What determines the use of capital budgeting methods? : Evidence from Swedish listed companies

Purpose: This paper aims to extend and contribute to prior research on the association between company characteristics and choice of capital budgeting methods (CBMs). Design/methodology/approach: A multivariate regression analysis on questionnaire data from 2005 and 2008 is used to study which factors determine the choice of CBMs in Swedish listed companies. Findings: Our results supported hypotheses that Swedish listed companies have become more sophisticated over the years (or at least less unsophisticated) which indicates a closing of the theory-practice gap; that companies with greater leverage used payback more often; and that companies with stricter debt targets and less management ownership employed accounting rate of return more frequent. Moreover, larger companies used CBMs more often. Originality/value: The paper contributes to prior research within this field by being the first Swedish study to examine the association between use of CBMs and as many as twelve independent variables, including changes over time, by using multivariate regression analysis. The results are compared to a US and a continental European study.

A Contour-based Separation of VerticallyAttached Traffic Signs

This report presents an algorithm for locating the cut points for and separatingvertically attached traffic signs in Sweden. This algorithm provides severaladvanced digital image processing features: binary image which representsvisual object and its complex rectangle background with number one and zerorespectively, improved cross correlation which shows the similarity of 2Dobjects and filters traffic sign candidates, simplified shape decompositionwhich smoothes contour of visual object iteratively in order to reduce whitenoises, flipping point detection which locates black noises candidates, chasmfilling algorithm which eliminates black noises, determines the final cut pointsand separates originally attached traffic signs into individual ones. At each step,the mediate results as well as the efficiency in practice would be presented toshow the advantages and disadvantages of the developed algorithm. Thisreport concentrates on contour-based recognition of Swedish traffic signs. Thegeneral shapes cover upward triangle, downward triangle, circle, rectangle andoctagon. At last, a demonstration program would be presented to show howthe algorithm works in real-time environment.

Rate Scheduling for HSDPA in UMTS

The introduction of a new technology High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) in the Release 5 of the 3GPP specifications raises the question about its performance capabilities. HSDPA is a promising technology which gives theoretical rates up to 14.4 Mbits. The main objective of this thesis is to discuss the system level performance of HSDPAMainly the thesis exploration focuses on the Packet Scheduler because it is the central entity of the HSDPA design. Due to its function, the Packet Scheduler has a direct impact on the HSDPA system performance. Similarly, it also determines the end user performance, and more specifically the relative performance between the users in the cell.The thesis analyzes several Packet Scheduling algorithms that can optimize the trade-off between system capacity and end user performance for the traffic classes targeted in this thesis.The performance evaluation of the algorithms in the HSDPA system are carried out under computer aided simulations that are assessed under realistic conditions to predict the results as precise on the algorithms efficiency. The simulation of the HSDPA system and the algorithms are coded in C/C++ language

Baking Dalarna's biking cake : Collaboration as a means for destination competitiveness, a case study of “Biking Dalarna"

In the contemporary tourism industry, the competitive game is between destinations. Tourism operations struggle to remain competitive on the international market and their success depends to a large extent on other complementary and competing tourism organizations at the destination. It is the sum of the total tourism offerings at the destination which determines its attractiveness. This research explores tourism collaboration process as a means of generating destination competitiveness. The focus of the research is on the enhancing factors which contribute to the success of the collaboration and to the development of quality tourism products. The research studies the case of Biking Dalarna, a collaboration of different organizations at five biking destinations in Dalarna, Sweden. Its purpose is to develop biking tourism in the region and to make Dalarna into Sweden’s leading biking destination. It is a qualitative research; the empirical data was collected through in depth interviews with representatives of six Biking Dalarna member organizations. The qualitative data collected from the participants provides inside look into the members reflections and experience of collaborating. The findings of this research demonstrate how collaboration has improved the biking product in Dalarna and promoted solutions to development problems. The research finds the good relationship between the collaborating actors and the involvement and leadership of the regional tourism management organization as the most contributing factors to the success of Biking Dalarna. The research also suggests that a third desired outcome of collaboration, improved marketing attributes was yet to be achieved in the case of Biking Dalarna.

Gravitational self-localization for spherical masses

In this work, I consider the center-of-mass wave function for a homogenous sphere under the influence of the self-interaction due to Newtonian gravity. I solve for the ground state numerically and calculate the average radius as a measure of its size. For small masses, M≲10−17 kg, the radial size is independent of density, and the ground state extends beyond the extent of the sphere. For masses larger than this, the ground state is contained within the sphere and to a good approximation given by the solution for an effective radial harmonic-oscillator potential. This work thus determines the limits of applicability of the point-mass Newton Schrödinger equations for spherical masses. In addition, I calculate the fringe visibility for matter-wave interferometry and find that in the low-mass case, interferometry can in principle be performed, whereas for the latter case, it becomes impossible. Based on this, I discuss this transition as a possible boundary for the quantum-classical crossover, independent of the usually evoked environmental decoherence. The two regimes meet at sphere sizes R≈10−7 m, and the density of the material causes only minor variations in this value.

Le Statut comparé de l'autofiction chez Benjamin Constant et Amélie Nothomb : une histoire de genre?

Le genre autobiographique, malgré une popularité qui ne se dément pas depuis deux siècles, ne bénéficie pas d’une définition claire. Cet article se propose de montrer que cela est sans doute dû à l’hybridité intrinsèque de ce genre qui se traduit aussi par un pacte autobiographique complexe. Plus précisément, en s’appuyant sur les cas de Constant et de Nothomb, sera démontré que la lecture qui est faite des écrits intimes détermine bien souvent le genre. En ce qui concerne en particulier ces deux auteurs, leur personnalité changeante, contradictoire voire affabulatoire repousse le genre autobiographique dans ses limites, illustrent l’adage selon lequel le roman est plus vrai que la réalité vécue.