The use of capital budgeting and cost of capital estimation methods in Swedish listed companies

In this paper Swedish listed companies’ use of capital budgeting and cost of capital estimation methods in 2005 and 2008 are examined. The relation between company characteristics and choice of methods is investigated and both within-country longitudinal and cross-country comparisons are made. Larger companies seem to have used capital budgeting methods more frequently than smaller companies. When compared to U.S. and continental European companies, Swedish listed companies employed capital budgeting methods less frequently. In 2005 the most common method for establishing the cost of equity was by asking the investors what return they required. By 2008 CAPM was instead the most utilised method, which could indicate greater sophistication. The use of project risk when evaluating investments also seems to have gained in popularity, while the use of company risk declined. Overall, the use of sophisticated capital budgeting and cost of capital estimation methods seem to be rising and the use of less sophisticated methods declining.

Effect of Earnings Volatility on Cost of Debt: The case of Swedish Limited Companies

The paper empirically tests the relationship between earnings volatility and cost of debt with a sample of more than 77,000 Swedish limited companies over the period 2006 to 2013 observing more than 677,000 firm years. As called upon by many researchers recently that there is very limited evidence of the association between earnings volatility and cost of debt this paper contributes greatly to the existing literature of earnings quality and debt contracts, especially on the consequence of earnings quality in the debt market. Earnings volatility is a proxy used for earnings quality while cost of debt is a component of debt contract. After controlling for firms’ profitability, liquidity, solvency, cashflow volatility, accruals volatility, sales volatility, business risk, financial risk and size this paper studies the effect of earnings volatility measured by standard deviation of Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization (EBITDA) on Cost of Debt. Overall finding suggests that lenders in Sweden does take earnings volatility into consideration while determining cost of debt for borrowers. But a deeper analysis of various industries suggest earnings volatility is not consistently used by lenders across all the industries. Lenders in Sweden are rather more sensitive to borrowers’ financial risk across all the industries. It may also be stated that larger borrowers tend to secure loans at a lower interest rate, the results are consistent with majority of the industries. Swedish debt market appears to be well prepared for financial crises as the debt crisis seems to have no or little adverse effect borrowers’ cost of capital. This study is the only empirical evidence to study the association between earnings volatility and cost of debt. Prior indirect research suggests earnings volatility has a negative effect on cost debt (i.e. an increase in earnings volatility will increase firm’s cost of debt). Our direct evidence from the Swedish debt market is consistent for some industries including media, real estate activities, transportation & warehousing, and other consumer services.

Rutiner i omvårdnad på intensivvårdavdelning av hjärnskadade patienter : Intervjustudie

Bakgrund: Traumatisk hjärnskada (THS) orsakas av våld mot huvud i samband med fallolyckor eller trafikolyckor. Varje år söker 20 000 personer vård på grund av skallskador. Vården för traumatiskt hjärnskadade patienter i Sverige skiljer sig åt, mycket beroende på avstånden som finns till specialistsjukhus, tiden och rätta åtgärder är avgörande faktorer för denna patientgrupp. Syfte: Att undersöka vikten och intensivvårdssjuksköterskors behov av rutiner i samband med vård av patienter med hjärnskador på allmänintensivvårdsavdelningar och på neurointensivvårdavdelningar. Metod: Kvalitativ studie med fokusgruppsintervjuer av tio intensivvårdsjuksköterskor som arbetar på en allmänintensivvårdsavdelning (IVA) och specialistneurointensivvårdavdelningen (NIVA). Resultat: På NIVA finns väl inarbetade rutiner och tydliga riktlinjer nedskrivna. Sjuksköterskornas upplevelse var att det fanns tillräckligt med rutiner, men några rutiner kunde utvecklas. På IVA fanns det inga nedskrivna riktlinjer och inga tydliga rutiner för att vårda denna patientgrupp. Vården och kontrollerna ordinerades av läkare som är i tjänst. Slutsats: Vården kring hjärnskadade patienter är ytterst viktigt då man ständigt måste förebygga sekundära skador/insulter. Rutiner är väl inarbetade på specialistsjukhuset, men vården börjar först på hemsjukhuset på IVA där tydliga rutiner och riktlinjer saknas.

To achieve safe and respectful maternity care in tertiary level hospitals in Nepal, relatives are a valued addition to the provision of maternity care

Introduction: The White Ribbon Alliance for safe motherhood believes respectful maternity care is the universal right of every childbearing woman. Methods: NHRC in 2012 approved an inquiry of respectful care at facility-based childbirth. Individual-, focus group interviews and content analysis was used for gathering and analysis of data. Findings: The participating women and the SBAs shared similar views, and this was that together the SBAs and relatives ensured the women remained within the comfort and safety zone when giving birth in a tertiary level maternity unit. Conclusion: The SBAs strategy of having relatives provides basic care alongside the provision of medical care by the SBAs is a strategy that Nepal could use to improve the quality of its maternity care without any additional costs. Clinical implication: Prenatal classes might contribute to preparing relatives. Further Research: Further research could evaluate such a strategy in order to determine its effectiveness in reduction of morbidity and mortality.