moving favorable investments from companies with negative environmental impacts.Purpose: The purpose of this study is to increase the understanding of how much investment companies take sustainability into account when investing and how investment companies contribute to increasing sustainable work in their companies.Method: The essay uses a qualitative research method with three semi-structured interviews over the telephone.Conclusion: The results of the study show that all investment companies believe that sustainability plays a decisive role whether they want to invest in companies or not. The reason is that sustainability is a prerequisite for companies to survive in the long term and all investment companies want to find companies that can generate long-term value. All three investment companies have signed guidelines and frameworks that will help the companies to operate towards a sustainable environment and work climate and influence the companies to responsible investment. If any company owned by the investment companies violates the established guidelines, the investment companies may choose to terminate their ownership of the company.

Bakgrund och problemdiskussion: Hållbarhet har blivit ett växande samtalsämne och ett ökat tryck på hållbarhet har lett till att ett lagkrav har tillsatts för att företag ska redovisa hållbarhet i årsredovisningen. Bland annat har GRI tagit fram riktlinjer för en tydlig struktur för hållbarhetsredovisningen men problemet är att företaget jobbar med olika intressenter och använder sig av olika indikatorer vid redovisningen vilket i sin tur gör det svårt att jämföra olika hållbarhetsredovisningar med varandra. Syfte och frågeställning: Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka vad svenska börsnoterade företag presenterar i sina hållbarhetsrapporteringar. Vidare är syftet att bidra till en ökad förståelse kring hur olika företags hållbarhetsrapportering skiljer sig åt innehållsmässigt både över tid och mellan branscher. Studiens svarar bland annat på frågeställningen om kring hur innehållet i hållbarhetsrapporterna har förändrats mellan 2015 och 2020. Metod: För att besvara studiens frågeställning genomförs en kvantitativ innehållsanalys på totalt tjugo olika företags hållbarhetsrapporteringar. I studien valdes granskning av börsnoterade företag från fyra olika branscher, totalt fem företag från varje bransch. För innehållsanalysen används ett kodningsschema som skapats utifrån kategorierna ekonomiskt, miljömässigt och socialt. Kategorierna är tagna från Triple Bottom Line. Analysen genomförs som en kvantitativ analys enligt ordmetoden och observerar samt markerar begrepp och ord som kan kopplas till kategorierna i kodningsschemat. I studien undersöks även ifall det finns någon statistiskt signifikant korrelation mellan antalet sidor som företagen presenterar och antalet observationer som gjorts. Empiri och slutsats: Resultatet från studien tyder på att företagens fokus i redovisningen har skiftat från social hållbarhet 2015 till att den miljömässiga hållbarheten istället är den kategori som presenteras mest frekvent 2020. Innehållsmässigt i företagens redovisning är det i princip samma begrepp som används de båda åren. Det är endast inom den miljömässiga kategorin som nya begrepp eller att vissa miljömässiga delar har blivit ett större avsnitt i företagens rapportering. Från studien är den största skillnaden mellan åren omfattningen av företagens redovisning, antalet observationer och sidor ökade från 2015 till 2020. Korrelationen mellan variablerna visar även statistisk signifikans. / Background and problem discussion: Sustainability has become a growing topic of discussion and an increased pressure on sustainability has led to a legal requirement being added for companies to report sustainability in the annual report. Among other things, GRI has developed guidelines for a clear structure for sustainability reporting, but the problem is that the company works with different stakeholders and uses different indicators in the reporting, which in turn makes it difficult to compare different sustainability reports with each other.     Purpose and question: The purpose of this study is to investigate what Swedish listed companies present in their sustainability reports. Furthermore, the purpose is to contribute to an increased understanding of how different companies' sustainability reporting differs in content both over time and between industries. The purpose of the study is also to answer the questions about how the content of the sustainability reports has changed between 2015 and 2020.    Method: To answer the study's question, we carry out a quantitative content analysis of a total of twenty different companies' sustainability reporting. In the study, we have chosen to examine listed companies from four different industries, a total of five companies from each industry. For the content analysis, we will use a coding scheme that we do ourselves where we start from the categories economically, environmentally, and socially. The categories are taken from the triple bottom line. The analysis is performed as a quantitative analysis according to the word method where we observe and mark concepts and words that we link to the categories in our coding scheme. The study also examines whether there is any statistically significant correlation between the number of pages that companies present and the number of observations made.     Empirical data and conclusion: The results from the study indicate that the companies 'focus in the report has shifted from social sustainability in 2015 to that environmental sustainability is instead the category that is presented most times in 2020. In terms of content in the companies' accounts, the two concepts are used in the same way. the years. It is only in the environmental category that we find new concepts or that certain environmental parts have become a larger section in the companies' reporting. From the study, what distinguishes most between the years is the scope of companies' accounts, the number of observations and pages increased remarkably from 2015 to 2020. The correlation between the variables also shows statistical significance.

År 2010 avskaffades den obligatoriska revisionen för småföretag i Sverige. Detta resulterade i att en majoritet av icke-revisionspliktiga företag valde bort revision. Trots detta finns det ett antal företag som väljer frivillig revision. Revisionen kan medföra mängder av fördelar som påverkar den upplevda revisionsnyttan. Därmed syftar denna studie till att undersöka skillnader och likheter i upplevd revisionsnytta mellan revisionspliktiga och icke-revisionspliktiga företag, samt de faktorer som påverkar den upplevda revisionsnyttan. Med stöd av olika teorier samt tidigare forskning har olika indikatorer som kan påverka den upplevda revisionsnyttan identifierats samt sex hypoteser genererats. De teorier som lagt grunden för studien är i synnerhet den institutionella teorin, legitimitetsteorin, intressentteorin samt agentteorin. För att uppnå studiens syfte har ett kvantitativt metodval gjorts och en enkätundersökning genomförts. Totalt erhölls 168 svar som därmed utgör studiens empiriska underlag. Med hjälp av IBM SPSS har diverse statistiska beräkningar genomförts för att besvara studiens syfte. Studiens resultat indikerar på att icke-revisionspliktiga företag upplever en högre revisionsnytta än vad de revisionspliktiga företagen gör. Resultatet visar även att revisionspliktiga och icke-revisionspliktiga företag upplever revisionsnytta av olika anledningar. Eftersom studien är jämförande i sin natur görs ett empiriskt bidrag. Detta innebär att studiens empiri kan bistå framtida jämförelsestudier inom ämnet. Utöver det empiriska, tillför studien även ett teoretiskt samt praktiskt bidrag till diverse aktörer, akademiska likaväl som affärsrelaterade. / In 2010 the obligatory audit regulation was abolished for small companies in Sweden. This led to most non-statutory audited companies opting out of being audited. Despite this, there are still several companies that choose to be audited voluntarily. Being audited can bring numerous advantages that affect the perceived audit benefit. Thus, the purpose of this study is to investigate similarities and differences in the perceived audit benefits between statutory and non-statutory audited companies, as well as the factors that affect the perceived audit benefit. With the support of previous research, different indicators that can affect the perceived audit benefits have been identified, and six hypotheses have been generated. The theories that lay the foundation of the study are the institutional theory, the legitimacy theory, the stakeholder theory and the agency theory. A quantitative approach has been applied by using a questionnaire survey. 168 answers were acquired in total, which in turn constitutes the empirical data of the study. By using IBM SPSS, various statistical calculations have been performed to achieve the purpose of the study. The results of the study indicate that non-statutory audited companies experience a higher audit benefit than their counterparts. Another finding is that statutory and non-statutory companies experience audit benefits for different reasons. Because the study is comparative, the empirical content may contribute to future comparative studies within the context. The study also makes theoretical and practical contributions for various actors, both academic and business related.

Titel From then till now - A study of changes in sustainability reports from 1998-2019. Level Bachelor thesis in Business Administration Authors William Johansson, Johan Finn Rydberg, Thom Werner Tutor Esbjörn Segelod Date 2020-06-09 Keywords Sustainability, Sustainability reports, Signalling theory, Stakeholder theory, Business emissions, Equality, Corruption, Donation, Business Research, GRI, CSR, CSR history, Voluntary disclosure and Legitimacy theory. Research Questions How have the sustainability reports changed in different GRI frameworks and how have it affected companies in different branches, depending on pages and line of business between 1998–2019? How have the word in the categories: environment, social and economic responsibility changed in companies sustainability reports between the years 1998–2019? Purpose The purpose with this study is to examine how businesses sustainability reports associated with energy-, automotive- and forest and paperproduct have effected their sustainability reports from an environmental, social and economical perspecitve from year 1998–2019. Method The method of this study is a quantitative method with a content analysis that consists of 75 sustainability reports in total where 62 of these 75 reports was used. These 62 reports are coming from 25 different companies associated to energy-, automotive and forest and paperpoduction. The study was made of sustainability reports from the year 1998 to 2019. The result of the study encoded to a scheme of code. Conclusion The conclusion of this study shows an increase of the sustainability reports in all three branches. The most of the words shows an increase from 1998-2019. / Titel Från dåtid till nutid - En studie om förändringar i hållbarhetsredovisning mellan åren 1998–2019. Nivå Kandidatuppsats Författare William Johansson, Johan Finn Rydberg, Thom Werner Handledare Esbjörn Segelod Datum 2020-06-09 Nyckelord Sustainability, Sustainability reports, Signalling theory, Stakeholder theory, Business emissions, Equality, Corruption, Donation, Business Research, GRI, CSR, CSR history, Voluntary disclosure och Legitimacy theory. Frågeställningar Hur har företags hållbarhetsredovisning påverkats av förändringen i GRI:s ramverk, mätt i antal sidor samt branschtillhörighet mellan åren 1998-2019? Hur har begrepp inom miljö, socialt och ekonomiskt ansvar förändrats i företags hållbarhetsredovisningar mellan åren 1998–2019? Syfte Syftet med studien är att undersöka hur svenska företag i branscherna fordon, energi samt skog- och pappersproduktion har påverkat sin hållbarhetsredovisning utifrån miljö, socialt och ekonomiskt perspektiv, mellan åren 1998–2019. Metod Studiens tillvägagångssätt är kvantitativ metod med innehållsanalys som var tänkt att bestå av totalt 75 stycken hållbarhetsrapporter men endast 62 stycken kunde användas. Dessa 62 rapporter kommer från 25 olika företag som tillhör energi, skogs- och pappersproduktion och bilbranschen. Studien använde sig av hållbarhetsredovisningar från 1998–2019. Resultatet kodades därefter i ett kodningsschema. Slutsats Den slutsats som kan uppsatsen visar är att en ökning av antal hållbarhetsrapporter har ökat i alla tre branscher. Även de flesta orden påvisar en ökning under 1998–2019.