Predicting entry of Swedish wholesale firms into local markets

Applying microeconomic theory, we develop a forecasting model for firm entry into local markets and test this model using data from the Swedish wholesale industry. The empirical analysis is based on directly estimating the profit function of wholesale firms. As in previous entry studies, profits are assumed to depend on firm- and location-specific factors,and the profit equation is estimated using panel data econometric techniques. Using the residuals from the profit equation estimations, we identify local markets in Sweden where firm profits are abnormally high given the level of all independent variables included in the profit function. From microeconomic theory, we then know that these local markets should have higher net entry than other markets, all else being equal, and we investigate this in a second step,also using a panel data econometric model. The results of estimating the net-entry equation indicate that four of five estimated models have more net entry in high-return municipalities, but the estimated parameter is only statistically significant at conventional levels in one of our estimated models.

Essays on firm dynamics in the Swedish wholesale trade sector

This thesis consists of a summary and five self-contained papers addressing dynamics of firms in the Swedish wholesale trade sector. Paper [1] focuses upon determinants of new firm formation in the Swedish wholesale trade sector, using two definitions of firms’ relevant markets, markets defined as administrative areas, and markets based on a cost minimizing behavior of retailers. The paper shows that new entering firms tend to avoid regions with already high concentration of other firms in the same branch of wholesaling, while right-of-the-center local government and quality of the infrastructure have positive impacts upon entry of new firms. The signs of the estimated coefficients remain the same regardless which definition of relevant market is used, while the size of the coefficients is generally higher once relevant markets delineated on the cost-minimizing assumption of retailers are used. Paper [2] analyses determinant of firm relocation, distinguishing between the role of the factors in in-migration municipalities and out-migration municipalities. The results of the analysis indicate that firm-specific factors, such as profits, age and size of the firm are negatively related to the firm’s decision to relocate. Furthermore, firms seems to be avoiding municipalities with already high concentration of firms operating in the same industrial branch of wholesaling and also to be more reluctant to leave municipalities governed by right-of-the- center parties. Lastly, firms seem to avoid moving to municipalities characterized with high population density. Paper [3] addresses determinants of firm growth, adopting OLS and a quantile regression technique. The results of this paper indicate that very little of the firm growth can be explained by the firm-, industry- and region-specific factors, controlled for in the estimated models. Instead, the firm growth seems to be driven by internal characteristics of firms, factors difficult to capture in conventional statistics. This result supports Penrose’s (1959) suggestion that internal resources such as firm culture, brand loyalty, entrepreneurial skills, and so on, are important determinants of firm growth rates. Paper [4] formulates a forecasting model for firm entry into local markets and tests this model using data from the Swedish wholesale industry. The empirical analysis is based on directly estimating the profit function of wholesale firms and identification of low- and high-return local markets. The results indicate that 19 of 30 estimated models have more net entry in high-return municipalities, but the estimated parameters is only statistically significant at conventional level in one of our estimated models, and then with unexpected negative sign. Paper [5] studies effects of firm relocation on firm profits of relocating firms, employing a difference-in-difference propensity score matching. Using propensity score matching, the pre-relocalization differences between relocating and non-relocating firms are balanced, while the difference-in-difference estimator controls for all time-invariant unobserved heterogeneity among firms. The results suggest that firms that relocate increase their profits significantly, in comparison to what the profits would be had the firms not relocated. This effect is estimated to vary between 3 to 11 percentage points, depending on the length of the analyzed period. 

”Tacksamhet för att jag fick ett nytt liv” : En kvalitativ studie om återanpassningsstrategier efter avtjänat fängelsestraff

Intresset för kriminalitet och individerna bakom de kriminella handlingarna ökar i samhället och återges i media dagligen. Det är just individen bakom brottet, hen som fängslas och får avtjäna sitt straff som denna studie riktar sitt fokus på. När fängelsegrindarna öppnas och återinträdet till samhället blir ett faktum; Hur tar då dessa individer sig tillbaka till samhället för att åter bli en del av det? Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka vilka återanpassningsstrategier som frigivna använder sig av samt hur samhällets bemötande påverkar strategierna. Studien baseras på självbiografier skrivna av fyra författare som alla levt ett kriminellt liv och som sedermera avtjänat ett eller flera fängelsestraff. Resultatet visar att det finns flera anpassningsstrategier som tas i bruk. Däribland att söka hjälp och stöd hos familj, vänner eller andra sociala grupper. Vidare återfinns det i strävan efter en ”ny identitet” vilket ofta sker med hjälp av tro. Att sysselsätta sig, ge något tillbaka till samhället, visa sin kreativitet i syfte att återfå sin kredibilitet kan ses som strategier som leder fram till det slutliga målet, kredibiliteten. Slutligen kunde ett samband mellan samhällets bemötande och återanpassningsstrategierna utrönas. Ju mer negativt bemötandet är desto fler återanpassningsstrategier behövs och arbetet för att uppnå dem blir mer krävande. Givet blir då att ett bemötande som fyllts av uppmuntran till individens förändring medför att färre strategier behövs och risken för återfall blir mindre.

Intellectual Property Protection : an External Factor that Influences a Foreign Company’s Market Entry Mode into a Prospective Market

Intellectual Property Protection is been understood in this paper as IP laws and enforcement of these laws in order to protect intellectual property rights. The goal of this research work is to understand how Swedish companies view issues regarding to Intellectual Property Protection (IPP) and how it influences a foreign company?s market entry mode. In order to achieve this objective, the Nigerian market situation and its? laws that govern IPP will be used to analyzed this issue. This paper argues that IPP is an important factor that influences a company?s entry mode and this argument finds IP laws and enforcement as two variables that influence the market while the market situation influences the foreign company. In carrying out this research literature was reviewed and interviews carried out. The research methodology section has presented a qualitative research and explains the nature of the interview stages that have been used to achieve the goals concerning the findings of the empirical data. A qualitative method was adopted by carrying out in-depth semi-structured interviews. The empirical data collected from the investigation were gathered and analyzed based on the research questions. The findings show that IPP of a host market influences a potential foreign company through the market situation that is also influenced by IP laws and enforcement. The outcome of these findings argues that the Swedish companies that were interviewed in this research will enter the Nigerian market through an intermediary mode. This has been based on the current IPP system of Nigerian.

Are schools able to bring sense into pupils' lives? - an experiment to use Antonovsky's concept sense of coherence from a school perspective. : Paper presented at the ENIRDEM conference in Kilkenny, Ireland 26th-29th September, 2002

Young people now spend a longer and longer period of their lives at school then ever before. Not always because that they want to, but because society has nothing else to offer. The situation in many schools may also, in different aspects, be seen as highly problematic. Andersson (2001) has, for example, found in a large longitudinal study - The Life Project – that schools seem to be adapted to the needs of only a minority of the students - around 30%. On the other hand school is badly adjusted to the requirements of another 30 %. This group of students often find school meaningless, uninteresting and boring. For these students school is mostly a waste of time. In such circumstances, it seems natural that society has a responsibility to offer young people a meaningful time at school, both here and now and to prepare them for a future live as adults, not only as a part of the work force.As a part of departure I briefly describe the model that Antonovsky has developed and try to use it in a school context instead. I have here, of course, no possibility to make a deeper analysis of a complex problem such as this.In Antonovsky’s spirit, using a salutogenic perspective, instead of asking ourselves why do pupils fail or perhaps also not like being at school we have to ask, instead: What it is that makes pupils successful? From this background the purpose of this paper is to discuss some aspects of how pupils may use different strategies to handle their school situation in a proper way.

Language and Identity at School and at Home : Language Shift among Mennonites in Paraguay

This essay has investigated the question of an ongoing language shift from Plattdeutsch and German to Spanish among the Mennonites in Paraguay and the role of the school in this process. The aims of the study were to compare the use of languages among the Mennonites in Asuncion and in the Menno colony and to identify the importance that parents give to the languages and to compare this with a school leader perspective. The aim was also to identify factors that influence the language shift and identify the influence that the shift excerpts on Mennonite values and identity. The results are based on my own observations, interviews with Mennonite women and interviews with key informants who have insight into the school policy issues. The outcome may be used as a basis for educational and language planning. There is a need to consciously sit down and re-define the Mennonite identity and to make the community and the school aware of their responsibility in language maintenance.

An Experimental Study of Submerged Entry Nozzles (SEN) Focusing on Decarburization and Clogging

The submerged entry nozzle (SEN) is used to transport the molten steel from a tundish to a mould. The main purpose of its usage is to prevent oxygen and nitrogen pick-up by molten steel from the gas. Furthermore, to achieve the desired flow conditions in the mould. Therefore, the SEN can be considered as a vital factor for a stable casting process and the steel quality. In addition, the steelmaking processes occur at high temperatures around 1873 K, so the interaction between the refractory materials of the SEN and molten steel is unavoidable. Therefore, the knowledge of the SEN behaviors during preheating and casting processes is necessary for the design of the steelmaking processes  The internal surfaces of modern SENs are coated with a glass/silicon powder layer to prevent the SEN graphite oxidation during preheating. The effects of the interaction between the coating layer and the SEN base refractory materials on clogging were studied. A large number of accretion samples formed inside alumina-graphite clogged SENs were examined using FEG-SEM-EDS and Feature analysis. The internal coated SENs were used for continuous casting of stainless steel grades alloyed with Rare Earth Metals (REM). The post-mortem study results clearly revealed the formation of a multi-layer accretion. A harmful effect of the SENs decarburization on the accretion thickness was also indicated. In addition, the results indicated a penetration of the formed alkaline-rich glaze into the alumina-graphite base refractory. More specifically, the alkaline-rich glaze reacts with graphite to form a carbon monoxide gas. Thereafter, dissociation of CO at the interface between SEN and molten metal takes place. This leads to reoxidation of dissolved alloying elements such as REM (Rare Earth Metal). This reoxidation forms the “In Situ” REM oxides at the interface between the SEN and the REM alloyed molten steel. Also, the interaction of the penetrated glaze with alumina in the SEN base refractory materials leads to the formation of a high-viscous alumina-rich glaze during the SEN preheating process. This, in turn, creates a very uneven surface at the SEN internal surface. Furthermore, these uneven areas react with dissolved REM in molten steel to form REM aluminates, REM silicates and REM alumina-silicates. The formation of the large “in-situ” REM oxides and the reaction of the REM alloying elements with the previously mentioned SEN´s uneven areas may provide a large REM-rich surface in contact with the primary inclusions in molten steel. This may facilitate the attraction and agglomeration of the primary REM oxide inclusions on the SEN internal surface and thereafter the clogging. The study revealed the disadvantages of the glass/silicon powder coating applications and the SEN decarburization. The decarburization behaviors of Al2O3-C, ZrO2-C and MgO-C refractory materials from a commercial Submerged Entry Nozzle (SEN), were also investigated for different gas atmospheres consisting of CO2, O2 and Ar. The gas ratio values were kept the same as it is in a propane combustion flue gas at different Air-Fuel-Ratio (AFR) values for both Air-Fuel and Oxygen-Fuel combustion systems. Laboratory experiments were carried out under nonisothermal conditions followed by isothermal heating. The decarburization ratio (α) values of all three refractory types were determined by measuring the real time weight losses of the samples. The results showed the higher decarburization ratio (α) values increasing for MgO-C refractory when changing the Air-Fuel combustion to Oxygen-Fuel combustion at the same AFR value. It substantiates the SEN preheating advantage at higher temperatures for shorter holding times compared to heating at lower temperatures during longer holding times for Al2O3-C samples. Diffusion models were proposed for estimation of the decarburization rate of an Al2O3-C refractory in the SEN. Two different methods were studied to prevent the SEN decarburization during preheating: The effect of an ZrSi2 antioxidant and the coexistence of an antioxidant additive and a (4B2O3 ·BaO) glass powder on carbon oxidation for non-isothermal and isothermal heating conditions in a controlled atmosphere. The coexistence of 8 wt% ZrSi2 and 15 wt% (4B2O3 ·BaO) glass powder of the total alumina-graphite refractory base materials, presented the most effective resistance to carbon oxidation. The 121% volume expansion due to the Zircon formation during heating and filling up the open pores by a (4B2O3 ·BaO) glaze during the green body sintering led to an excellent carbon oxidation resistance. The effects of the plasma spray-PVD coating of the Yttria Stabilized Zirconia (YSZ) powder on the carbon oxidation of the Al2O3-C coated samples were investigated. Trials were performed at non-isothermal heating conditions in a controlled atmosphere. Also, the applied temperature profile for the laboratory trials were defined based on the industrial preheating trials. The controlled atmospheres consisted of CO2, O2 and Ar. The thicknesses of the decarburized layers were measured and examined using light optic microscopy, FEG-SEM and EDS. A 250-290 μm YSZ coating is suggested to be an appropriate coating, as it provides both an even surface as well as prevention of the decarburization even during heating in air. In addition, the interactions between the YSZ coated alumina-graphite refractory base materials in contact with a cerium alloyed molten stainless steel were surveyed. The YSZ coating provided a total prevention of the alumina reduction by cerium. Therefore, the prevention of the first clogging product formed on the surface of the SEN refractory base materials. Therefore, the YSZ plasma-PVD coating can be recommended for coating of the hot surface of the commercial SENs.

How initial vocational education and training (IVET) teachers in Sweden perceive their prospects of being able to prepare upper secondary school pupils for a future occupation

Vocational teachers in Swedish upper secondary schools are a heterogeneous category of teachers, connected to different types of trade. These teachers represent a broad set of trade skills varying in content and character. In their teacher role, they continue to wear the clothes, speak the language, share the culture and remain mentally in their former professions. Still, it is central that they keep up this contact to be able to school the pupils into the environment of the trade in question, but also to help them to understand what skills a profession demands. However, the individual teacher also has to distance himself from the negative elements in the culture of the profession: patterns and habits that, for various reasons, have to be broken or changed. This paper draws attention to the ways in which a group of vocational teachers, who were participants in a project that aimed to train unauthorized vocational teachers, expressed their ambitions to prepare the pupils for a future professional career. When collecting information, we used the degree dissertations they produced and discussed in seminars, and informal dialogues. The result shows that it is important that the instruction location resembles a real working site as far as possible. These places are more or less realistic copies of a garage, a restaurant kitchen, a hairdressing salon, and so on, in order to give the pupils a realistic setting for instruction. However, the fact that these simulated workplaces lack the necessary support functions that exist in a company creates problems, problems which make a lot of extra work for the teachers. Vocational teachers also have to instruct the pupil in the experienced practitioner’s professional skills and working situation, but the pupil herself/himself must learn the job by doing it in practice. Some vocational upper secondary programs lack relevant course literature and the businesses give little support. This also makes extra work for the teachers. Moreover, the distance between the vocational programs and the trainee jobs was experienced as being difficult to overcome. One reason seems to be differences between businesses and differing preconditions between small and big companies’ abilities to take care of these pupils. The upper secondary school vocational programs also play a role in cementing existing gender roles, as well as perpetuating class-related patterns on the labour market.

How initial vocational education and training (IVET) teachers in Sweden perceive their prospects of being able to prepare upper secondary school pupils for a future occupation

Vocational teachers in Swedish upper secondary schools are a heterogeneous category of teachers, connected to different types of trade. These teachers represent a broad set of trade skills varying in content and character. In their teacher role, they continue to wear the clothes, speak the language, share the culture and remain mentally in their former professions. Still, it is central that they keep up this contact to be able to school the pupils into the environment of the trade in question, but also to help them to understand what skills a profession demands. However, the individual teacher also has to distance himself from the negative elements in the culture of the profession: patterns and habits that, for various reasons, have to be broken or changed. This paper draws attention to the ways in which a group of vocational teachers, who were participants in a project that aimed to train unauthorized vocational teachers, expressed their ambitions to prepare the pupils for a future professional career. When collecting information, we used the degree dissertations they produced and discussed in seminars, and informal dialogues. The result shows that it is important that the instruction location resembles a real working site as far as possible. These places are more or less realistic copies of a garage, a restaurant kitchen, a hairdressing salon, and so on, in order to give the pupils a realistic setting for instruction. However, the fact that these simulated workplaces lack the necessary support functions that exist in a company creates problems, problems which make a lot of extra work for the teachers. Vocational teachers also have to instruct the pupil in the experienced practitioner’s professional skills and working situation, but the pupil herself/himself must learn the job by doing it in practice. Some vocational upper secondary programs lack relevant course literature and the businesses give little support. This also makes extra work for the teachers. Moreover, the distance between the vocational programs and the trainee jobs was experienced as being difficult to overcome. One reason seems to be differences between businesses and differing preconditions between small and big companies’ abilities to take care of these pupils. The upper secondary school vocational programs also play a role in cementing existing gender roles, as well as perpetuating class-related patterns on the labour market.

Teaching Mathematics in English to Swedish Speaking Students : The Use of Second Language Teaching Practices in the Teaching of Mathematics in English to Swedish Speaking Students in Lower Secondary School

Over 20,000 Swedish lower high school students are currently learning mathematics in English but little research has been conducted in this area. This study looks into the question of how much second language learner training teachers teaching mathematics in English to Swedish speaking students have acquired and how many of those teachers are using effective teaching practices for second language learners. The study confirms earlier findings that report few teachers receive training in second language learning but indicates that some of the teaching practices shown to be effective with second language learners are being used in some Swedish schools