This paper examines the relationship between firm performance, measured by Tobin’s Q, and board diversity. Board diversity is measured by age differentials, gender diversity, board size, number of board members with higher education, and number of nationali-ties included in the board. The data were collected from firms on the OMX Stockholm 30, for the years 2006-2010. Because data were collected from 5 years, a panel type re-gression is used. Furthermore the regression of this paper corrects for time specific ef-fects. This paper contributes to the field of research by investigating the Swedish market in a quantitative manner and using these specific five explanatory variables as a measure of board diversity. The result of this paper shows a clear overall relationship between board diversity and firm performance. More specifically, the education and nationality variables are not significant. The size variable is significant and negatively correlated to firm performance, while the gender and age variables show a significant and positive re-lationship to firm performance.

<p>Previous studies have identified that the use of currency derivatives in order to minimize the risk involved with foreign trade can also increase a firm’s value. Evidence of this can be found in a paper such as Allayannis and Weston (2001) “Use of Foreign Derivatives and Firm Market Value”, which showed that companies in the U.S. that uses these currency derivatives has a higher firm value than companies that do not use them. However, there have not been any studies concerning the Swedish market. This is why the Swedish market is selected for this thesis but also since the Swedish market is a more open market than the U.S. market for instance. The more open, the more volatile is the exchange rate, which one could see as a reason to why Swedish companies should hedge even more. The purpose of this thesis is to analyze the Swedish market and to find out if there is a relation between the firm value and hedging, analyzed with help of Tobin’s Q that gives us a measurement of the firm’s underlying value.</p><p>The analysis is done on the 50 largest companies in Sweden, although some of the companies are ranked lower in the category total asset but since not all of the 50 largest companies met the requirements, the selection had to go further down the list. The data is received from the companies annual reports (2005), this to receive the latest data. The companies are analyzed with help of Tobin’s Q and also EBIT (Earnings Before Interest and Tax), this to get a measurement of how the market value of the companies was towards each others with pr without hedging.</p><p>The result is presented in the analyze and shows that there is no relation between firm value and hedging, at least not in this research and with this selection of companies in the Swedish market. This result contradicts the findings in the paper made on the U.S. market.</p>

<p>In this thesis I study the German housing market and specifically the level of housing investment. First, a theoretical background to housing market dynamics is presented and then I test whether there is a relationship between housing investments and GDP, the size of the population, Tobin’s Q and construction costs. An Error Correction Model is estimated and the result is that the equilibrium level of housing investment is restored after less then two quarters after a change in one of the explainable variables. The estimation indicates that GDP, the size of the population and construction costs affect the level of construction in the short run. However, in the long run the only significant effect is changes in construction cost.</p>

Previous studies have identified that the use of currency derivatives in order to minimize the risk involved with foreign trade can also increase a firm’s value. Evidence of this can be found in a paper such as Allayannis and Weston (2001) “Use of Foreign Derivatives and Firm Market Value”, which showed that companies in the U.S. that uses these currency derivatives has a higher firm value than companies that do not use them. However, there have not been any studies concerning the Swedish market. This is why the Swedish market is selected for this thesis but also since the Swedish market is a more open market than the U.S. market for instance. The more open, the more volatile is the exchange rate, which one could see as a reason to why Swedish companies should hedge even more. The purpose of this thesis is to analyze the Swedish market and to find out if there is a relation between the firm value and hedging, analyzed with help of Tobin’s Q that gives us a measurement of the firm’s underlying value. The analysis is done on the 50 largest companies in Sweden, although some of the companies are ranked lower in the category total asset but since not all of the 50 largest companies met the requirements, the selection had to go further down the list. The data is received from the companies annual reports (2005), this to receive the latest data. The companies are analyzed with help of Tobin’s Q and also EBIT (Earnings Before Interest and Tax), this to get a measurement of how the market value of the companies was towards each others with pr without hedging. The result is presented in the analyze and shows that there is no relation between firm value and hedging, at least not in this research and with this selection of companies in the Swedish market. This result contradicts the findings in the paper made on the U.S. market.

In this thesis I study the German housing market and specifically the level of housing investment. First, a theoretical background to housing market dynamics is presented and then I test whether there is a relationship between housing investments and GDP, the size of the population, Tobin’s Q and construction costs. An Error Correction Model is estimated and the result is that the equilibrium level of housing investment is restored after less then two quarters after a change in one of the explainable variables. The estimation indicates that GDP, the size of the population and construction costs affect the level of construction in the short run. However, in the long run the only significant effect is changes in construction cost.

Corporate governance debates and reforms have been advocating for majority inclusion of independent non-executive directors on the board of directors. There is spreading belief that independently structured boards is associated with the effectiveness of the board and therefore translate into high value company performance. Although studies on board composition in South Africa have been conducted, most studies paid special attention to board diversity such as gender and race but very little attention to the expertise of an independent director. The aim of this study is to examine the causal relationship between a board composition and financial performanceThe research was conducted using listed South African platinum mining companies in Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE). Quantitative research methodology was chosen for the study. The proxies for a board composition were the size of the board, independent non-executive director and non-executive director with industry expertise. The Proxies for company performance are ROA, ROE, Tobin‟s q and EVA. Three hypotheses about the size of the board, proportion of independent non-executive director and non-executive directors with industry expertise were proposed and tested.The research result on the first hypothesis suggested that a small size of the board of directors has statistical significant positive relationship with EVA as compared the larger size of the board. The second hypothesis result suggested there is statistically positive relationship between the independent non-executive director and EVA. The third hypothesis result on inclusion of non-executive with industry expertise was not conclusive. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

Andelen kvinnor i bolagsstyrelser i Norden har under en tid ökat. Det första landet i världen som införde en lag kring könssammansättningen i styrelser för att skapa mer jämställda styrelser är Norge. Den norska kvoteringslagen infördes 2006 och kräver att minst 40 procent av respektive kön ska representeras av styrelsens ledamöter. Företagen gavs två år att fullfölja de nya restriktionerna, och om lagen inte efterföljs är sanktionen tvångslikvidation, avvecklande av verksamheten. Under urvalsperioden för denna studie, 2002 till 2010, ökade antalet kvinnor i norska bolagsstyrelser från 12 procent till 43 procent, vilket är en ökning på 256 procent. Detta var ett väntat resultat då syftet med lagen var att göra styrelserna mer jämställda och skapa fler platser åt kvinnor. Styrelsestorleken förblev dock densamma, vilket indikerar på att företagen inte valde att utöka styrelsestorleken för att göra plats åt de nya kvinnliga ledamöterna och samtidigt behålla de manliga ledamöterna. Företagen valde istället att byta ut en del av de manliga ledamöterna mot kvinnliga och därmed behålla storleken på styrelsen. Det är inte heller någon signifikant förändring i Tobin’s Q mellan perioden före införandet av könskvoteringen och perioden efter. Däremot påverkade andelen kvinnor Tobin’s Q positivt innan könskvoteringen infördes. Detta indikerar på att när det inte finns restriktioner kring könssammansättningen i styrelser är företag med könsbalanserade styrelser i större utsträckning mer lönsamma. Tidigare studier har visat på att kvinnor tenderar att ha lägre ekonomisk kompetens än män. Detta borde då resultera i att när andelen kvinnor ökar borde den ekonomiska kompetensen i styrelser försämras. Däremot tenderar individer, oavsett kön, med en hög utbildningsnivå att ha en högre ekonomisk kompetens än individer som inte har en hög utbildning. Då resultaten från denna studie visar på att utbildningsnivån i styrelserna har förbättrats efter andelen kvinnor ökat indikerar detta på att den ekonomiska kompetensen i styrelserna inte har försämrats, den har snarare förbättrats. / The percentage of women on corporate boards have increased the last decades, especially in the Nordic countries. Norway was the first country in the world that implemented a gender quota to increase the percentage of women on corporate boards. The quota’s purpose is that corporate boards in listed companies is forced to have at least 40 percent of each gender represented by the directors and if they refuse to form a gender-balanced board they would face forced liquidation. The purpose of this study was to examine what the effects of the Norwegian gender quota did have on these companies’ financial performance and if the boards’ level of education was altered. The results show that the quota led to an increase in the percentage of women on corporate boards. This result was not surprising because the purpose of the law was to increase the gender equality on corporate boards. However, the results show no evidence that the quota had effects on the financial performance, measured in Tobin’s Q. The size of the board was still the same after the introduction of the quota, this indicate that they exchanged some of the sitting board members with new members, rather than to expand the boards and keep all the sitting male directors. Earlier studies show that women have, to a greater extent, a lower financial literacy than men. This should indicate that when the percentage of women increase on corporate boards, the financial literacy should be lower than before. However, there is a connection between a higher financial literacy and a higher education. The results show that the education level increased after the implementation of the quota, this indicates that the financial literacy on boardrooms haven’t deteriorated, but rather improved.

I denna uppsats görs en fördjupning utbyggnaden av Stockholms tunnelbana till Nacka kommun. Syftet med uppsatsen har varit att undersöka huruvida det uppstår förändringar i fastigheters värde i nära och direkt anslutning till ny- eller utbyggd tunnelbana. Teorikapitlet behandlar olika teorier som beskriver varför vissa typer av fastigheter och verksamheter uppstår på vissa ställen. Teorin tar sats ur von Thünens sätt att förklara markanvändning. Uppsatsen går igenom hur betalningsviljan för mark dels skiljer sig mellan olika verksamheter och dels hur den avtar med avståndet från Central Business District (CBD). Kontor och handel har relativt sett högre betalningsvilja för fastigheter nära CBD än bostäder och bostäder har högre betalningsvilja än industrier. Med ökad tillgänglighet tack vare tunnelbana så uppstår fler unika områden (lokala CBD:s) där kontor och handel har större vilja att etablera sig. Tack vare ökad tillgänglighet och därmed ökat marknadsvärde så kan vi enligt Tobin’s Q förvänta oss ökad exploatering. Vidare analyseras 15 akademiska artiklar på ämnet. De artiklar som legat till grund för att bedöma värdeförändringen har studerat rapid transit system och genomfört analyser på försäljningsdata. Den genomsnittliga ökningen visar på att värdena för fastigheter går upp med 9,6 %. Artiklarna ger också en relevant input om eventuella yttre negativa omständigheter (som dock inte överstiger nyttorna) som uppstår med tunnelbana, till exempel ökad kriminalitet. Deltagarna i enkätundersökningen förväntar sig att alla typer av fastigheter värdemässigt kommer påverkas positivt inom en radie av 1 kilometer. De anser att det till en viss grad finns en marknad för privat medfinansiering samt att medelklassområden är de områden med högst betalningsvilja för tunnelbana. / This thesis delves deeply into the expansion of the Stockholm subway to Nacka municipality. The purpose has been to investigate whether there is a change in the valuation of properties in close proximity to new or expanded subway. The theory chapter covers different theories on land use and bid rent curves. The theories are based on von Thünen’s way of describing land use. The thesis goes through how the willingness to pay for land on one hand differs between different property types and on another hand decreases with distance to Central Business District (CBD). Offices and retail have a relatively higher willingness to pay for land in the proximity of CBD than residential and residential have a higher willingness to pay than industrial. With increased availability thanks to subway come numerous unique areas (local CBD’s) where office and retail have a higher willingness to establish. The increased availability also heightens the Tobin’s Q, which means we can expect a higher degree of exploitation. 15 academic papers that cover the issue are analyzed. The articles which are the basis for the reasoning on value change have studied rapid transit systems and conducted analysis on sales data. The average increase in property value of 9,6 %. The articles also gives good input on negative externalities (which however never exceeds the benefits), for example increased criminality. The participants in the survey are expecting that all types of properties will increase in value within a radius of 1 kilometer from the stations. They consider that there is a potential market for private co-financing and that middle-class areas are the ones with highest willingness to pay for subway.

Increasingly there is debate concerning the number of board memberships a person can hold before loss of quality in their work. Previous research has not reached consensus regarding the effect of busy directors on firm performance. We therefore hypothesize there are modifying factors affecting that relationship, namely firm size and the presence of concentrated ownership. We designed a quantitative study to study first the effect of busyness on firm performance in Swedish listed companies, and secondly, to study the effect of the modifying factors on that relationship. It was found that busyness is positively related with firm performance measured by Tobin’s Q, and that concentrated ownership affects that relationship such that companies with more concentrated ownerships also have higher Tobin’s Q values. There was however partial support that firm size is a negative modifier on the relationship between busyness and firm performance. Overall our results indicate that more regulation that limits board busyness is not currently warranted. / Det debatteras alltmer hur många styrelseuppdrag en styrelseledamot kan ha innan det börjar påverka kvaliteten på deras arbete negativt. Tidigare forskning har inte nått ett enhetligt svar på frågan om effekten av många styrelseuppdrag och ett företagets prestation. Vi tror därför att det finns modifierande variabler som inverkar på detta förhållande, nämligen företagets storlek och om företaget har en koncentrerad ägarkrets. Vi genomförde en kvantitativ studie för att undersöka effekten av många styrelseuppdrag på företagens prestation bland Svenska bolag noterade på Stockholmsbörsen. Våra resultat tyder på att ledamöter med många uppdrag har en positiv inverkan på måttet Tobin’s Q och att bolag med en hög ägarkoncentration påverkar detta samband än mer positivt. Det fanns delvis underlag för att företagets storlek påverkade sambandet negativt. Överlag indikerar våra resultat att utökad reglering som begränsar antalet styrelseuppdrag inte är motiverat i dagsläget.

Syfte: Då tidigare forskning har visat varierande och motsägelsefulla resultat vad gäller relationen mellan CSP och finansiell prestation, skapar det en förståelse för att andra variabler påverkar relationen. Syftet med följande studie är att undersöka om och hur graden av internt ägande påverkar relationen mellan socialt ansvar och finansiell prestation.   Metod: Denna studie har utifrån en positivistisk forskningsfilosofi, med en deduktiv ansats, antagit en kvantitativ forskningsstrategi. En tvärsnittsdesign har utförts där enbart sekundärdata har tillämpats som hämtats från Thomson Reuters Datastream. Analysering av sekundärdata har utförts genom deskriptiv statistik och multipla regressionsanalyser i statistikprogrammet SPSS.   Resultat &amp; slutsats: Resultatet indikerar att det inte är möjligt att visa hur graden av internt ägande påverkar relationen mellan socialt ansvar och finansiell prestation. Studien visar däremot att det föreligger en negativ relation mellan företags arbete med socialt ansvar och finansiell prestation (ROA och Tobin’s Q), samt mellan socialt ansvar och internt ägande.   Förslag till fortsatt forskning: Förslag till framtida forskning är framförallt att fortsätta på den nya unika forskningsinriktningen som följande studie belyst, genom att studera hur graden av internt ägande påverkar relationen mellan CSR och finansiell prestation (läs fler förslag under avsnitt 6.5 Förslag till vidare forskning).   Uppsatsens bidrag: Studien bidrar med mer empiriskt material till variationerna som tidigare forskning framställt gällande relationen mellan CSP och finansiell prestation, samt relationen mellan internt ägande och CSP. Studien har även bidragit till en ny forskningsinriktning gällande de interna ägarnas påverkan på relationen mellan socialt ansvar och finansiell prestation. / Purpose: Since previous research has shown diverse and contradictory results regarding the relationship between CSP and financial performance, it creates an understanding that other variables may affect the relationship. The purpose of the study is to examine whether and how the level of insider ownership affects the relationship between social responsibility and financial performance.   Method: This study was based on a positivistic research philosophy, with a deductive approach and adopted a quantitative research strategy. A cross-sectional design has been carried out using only secondary data that was collected from Thomson Reuters Datastream. The secondary data was analyzed by descriptive statistics and multiple regression analysis in SPSS.   Results &amp; Conclusions: The result wasn’t able to show how the level of insider ownership affects the relationship between social responsibility and financial performance. However, the study showed that there is a negative relationship between the social responsibility and financial performance (ROA and Tobin’s Q), as well as between social responsibility and insider ownership.   Suggestions for further research: Suggestions submitted to future research is to continue on the new unique research approach that this study has shed light on, by studying how the level of insider ownership affects the relationship between CSR and financial performance (read more suggestions under section 6.5 Suggestions for further research).   Contributions of the thesis: The study provides more empirical data to the varying results that previous researchers has shown in attempt to examine the relationship between CSP and financial performance, and the relationship between insider ownership and CSP. The study has also contributed to a new research area regarding the insider ownership and how they influence the relationship between social responsibility and financial performance.