Evaluating Projects in a Dynamic Economy: Some New Envelope Results

This paper is concerned with the modern theory of social cost-benefit analysis in a dynamic economy. The theory emphasizes the role of a comprehensive, forward-looking, dynamic welfare index within the period of the project rather than that of a project's long-term consequences. However, what constitutes such a welfare index remains controversial in the recent literature. In this paper, we attempt to shed light on the issue by deriving three equivalent cost-benefit rules for evaluating a small project. In particular, we show that the direct change in net national product (NNP) qualifies as a convenient welfare index without involving any other induced side effects. The project evaluation criterion thus becomes the present discounted value of the direct changes in NNP over the project period. We also illustrate the application of this theory in a few stylized examples.

Faktorer som kan påverka företags val mellan K2 och K3 : En jämförelsestudie mellan två branscher

Titel: Faktorer som kan påverka företags val mellan K2 och K3 Författare: Angelica Höglund och Julia Wiman Handledare: Klas Sundberg Bakgrund och problem: Det nya K-regelverket som infördes 1 januari 2014 innebär att mindre onoterade företag idag har valmöjligheten att välja mellan regelverken K2 och K3. För dessa mindre företag är valet av regelverk viktigt då det kommer att påverka företagets räkenskaper. Syfte: Syftet med studien är att studera fördelningen av K2 och K3 för mindre onoterade företag inom två olika branscher, dessa är byggbranschen och juridik,- ekonomi- och konsultbranschen, samt vilka faktorer som kan påverka valet av regelverk. Teori: Studien bygger på två teorier, dessa är positive accounting theory och institutionell teori. Metod: I studien används en kvantitativ forskningsmetod där årsredovisningar har granskats och sammanställts, samt en kvalitativ metod som bygger på fyra semistrukturerade intervjuer där de identifierade faktorerna analyserats utifrån en analysmodell. Resultat och slutsats: Utifrån det empiriska materialet identifierades sju faktorer, dessa var leasing, företagets storlek, rättvisande bild, revisorns påverkan, komponentavskrivning, kostnad/nytta och koncernredovisning. Ovanstående faktorer har kategoriserats och analyserats utifrån PAT och institutionell teori. Förslag till vidare forskning: Ett förslag vore att forska vidare på de identifierade faktorerna för att undersöka i hur stor utsträckning de påverkar företagens beslut. En intressant studie hade även varit att genomföra en fallstudie som utgår från att upprätta en årsredovisning utifrån både K2 och K3 för att studera de skillnader som kan uppkomma.

Studie till uppstartande av annonskatalog

Sten Jonsson wants to start a production of an advertising catalogue for small companies in Sweden. Acatalogue where the advertisingcost is so low that most of the companies can afford to participate. Thecompanies who will advertise should be manufacturing companies in trades of carpentry, sheet metalworkshops, forging workshops and engineering workshops.The catalogue will facilitate for the manufacturer to reach the costumer without any middleman.Without a middleman creates a possibility for an opinion about the product at the same time as theprice can be held low. A catalogue of this type would benefit the marketing of the companies at the sametime as it would generate an occasion for innovations.The possible target groups are property companies, construct companies and farmers.A market research has been carried out contained a postal interview and a phone interview. Themarket research carried out to get an understanding in what the companies think about the idea butalso to see if the companies are in interest of advertise in the catalogue. Unfortunately the marketresearch became unusable when only three of thirty companies comment the idea and two of themwanted to meet for a further visit. In relation to the market research a deeper study in market research,in which essential parts for the project, was made.A dummie has been done to show the design of the catalogue.A calculation has also been done to get an understanding in what the project would cost to start.

Road Design for Future Maintenance : Life-cycle Cost Analyses for Road Barriers

The cost of a road construction over its service life is a function of design, quality of construction as well as maintenance strategies and operations. An optimal life-cycle cost for a road requires evaluations of the above mentioned components. Unfortunately, road designers often neglect a very important aspect, namely, the possibility to perform future maintenance activities. Focus is mainly directed towards other aspects such as investment costs, traffic safety, aesthetic appearance, regional development and environmental effects. This doctoral thesis presents the results of a research project aimed to increase consideration of road maintenance aspects in the planning and design process. The following subgoals were established: Identify the obstacles that prevent adequate consideration of future maintenance during the road planning and design process; and Examine optimisation of life-cycle costs as an approach towards increased efficiency during the road planning and design process. The research project started with a literature review aimed at evaluating the extent to which maintenance aspects are considered during road planning and design as an improvement potential for maintenance efficiency. Efforts made by road authorities to increase efficiency, especially maintenance efficiency, were evaluated. The results indicated that all the evaluated efforts had one thing in common, namely ignorance of the interrelationship between geometrical road design and maintenance as an effective tool to increase maintenance efficiency. Focus has mainly been on improving operating practises and maintenance procedures. This fact might also explain why some efforts to increase maintenance efficiency have been less successful. An investigation was conducted to identify the problems and difficulties, which obstruct due consideration of maintainability during the road planning and design process. A method called “Change Analysis” was used to analyse data collected during interviews with experts in road design and maintenance. The study indicated a complex combination of problems which result in inadequate consideration of maintenance aspects when planning and designing roads. The identified problems were classified into six categories: insufficient consulting, insufficient knowledge, regulations and specifications without consideration of maintenance aspects, insufficient planning and design activities, inadequate organisation and demands from other authorities. Several urgent needs for changes to eliminate these problems were identified. One of the problems identified in the above mentioned study as an obstacle for due consideration of maintenance aspects during road design was the absence of a model for calculating life-cycle costs for roads. Because of this lack of knowledge, the research project focused on implementing a new approach for calculating and analysing life-cycle costs for roads with emphasis on the relationship between road design and road maintainability. Road barriers were chosen as an example. The ambition is to develop this approach to cover other road components at a later stage. A study was conducted to quantify repair rates for barriers and associated repair costs as one of the major maintenance costs for road barriers. A method called “Case Study Research Method” was used to analyse the effect of several factors on barrier repairs costs, such as barrier type, road type, posted speed and seasonal effect. The analyses were based on documented data associated with 1625 repairs conducted in four different geographical regions in Sweden during 2006. A model for calculation of average repair costs per vehicle kilometres was created. Significant differences in the barrier repair costs were found between the studied barrier types. In another study, the injuries associated with road barrier collisions and the corresponding influencing factors were analysed. The analyses in this study were based on documented data from actual barrier collisions between 2005 and 2008 in Sweden. The result was used to calculate the cost for injuries associated with barrier collisions as a part of the socio-economic cost for road barriers. The results showed significant differences in the number of injuries associated with collisions with different barrier types. To calculate and analyse life-cycle costs for road barriers a new approach was developed based on a method called “Activity-based Life-cycle Costing”. By modelling uncertainties, the presented approach gives a possibility to identify and analyse factors crucial for optimising life-cycle costs. The study showed a great potential to increase road maintenance efficiency through road design. It also showed that road components with low investment costs might not be the best choice when including maintenance and socio-economic aspects. The difficulties and problems faced during the collection of data for calculating life-cycle costs for road barriers indicated a great need for improving current data collecting and archiving procedures. The research focused on Swedish road planning and design. However, the conclusions can be applied to other Nordic countries, where weather conditions and road design practices are similar. The general methodological approaches used in this research project may be applied also to other studies.