Face à l’évolution des modes de gestion du service public et des régimes de travail qui y sont associés, le droit privé du travail tend à s’imposer comme le modèle de référence au sein du secteur public, au détriment de la logique statutaire prévalant dans la fonction publique et les entreprises publiques. En effet, si l’encadrement juridique du service public conserve une part irréductible d’exorbitance, l’effacement progressif de son particularisme laisse place à un vide qui encourage l’expansion d’un droit privé du travail faisant office de droit commun. Ce mouvement suscite de nombreuses interrogations. Comment le renouvellement de la conception du service public traduit-il ses effets sur l’encadrement juridique des relations de travail du secteur public ? Par quels procédés l’implantation du droit privé s’opère-t-elle ? À quelles résistances ou déformations s’expose-t-elle ? Quels mécanismes d’adaptation du droit privé doivent alors être mis en œuvre ? Il résulte de l’étude que le particularisme irréductible du service public ne suffit plus, à lui seul à établir une incompatibilité de principe de nature à faire obstacle à l’implantation continue du droit privé du travail dans le secteur public. / While the means of management of public services and the work statutes associated are evolving, private labour law is becoming a reference within public services, to the detriment of the statutory logic that traditionally prevails within public services and state-owned companies. Indeed, if the legal framework surrounding public services retains particular characteristics, its specificity is slowly declining, leaving place to a void which facilitates / encourages the expansion of private labour law, which is becoming ordinary law. This trend raises numerous questions. How does the new public services approach translate into the legal framework of work relations in public services? Through which proves does private law implement itself? To which resistances and distortions is it faced with? Which public law mechanisms can then be used to adapt such implementation? This study shows that the specificity of public services is no longer enough, in its own, to become an obstacle against the continuing implementation of private labour law in the public sector.

Ämnet hållbarhet är idag mer aktuellt än någonsin. Många företag tar ansvar för sin påverkan på omgivningen och detta ansvar har kommit att bli en del av den externa rapporteringen. Företags hållbarhetsrapportering har traditionellt varit frivillig och det har tillämpats självreglering. I kontrast till de noterade företagens avsaknad av regler har svenska staten, genom införandet av en ägarpolicy, ställt upp krav på de statliga företagen. Kraven innebär att de statliga företagen ska agera föredömligt inom hållbart företagande och hållbarhetsrapportera i enlighet med GRI:s riktlinjer. Syftet med denna studie har varit att utifrån GRI:s kvalitativa egenskaper gällande hållbarhetsrapporteringens informationskvalitet undersöka skillnader mellan noterade och statliga företags hållbarhetsupplysningar inom de områden som stadgas i ÅRL 6 kap 12 § 1 st. Vår studie är komparativ och vi har använt oss av en kvalitativ innehållsanalys med kvantitativa inslag. Bedömningar har gjorts av 21 noterade och 21 statliga företags hållbarhetsrapportering. Med en egenutvecklad modell för bedömning av skillnader i informationskvalitet, har vi kunnat uppfylla studiens syfte och besvara vår forskningsfråga: Vilka skillnader i hållbarhetsrapporteringens informationskvalitet kan identifieras mellan noterade och statliga företag? Studiens resultat visar att de statliga företagens hållbarhetsrapportering genomgående uppvisar en högre informationskvalitet än noterade företag. De största skillnaderna som identifierades var att de statliga företagen i en avsevärd större utsträckning efterföljde internationella ramverk och riktlinjer samt att de lät sin hållbarhetsrapport genomgå en oberoende extern granskning. Den reglering som statliga företag omfattas av verkar leda till en högre informationskvalitet i hållbarhetsrapporteringen än vad självreglering gör. Studiens teoretiska bidrag är en modell som möjliggör en bedömning av informationskvalitet i företags hållbarhetsrapportering och en kartläggning av skillnader mellan noterade och statliga företag. Även praktiker kan ha nytta av vår kartläggning som visar att noterade företag kan öka sin informationskvalitet genom att efterfölja internationella ramverk samt låta rapporteringen bli externt granskad. / The subject of sustainability is today more current than ever before. Many companies take responsibility for their impact on the environment and this responsibility has become part of the external reporting. Corporate sustainability reporting has traditionally been voluntary and subject to self-regulation. Contrary to the lack of rules for listed companies, the Swedish state has imposed demands on state-owned companies through the introduction of an ownership policy. The requirement means that state-owned companies should act exemplarily in sustainable business and report sustainability in accordance with GRI's guidelines. The purpose of this study has been to investigate differences between listed and state-owned companies' sustainability information quality in the areas defined in ÅRL 6 kap 12 § 1 st, based on GRI's qualitative characteristics regarding sustainability reporting. Our study is comparative and we have used a qualitative content analysis with quantitative elements. Assessments have been made of 21 listed and 21 state-owned companies' sustainability reporting. With a self-developed model for assessing differences in information quality, we have been able to fulfil the purpose of the study and answer our research question: What differences in sustainability reporting information quality can be identified between listed and state-owned companies? The results of the study show that the sustainability reporting of state-owned companies contains a higher information quality than listed companies. The major differences identified were that the state-owned companies complied with international framework and guidelines to a significantly greater extent and let their sustainability report be subject for independent external auditing. The government-controlled regulation seems to lead to a higher information quality in sustainability reporting than self-regulation. The theoretical contribution of the study is a model that enables an assessment of information quality in sustainability reporting and a mapping of differences between listed and state-owned companies. Practitioners may also benefit from our study, which shows that listed companies can increase their information quality by following international frameworks and allowing the reporting to be externally audited.  This thesis is written in Swedish.

In this thesis, I exploit accounting issues in the Chinese context with a particular focus on the role of government. The thesis consists of three empirical essays, examining how the state coordinates among the state-owned enterprises in executive compensation (essay 1), how the government regulates the dividend payouts of listed firms (essay 2) and how the delisting regulation influences the accounting choices of listed firms (essay 3).The first essay examines relative performance evaluation (RPE) in China. Previous studies of RPE for executive compensations in Western developed markets have produced mixed findings. This is partly because the dispersion of share ownership in Western capital markets does not closely correspond with the single-principal/multi-agent theoretical setting assumed by Holmstrom (1982). In this study, I exploit the existence of a large number of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) in China to examine RPE in a setting closer to the theoretical assumption. I find that SOEs are more likely to use RPE for executive compensation than non-SOEs. This is consistent with better cross-firm coordination in executive contracting among SOEs under a common “state” principal than among non-SOEs with dispersed principals similar to Western firms. Furthermore, I find a more pronounced RPE effect among SOEs that are larger or have poorer past performance. This implies that the state principal has greater incentives to monitor strategically important firms or those in distress. The second essay examines the market reaction to and earnings management choices around changes in the regulations requiring a higher minimum dividend payout in China to shed new light on the determinants of dividend payout policy. I find that the market reaction is more positive for firms that paid less than the new required minimum payout than for those that paid more than the new required minimum, consistent with agency cost explanations of dividend payout. In addition, I find that low dividend payers exhibit a greater tendency to manage their earnings downwards to comply with the earnings-based threshold, and investors can “see through” such earnings management behaviors. My findings support the view of DeAngelo, DeAngelo and Skinner (2009) that agency costs of free cash flow retention are an important part of the dividend payout story. The third essay explores the earnings-based delisting rule in China that provides particularly strong motivation to manage earnings above the loss/profit threshold. I identify two groups of firms that successfully avoid being ST-ed, i.e. firms with a one-year loss before returning to profit, and firms with consecutive small profits. I provide a comprehensive examination of earnings management in terms of accruals management, real earnings management and non-operating income, to investigate whether Chinese firms manage earnings either to avoid reporting a loss or to avoid reporting two consecutive losses. Though there are mixed results sensitive to the research design for earnings management pattern in the two groups of firms, this study provides insights into earnings management induced by a government regulation.

La privatisation a été identifiée comme un des phénomènes économiques les plusimportants de l’histoire récente, entre-temps la privatisation des banques a été acceptéecomme étant un des secteurs principaux de ce phénomène économique.En se basant sur l’importance de la privatisation des banques qui a lieu partout en Iran, cettethèse se divise en deux parties.Dans sa première partie, la thèse explore l’échec ou le succès de la privatisation desbanques en Iran en assumant comment la progression s’est faite durant les deux étapes deprivatisation et d’exécution, et spécifiquement afin d’identifier la combinaison de doublepropriété qui en est le résultat, ainsi que ses conséquences sur le contrôle de gestion desbanques privatisées.La deuxième partie se concentre sur la discussion concernant la condition de succèsnécessaire pour que les banques privées iraniennes continuent à fonctionner. À ces causes,la thèse essaie de localiser une compréhension des possibilités, des barrières et des limitesdes banques privatisées en particulier, et des transactions bancaires privées en général.Cette partie va également se concentrer sur les impacts de deux enjeux d’affaires de«Distribution d’actions Justice» avec la distribution 40%-50% des entreprises privatiséesparmi les déciles les plus bas du pays et « la propriété d’instituts semi-gouvernementaux »qui a formé la portion principale de la combinaison de propriété des banques privatisées.Subsidiairement, les méthodes pratiques probables proposées pour le succès des banquesprivées seront analysées en même temps que l’investigation de tout chaînon manquantprincipal, afin que le succès des banques privées en Iran continue.Cette thèse se veut originale de par son argument concernant une large étude détaillée de laprivatisation des banques en Iran, en se penchant particulièrement sur ses spécifications eten mettant en valeur la vulnérabilité et l’instabilité des banques privées dans les conditions actuelles de l’Iran, elle examine les diverses solutions qui permettraient de diluer le contrôlede gestion gouvernemental qui débouche du résultat de la combinaison de propriété desbanques privatisées, et se rendre compte de l’importance de l’entrée des investisseurs et desbanques étrangers comme étant le chaînon manquant du succès de la continuation desbanques en Iran. / Privatization has been identified as one of the most remarkable economic phenomena in recenthistory; the privatization of banks, meanwhile, has been known to be the core segment of thiseconomic phenomena.Following to the nationwide importance of bank privatization in Iran, the aim of this thesis aretwo folds.In the first part, the thesis explores the failure or success of the privatization of banks in Iranby assuming how it has been progressed at the two stages of pre-privatization and execution,specifically to identify the resulted ownership combination, and its consequences onmanagement control of the privatized banks.The second part focuses on the discussion of success condition for continuation of privatebanking in Iran. Therefore, the thesis attempts to locate an understanding of the prospects,barriers and limitations of privatized banks in particular and private banking, in general.This part also focuses on the impacts of two issues of “Justice Shares Distribution” whichdeals with distributing 40%-50% of privatized enterprises among the lowest deciles of thecountry and “semi- government institute ownership” that has formed a main portion inownership combination of privatized banks.Alternatively, the probable practical methods proposed for success in private banking will beanalyzed along with investigating any principal missing links of success continuation for theexisted private banking in Iran.The claim to originality in this thesis therefore lies in its argument about detailed cross studyof bank privatization in Iran with particular focus on its specifications, emphasizing thevulnerability and instability of private banking in the current condition of Iran, examine thedifferent solution to dilute the government’s management control due to the resultedownership combination of privatized banks and to find out the importance of entry of theforeign investors and foreign banks as the missing link in successful continuation of bankingin Iran.

This dissertation deals with the issue of Supervisory boards in Czech state-owned enterprises. At first it defines a clear set of terms to differentiate within appropriate legal forms of state entrepreneurship applicable in Czech Republic. Thereafter it offers the analysis of implementing the nomination process recently brought to our governmental system. The empirical part of this thesis is constituted by the qualitative research of personal policy of the state in four selected stated-owned enterprises carried out for the period from 2006 till 2015. Education, working experience, political membership and personal integrity were the main focus areas while researching the members of selected supervisory boards.

The diploma thesis deals with the transparency of Czech state-owned enterprises. Thus how they are run, how they are managed and staffed and how they are regulated. The thesis is divided into four chapters. The first chapter is concern with the constitution of the state-owned enterprises, their development after the change of regime and especially with their sale within the coupon privatization. The second chapter deals with the current privatization of the state-owned enterprises but rather only theoretically and argues whether the state is an appropriate owner and a good bussinesman. The third chapter is devoted to (non)transparency of the state-owned enterprises which means appointing (non)experts to the supervisory boards and (in)sufficient control of these enterprises. The fourth chapter is a case study of Budweiser Budvar. In the end the reader finds the answer to the question whether the set rules for the operation and management of the state-owned enterprises are sufficient.

Magister Legum - LLM / Directors of companies are the forerunners in overseeing and strategically managing a company.1 The Companies Act 71 of 2008 (the Companies Act) gives the board of directors the legislative obligation for a company to be managed by or under the direction of the board of directors.2 The board of directors have a central role in the decision making and operation of a company; this position also applies to the board of directors of State owned Companies (SOC). This dissertation explores methods to hold directors of SOCs personally liable for irregular, wasteful and fruitless expenditure Irregular expenditure is defined as expenditure that does not comply with the provisions of the Public Finance Management Act 1 of 1999 (PFMA), the State Tender Board Act 86 of 1968 or any legislation that provides for provincial government procedure.3 Fruitless and wasteful expenditure is defined as ‘expenditure which was made in vain and would have been avoided had reasonable care has been exercised’.This research aims to analyse legislative mechanisms put in place that hold directors of SOCs personally liable for irregular, reckless, wasteful and fruitless expenditure. Section 77(2)(b) and 218(2) of the Companies Act contains the legislative basis for the personal liability of directors of SOCs for irregular, wasteful and fruitless expenditure.

Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka den klimatrelaterade hållbarhetsredovisningen i svenska statliga bolag under åren 2016 och 2020 för att utröna om någon förändring i kvalitet kan observeras och vilka faktorer som påverkar kvaliteten på den klimatrelaterade hållbarhetsredovisningen under respektive år. Den klimatrelaterade hållbarhetsredovisningen för 40 statligt ägda bolag undersöks under två år. Uppsatsens forskningsfrågor och hypoteser undersöks utifrån en kvantitativ forskningsansats, där en innehållsanalys av bolagens hållbarhetsredovisning genomförs för respektive år. Genom kvantifiering av hållbarhetsinformationen skapas empirisk data som analyseras. Som grund för analysen ligger den teoretiska referensramen, där uppsatsens empiri tolkas med hjälp av legitimitetsteorin, intressentteorin samt institutionella teorin. Uppsatsens slutsats visar på att EU-direktivet haft en positiv påverkan på den klimatrelaterade hållbarhetsredovisningen. Vidare påvisas även en positiv relation mellan bolagens storlek och kvaliteten av den klimatrelaterade hållbarhetsredovisningen. / The purpose of this thesis is to examine the climate-related sustainability report in Swedish State owned enterprises during the years 2016 and 2020 to find out if any change in quality can be observed and what factors affect each year. The climate-related sustainability report of 40 state-owned companies is reviewed for two years. The thesis’ research questions and hypotheses are examined on the basis of a quantitative research approach, where a content analysis of the companies’ sustainability reports is carried out for each year. By quantifying the sustainability information, empirical data is created and analyzed. The foundation of the analysis is the theoretical framework, where the thesis’ empirics are interpreted with the help of legitimacy theory, stakeholder theory and institutional theory. The conclusion of the thesis shows that the EU directive has had a positive impact on the climate-related sustainability report. Furthermore, a positive relationship is also demonstrated between the companies’ size and the quality of the climate-related sustainability report.

This comparative study investigates the media representation of YouTube-based news about the #MeToo campaign, feminism, and sexual harassment accounts in three BRICS nations: China, Russia and Brazil. The situation of women in the Global South was at the centre of discussions during the 2018 BRICS summit. While their security remains a persistent issue, officials declared that women should not feel unsafe while participating in economic activity. Although the bloc flagged gender disparities as a significant concern, media outlets perceive Russia, Brazil and China's responses to sexism and gender-based violence as inadequate. Various mechanisms also compromise activism for women's rights. This research focuses on the YouTube representation of conditions which gave rise to the campaign and the process of #MeToo in BRICS. This study considers the level of inclusion of women in economic activity, the procedures established for their safety as well as the extent of media freedom, including tools available for feminist advocacy. In addition to revealing gaps in depiction and proposing solutions for improved media framing, this research is significant because the role and repercussions of this viral campaign must be comprehended better in BRICS economies. Academics focused mainly on the impact of the movement in the West. However, the innovative feminist trend rapidly spread to non-western nations that are dominant emerging economies, showing the gravity of sexual harassment and gender disparities globally. Furthermore, the extent to which #MeToo had influenced localised iterations of anti-assault movements in these emerging countries suggests that the BRICS became sites where sexual abuse and gender inequalities unfold singularly in comparison to other nations. The study presents findings from primary research done on the BRICS, this online social movement #MeToo and related gender dynamics issues. After a presentation of the selected study design, the research provides results from a content analysis of thirty YouTube news reports (October 2017-March 2019).

Background Sustainability reporting is a relatively unregulated phenomenon in comparison to the legislation and norms regarding the reporting of financial information. With a broader spectrum of interpretation regarding how sustainability reporting should be executed, other factors beyond legislation and norms gets an impact on the application of reporting on sustainability. A comparison between state owned enterprises and publicly listed companies was done in this study with the goal of distinguishing the differences in the sustainability reporting. Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine and compare the sustainability reporting amongst state owned enterprises and publicly listed companies. Method The study is qualitative with a mostly deductive approach. The data was collected by doing a thematic content analysis on the chosen companies annual and sustainability reports. Conclusion Several essential differences in the sustainability reporting were identified and discussed in context to the theoretical frame of references. / Bakgrund Hållbarhetsredovisning är ett förhållandevis oreglerat fenomen om man jämför med lagstiftning och normer kring redovisningen av finansiella rapporter. Med ett större tolkningsutrymme för hur redovisningen av hållbarhet ska utföras, kan andra faktorer utöver lagstiftning och normer påverka utformningen av hållbarhetsredovisningen. En jämförelse mellan statligt ägda bolag och publika bolag genomfördes i denna studie för att undersöka vilka skillnader som förelåg i hållbarhetsredovisningen bland valda bolag. Syfte Studiens syfte är att undersöka och jämföra hållbarhetsredovisningen i statliga och publika bolag. Metod Studien är kvalitativ med en främst deduktiv ansats. En tematisk innehållsanalys av bolagens års-och hållbarhetsredovisningar gjordes. Slutsats Flera väsentliga skillnader i hållbarhetsredovisningen identifierades och diskuterades i kontext till den teoretiska ramverket.