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Abstract Given the increasing concern for the global environmental issues and the related need for preservation of the ecosystem, voluntary non-financial disclosure has become more and more important to almost all economies today. However, empirical literature shows findings that are mixed, inconsistent and often contradictory; ranging from positive, to negative, to statistically insignificant relationships. Hence, this study aimed to assess the impact of voluntary non-financial disclosure on selected listed companies. In terms of scope, the study involves 50 Swedish companies with mandatory non-financial disclosure requirements and 76 international companies with voluntary non-financial disclosure. A period of 7 years was considered in the study that secondary data of manufacturing firms from 2014 to 2020 is used. Results showed that energy management and corporate social responsibility have a negative but insignificant impact on profitibility. Whilst diversity on board showed a positive impact on profitability, this impact was insignificant. Size of the firm was the only variable which showed a positive significant impact on profitability. It was concluded that disclosure of information on energy management, corporate social responsibility and diversity on board have no significant impact on financial performance of manufacturing companies regardless of whether they engage in voluntary or mandatory non-financial disclosure. More so, it was concluded that voluntary non-financial disclosure has no short-term impact on profitability of manufacturing firms.

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between age, gender and fatigue resistance, and further, to determine the relative influence that estrogen status, membrane excitability, absolute force and muscle length have over the development of fatigue. A total of 48 subjects, classified by age and gender participated in this study; 12 young males (25.3 ± 2.1 yrs.), 12 young females (23.5 ± 2.1 yrs.), 12 elderly males (71.7 ± 5.6 yrs.) and 12 elderly females (69.5 ± 4.6 yrs.). The young females were all eumenorrheic, not taking oral contraceptives and tested in the mid-follicular phase of the menstral cycle. None of the elderly females were on hormone replacement therapy. A 3 minute paradigm of intermittent maximal voluntary contractions (MVC) was used to fatigue the adductor pollicis muscle, in which 5s MVC's were alternated with 2s rest periods. In addition, maximal twitches were evoked in each 2s rest period. No gender difference in fatigability was evident between young males and young females when considering the fatigue index of the evoked twitch (FI-PT) (young males: 39.8 ± 26.7%, young females: 36.6 ± 19.0%). There was also no gender difference in fatigability found between elderly males and elderly females when considering the FI-PT (elderly males: 24.9 ± 26.6%, elderly females: 16.4 ± 48.9%). However, potentiation of the evoked twitches during fatigue may have confounded these measures. When considering the changes in voluntary force during fatigue, there was a strong trend for a gender by time interaction between young males and young females.(p=0.06), which suggests that the former were more fatigable. The trend for this gender difference was also apparent in the voluntary fatigue index (FI-MVC) (young males: 44.7 ± 10.5%, young females: 37.8 ± 14.1 %; p=0.12). Similarly, young males had a significant decrease in M-wave amplitude during the fatigue protocol and a trend for a decrease in M-wave area (p=0.08), while young females showed no significant decreases in either M-wave measure during the fatigue protocol. There was no gender difference found between the elderly males and elderly females when considering the FI-MVC (elderly males: 24.2 ± 10.7%, elderly females: 26.3 ± 14.5%). Both groups also showed small but significant reductions in theM-wave amplitude during the fatigue protocol, although M-wave area was well maintained. The fact that a strong trend for a gender difference in fatigability was found in the young subjects but not the elderly subjects, suggests that estrogen may possess fatigue resisting properties, even during short duration exercise in which glycogen depletion is not a concern. With respect to the age-related differences in fatigue, elderly males were found to be significantly more fatigue resistant than young males as indicated by the FI-MVC (p<0.01), and the significant age by time interaction during the fatigue protocol (p<0.01). In contrast, only a trend was found for an age by time interaction between the young and elderly females during the fatigue protocol (p=0.06). This trend for an age-related difference in fatigue amongst women was also reflected in the FI- MVC (p=0.13). / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc)

Voluntary environmental initiatives (VEIs) promise to provide firms and facilities additional flexibility and motivation in managing their environmental affairs in part by reducing compliance and enforcement costs and improving their public image. As a result, since 1990, over 13,000 organizations have participated in more than 100 US and international VEIs. In order for these initiatives to be successful, they need to be implemented following good practice guidelines, reliable enforcement mechanisms, appropriate monitoring, reporting, transparency, and public information availability. All of these activities may be contingent on high levels of stakeholder participation. Little is known, however, about how different stakeholders have been involved in the development of these programs and how this participation varies for different types of VEIs. By conducting an Internet based survey to 63 VEI managers, this research examines the diversity and intensity of stakeholder participation in the design and implementation of VEIs relative to sponsorship. This study concluded that VEIs developed by a partnership between different organizations had the largest number of different types of stakeholders involved. Yet, industry and government sponsored initiatives had a number of different types of participants very close to what occurred in the design of partnership VEIs. Third-party initiatives had the lowest diversity of participants involved in the design of their programs. This pattern illustrates that the VEI sponsors traditionally more susceptible to criticism in terms of credibility are the ones more concerned with stakeholder involvement in the development of their initiatives. As for the role of specific stakeholders, it was observed that government sponsored VEIs had a higher degree of involvement from industry associations than from any other stakeholder. Even if the degree of involvement by non-profit organizations was not considerably lower than by industry associations, the existing difference supports the critique that government VEIs are generally developed in a tighter cooperation with the private sector and sometimes without the collaboration of the civil society. As for third-party initiatives, it was observed that the industry sector had a higher degree of involvement than the government. / Master of Urban and Regional Planning

Bakgrund och problemdiskussion: Efterfrågan på en mer harmoniserad redovisnings- lagstiftning på grund av ökad globalisering och mer fria gränser ledde fram till införandet av IFRS, som implementerades år 2005. IFRS är obligatoriskt för noterade bolag i Sverige, men även onoterade bolag kan välja att frivilligt tillämpa IFRS. K-regelverket infördes i sin helhet år 2014 och sedan dess har större onoterade bolag möjligheten att frivilligt uppgradera sin redovisningsstandard från K3 till IFRS. Syfte: Uppsatsens syfte är att identifiera vilka faktorer som bidrar till att bolag väljer att frivilligt uppgradera sin redovisningsstandard. Metod: Uppsatsen består av två delstudier. Den första delstudien är en kvantitativ studie med en deduktiv forskningsansats och den andra delstudien är en kvalitativ studie med en abduktiv forskningsansats. Att kombinera de två delstudierna möjliggör identifiering av faktorer som studeras genom data från årsredovisningar och utifrån en intervjuserie med ekonomi- eller redovisningsansvariga på åtta bolag. Resultat och slutsatser: Studiens resultat tyder på att det finns vissa faktorer som påverkar bolag att frivilligt uppgradera sin redovisningsstandard. Den första delstudiens resultat visar att storlek och bransch har en påverkan på bolag att frivilligt uppgradera sin redovisningsstandard. Delstudie två visar att flera av första delstudiens faktorer i kombination påverkar bolagens förhållande till att frivilligt uppgradera sin redovisningsstandard, men även att ägarnas preferenser och riskbenägenhet är avgörande. / Background and problem diskussion: The demand for a more harmonized accounting legislation due to increased globalization and more free borders led to the introduction of IFRS, which was implemented in 2005. IFRS are mandatory for listed companies in Sweden, but also unlisted companies may choose to voluntarily adopt IFRS. The K- regulatory framework was introduced in its entirety in 2014 and since then larger unlisted companies has the opportunity to voluntarily upgrade their accounting standard from K3 to IFRS. Purpose: This paper aims to identify the factors contributing to why companies choose to voluntarily upgrade their accounting standard. Method: The thesis consists of two studies. The first study is a quantitative study with a deductive research approach and the second study is a qualitative study with an abductive research approach. Combining the two sub-studies allow identification of factors studied through data from annual reports and factors through a series of interviews with finance or accounting officers of eight companies. Results and conclusions: The study's results suggest that there are certain factors that affect the companies to voluntarily upgrade their accounting standard. The results from the first part of the study show that the size and industry have an impact on companies to voluntarily upgrade their accounting standard. Part two of the study shows that factors from the first part of the study in combination with each other affect companies to voluntarily upgrade their accounting standard, but also that owners' preferences and willingness to take risks is crucial.

The object of this thesis is Voluntary tools for the protection of the environment. Voluntary environmental tools, also known as voluntary instruments or approaches, are a set of activities primarily used by business entities to reduce their negative impact on the environment. Their hallmarks are voluntary, ie. Private entity make voluntary decision if voluntary instrument applies or not, and their use is not mandatory in any legislative provisions stipulated, and prevention, ie. applied mainly as a preventive tools used to eliminate the negative effects of business activities on the environment. Voluntary tools are one of the tools of environmental policy. Despite their disparate developments, we can say that their use has expanded since the 90 of the 20 century. in connection with a new environmental strategy that seeks to prevent negative impacts on the environment by trying to cause these effects to actively seek out and eliminate (prevention strategies). In the first part I have dealt with historical and institutional development of voluntary instruments as a whole. Watching the development in the context of international, European and national developments. In the second part, I defined a voluntary instrument, and then classified them into two main groups according to the independence of...

The diploma thesis is focused on the voluntary tools of environmental protection, those representing a remarkably wide and variable group of tools. The aim of this thesis is to create an integrated and compendious overview of the previously mentioned tools applied not only in the Czech Republic, to outline its basic characteristics, ways of its usage, and its mutual combinations, including the analysis of the legal regulation of the voluntary tools. After the two introductory chapters dedicated to the environmental policy and the system of all tools of environmental protection the following chapter deals with the voluntary tools only, dividing them for the purposes of this diploma thesis into categories of regulatory, informative, and educational tools. Considering the extent of the topic, the author decided on a detailed analysis elaboration of the three chosen tools in the following part of the thesis. In the fourth chapter the diploma theses concentrates on the EMAS according to the Regulation (EC) No 1221/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the voluntary participation by organisations in a Community Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS), which is being compared to the second implementation option of Environmental Management System, that is represented by the internationally...

Voluntary Sector Organisation Public Partnerships (IOPs) are a new form of collaboration for voluntary and public organisations, which aim to give financial support ta a welfare service provided by the voluntary actor. The aim of this study is to examine the importance of voluntary organisations in the modern welfare state. The importance they have as welfare producers. In this study i have chosen to look at how Karlstad municipality works with IOP cooperation. My theoretical starting point of this study have been the concept of social capital and how IOP collaboration works from a trust perspective. I have used both document study and interviews to answer my purpose. I have interviewed both officials in Karlstad municipality and representatives of the voluntary organisations that have IOP cooperation with the municipality in Karlstad. The conclusion I have found here is that Karlstad municipality and the three voluntary organisations I met, have a good collaboration with a high level of trust between them. But there is also some dissatisfaction that it is the municipality that benefits most from the cooperation. Another conclusion is that IOP collaboration has a great impact on the individuals who get help through the voluntary organisations. The study shows that many of these individuals would be completely helpeless unless the voluntary organisations improve their work.