This study examines the effects of automotive fuel taxes on technoloical innovation in the field of motor vehicle fuel efficiency. The analysis is conducted using patent data on a panel of OECD countries over the period 1978-2007. A complementary analysis is also conducted using the average level of CO2 emissions from newly registered passenger cars in EU countries over the period 2001-2007, so as

Modern technical infrastructures are an essential part of today's modern society. In this report a case study is made where the vulnerability of two interdependent infrastructures, namely a water distribution system and an electricity distribution system, is analyzed using a model based on network theory. The aim of this is to 1) determine what dependencies are present between these two infras

De flesta aktiebolag i Sverige är fåmansföretag – vilket innebär att de ägs till övervägande del av en eller ett fåtal personer – och för dessa företag gäller särskilda skatterättsliga regler. Bakgrunden till denna särreglering är att det inte föreligger något sant tvåpartsförhållande mellan företaget och dess ägare, vilka utan särreglering därför skulle kunna skaffa sig omotiverade skattemässiga Most limited companies in Sweden are closely held companies – which mean that they are predominantly owned by one or a few persons – and for these companies there are special regulations applicable. The reason for having special regulations is that there does not exist a bilateral relationship between the company and the owner. Hence, without these special regulations the owner could receive unjus

This paper has its base in the article “Economic Determinants of Free Trade Agreements” where the authors Baier and Bergstrand (2004) basically treat the economic determinants of FTAs and in which they develop a model to provide proof and support of the robustness of those determinants. I consider their theory and their model but not to make the same point. Instead I analyze if an FTA, ECOTA to be

In this thesis, two multivariate conditional volatility models are applied to evaluate the performance of optimal hedge ratios (OHRs) in minimizing the exposure from holding positions in the underlying stock markets. The OHRs were calculated for four distinct strategies: i) a “static” hedge ratio obtained by constant OLS; ii) a rolling OLS hedge; iii) a dynamic hedge based on a constant conditiona

Tillgänglighet har funnits starkt relaterat till socio-ekonomiska indikatorer och markanvändning i många studier. Termen tillgänglighet har många definitioner. I grunden beskriver termen möjligheterna eller med vilken lätthet man kan nå, förskaffa eller delta i en plats, vara eller en aktivitet beroende på spatial eller social separation. Denna studien har fokuserat på den spatiala separationen. IAccessibility has been found closely linked to socio-economic indicators and to land use in many studies. The term has many definitions, basically the term describes the ability or the ease in which a location, opportunity or ware can be reached, obtained or be participated in by either spatially separated or socially separated people. This study has focused on the spatial separation. In this stud

Klimatanalysen av ett av Skånes största företag inom jord- och skogsbruk visade att kor är klimatbovar och att skogen kan hjälpa oss att sätta dit dem. Under många år har forskarna förutspått att uppvärmningen till följd av människans utsläpp av växthusgaser kan få dramatiska konsekvenser. En global ökning av temperaturen ökar förekomsten av extrema väderfenomen som stormar, skyfall och torka. I SThe Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change (IPCC) estimates global warming caused by anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG) to 1.1-6.4 º C in the year 2100. Agriculture is the source of 10-12 % of the global GHG emissions. Forests and other terrestrial ecosystems estimated to provide a sink affected by land use management. In this study, I estimate the sources and sinks in agricultur

Populärvetenskaplig sammanfattning: Sahel kallas området i Afrika som sträcker sig från Atlanten i väst till Röda havet i öst och utgör gränsen mellan Saharas öken i norr och de fuktigare tropiska områdena längre söderut. Området är torrt och nederbörden faller oregelbundet. Under 1970- och 1980-talet drabbades området av svår torka med svält som följd. Studier visar att en ökad mängd nederbörd deSahel is the southern fringe of the Sahara desert. It is an arid region with erratic precipitation. During the 1970s and 1980s Sahel was afflicted with severe droughts and famine disasters. Since the 1970s there has been a debate concerning the concept of land degradation and desertification in Sahel. Recent findings suggest a positive trend in Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), estima

Ökande marktemperaturer har rapporterats från hela Arktis. Marktemperaturen är känslig för klimatförändringar och spelar en viktig roll för biologiska och fysiska processer i jorden. I områden med permafrost (mark som är frusen minst två år i följd) kan en ökad marktemperatur leda till att permafrosten tinar, vilket kan få genomgripande konsekvenser på vegetation, hydrologi och infrastruktur. UpptIncreasing ground temperatures have been documented all around the Arctic. Ground temperatures are sensitive climate indicators and play an important role in biological and physical processes that occur in soils. Increases in ground temperatures can lead to permafrost thawing which in turn can have profound effects on vegetation, hydrology and infrastructure. Also the greenhouse gas balance can be

Sustainability is an ever increasing field of interest in business management. However, the notions of sustainability are elusive and its implications are not always clear. What is clear though is that being sustainable can enhance a corporate organisation’s competitive advantage. Risk management in general, and fire protection in particular, can be argued to inherently provide benefits of a susta

This study provide insights into the sources of differences in the degree of income-related inequalities in self-assessed health in 10 European countries using data on an older population (aged 50 and above) from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE, 2004). The aim of this study is to compare the inequalities of this older population with a younger population used in van Do

I Kina finns det bara ett fackförbund. Fackförbundet har fått motstå kritik från forskare som menar att förbundet har varit för starkt kopplat till staten för att ha tillgodosett arbetarnas önskan om förbättrade arbetsvillkor. Denna uppsats ämnar studera huruvida Kinas fackförbund har någon mätbar inverkan på arbetstagarnas arbetsvillkor genom att studera dess inverkan på lönenivåer. Av Kinas 31 p

I denna biografiska uppsats behandlas Sanfrid Neander-Nilssons syn på "juden", "svensken" och "tysken" för att kunna spåra hans åsikter och positionera honom i hans samtid. I undersökningen har hans reseskildringar, böcker, dikter och recensioner granskats för att kunna bringa klarhet i dessa frågor. Neander-Nilsson var en traditionalist inom bildningsaristokratin och

This essay examines how the public talk about violence in close relationship discourse, and how this reflects on the view of typical victims and perpetrators. The premise is that gender should be viewed as floating and like Judith Butler I would like to focus on how the perceived naturalness of gender is supported by a defined other. The public discourse in my paper consisted of my empirical mater

Att litteratur och musik hänger ihop är ingen nyhet. Homeros epos Odyssén och Illiaden bestod av sånger, inte böcker, och än idag använder vi ordet lyrik – orden som sjungs till lyrans musik – som synonym för poesi. Att i prosa låta musiken vara ett betydelsefullt objekt, eller ett agerande subjekt, är visserligen lika gammalt – tänk på sirenernas sång som gjorde Odysseus vanvettig av åtrå – men d

I denna studie undersöks beta som mått på risk samt beta som verktyg vid portföljval. Syftet är att undersöka hur vida beta kan användas i en portföljvalsstrategi med ändamålet att uppnå överavkastning med hjälp av börshandlade fonder. Svarta svanar och förekomsten av mean reversion (medelvärdes- återgång) på marknaden utnyttjas som strategi för att genomföra investeringar av tillgångar utifrån de

In this paper I have analysed the Moderate party (the leading and currently reigning Swedish right wing party) party programme. My main purpose has been to elucidate their capitalist/neoliberal discourse on constructing differences between Swedish people and immigrants through a feminist postcolonial and post structural discourse. I have done a thematic analysis of content inspired and organized b

The Dominican Republic is a small open economy, highly dependent on trade for its economic growth. During the past decades, the country has taken major steps to liberalize its trade regimes. As a consequence revenues from import duties and tariffs have fallen sharply. This has put an immediate pressure on the country to reform its tax system in order to increase revenue from domestic sources to co

The project aims to develop a new boat model for Brandskärbåtar AB. The model is meant for commercial use with transporting groups up to twelve persons. The process started with a market analysis to find out what the costumer/captain and the us-er/passenger want to experience when using the product. The market analysis con-tained two different surveys, one for the costumer/captain and one for the

The author analyzes the differences between Chinese female entrepreneurs and their male counterparts and also looks at how these differences affect company performance. The author’s study shows that Chinese female entrepreneurs are more risk averse, have less horizontal social capital, are less innovative and make more major decisions by themselves, compared to their male counterparts. There is no