The unseen job creators : Growth potential among non-growing firms

Among 104,231 limited liability fi…rms in Sweden with at least two employees during 1997-2010, almost 10 % did not hire new employees in any given 3-year period despite having high profi…ts. Nearly half of these …firms continued to have high or medium pro…fits in the next three-year period, but still no growth. Regression analysis indicates that these fi…rms were not randomly distributed; rather they were small and young, did not belong to an enterprise group, and operated in local markets with high profi…t-opportunities. We conclude that it might be more benefi…cial to focus policy towards these …firms instead of towards a few high-growth fi…rms that, having just grown exponentially, may not be best positioned to grow further.

High-growth firms : Not so vital after all?

High-growth firms have received considerable interest recently since they create most of the new jobs in the economy. The purpose of our paper is to investigate the characteristics of high-growth firms prior to their growth period, and whether these characteristics differ across industries. Using data on a large sample of limited liability firms in Sweden for the period 2007-2010, we find that high-growth firms do not have the characteristics that we typically associate with successful firms. On the contrary, our results indicate that high-growth firms have low profits and a weak financial position. This might explain why studies have found that high-growth firms are seldom capable of sustaining their high growth rates in subsequent periods, and thus question policies that are targeted towards these companies.

Sysselsättningseffekter i svenska aktiebolag av införandet av RUT-avdraget : En Difference-in-Differenceanalys

Detta arbete har gjorts med syftet att utvärdera sysselsättningseffekterna i svenska aktiebolag av införandet av RUT-avdraget. RUT-avdraget infördes 2007 och innebär att privatpersoner kan få göra skattereduktion för olika typer av hushållsarbeten. Datamaterialet som används i denna studie är bokföringsdata för alla Sveriges aktiebolag mellan 2000 – 2010, aggregerat till tresiffriga SNI-koder för alla de svenska kommunerna. Utifrån datamaterialet har RUT-avdragets sysselsättningseffekter analyserats med hjälp av en Difference-in-Differencemodell. Resultatet visar att RUT-avdraget gjort att 6930 nya arbeten har skapats i de svenska aktiebolag som ingår i RUT-sektorn. Detta innebär alltså att RUT-avdraget har haft en positiv effekt på sysselsättningen.

Sysselsättningseffekter i svenska aktiebolag genererade av återinförandet av ROT-avdraget 2008 : En utvärdering med hjälp av syntetisk kontrollmetod

Målet med detta arbete är att utvärdera effekterna av ROT-avdraget som återinfördes i Sverige december 2008. ROT-avdragets syfte var att stimulera byggbranschen och öka byggandet i Sverige. Jag vill i detta arbeta undersöka vilka effekter återinförandet av ROT-avdraget hade på sysselsättningen inom byggbranschen i Sverige. De data som används kommer att behandla aktiebolag i Sverige och är insamlade från företagens bokföringar. En syntetisk kontrollmetod kommer att användas för analysen. Denna metod går ut på att skapa en syntetisk kontrollenhet som jämförs med den behandlade enheten, d.v.s. byggbranschen. I detta fall är det byggbranschen före och efter införandet av ROT-avdraget som kommer studeras. Resultaten tyder på att det skapats cirka 21 000 jobb genom återinförandet av ROT-avdraget.

Sleeping gazelles : High profits but no growth

Among 104,231 limited liability firms in Sweden with at least two employees during 1997- 2010, almost 10% did not hire new employees in any given 3-year period despite having high profits. Nearly half of these firms continued to have high or medium profits in the next threeyear period, but still no growth. Regression analysis indicates that these firms were not randomly distributed; rather they were small and young, did not belong to an enterprise group, and operated in local markets with high profit-opportunities. We conclude that it might be more beneficial to focus policy towards these firms instead of towards a few high-growth firms that, having just grown exponentially, may not be best positioned to grow further.

Ökad förståelse bland företagsledare för nyttan av utvecklingsinsatser inom arbetsmiljöområdet

Sammanfattning Föreliggande rapport avser en delstudie inom projektet Attraktiv Konkurrenskraft (AKK) Syftet med detta arbete är att utvärdera fem metoder som kan ”väcka insikt” om nyttan av att starta utvecklingsaktiviteter för att bättre ta tillvara de mänskliga resurserna i arbetet. Baserat på detta ska en metod väljas för fördjupade studier. Drivkrafterna för att skapa bra arbetsmiljöer är många. Den primära kan sägas vara den humanitära drivkraften. Förutom de överväganden som ligger till grund för arbetsmiljölagstiftning och avtal mellan arbetsmarknadens parter finns alltså goda skäl för företagare att prioritera arbetsmiljöarbete. Den fråga som berörs i detta arbete är i vad mån det är möjligt att genom enkla insatser påverka en arbetsmiljöansvarig chefs benägenhet att gå till beslut om att genomföra insatser för att utveckla förutsättningarna för att bättre nyttja de mänskliga resurserna i organisationen. Målet är att chefen bestämmer sig för att påbörja en beslutsprocess om utvecklingsaktiviteter för att ta tillvara de mänskliga resurserna i arbetet vilket ökar förutsättningarna att rekrytera, behålla och engagera kompetent personal. Som resultat av förstudien har fem olika insiktsmetoder utvecklats och anpassats. Dessa metoder har kallats GAP-analys, Fokusgrupper Attraktivt Arbete, Visit, Riskanalys och Scenario. De tio företagen som deltog hade mellan 11 och 39 anställda, och deras verksamheter var inom områdena tillverkning, reparation och underhåll. Resultat från användning av metoderna visar att alla metoderna uppfyller kriterierna att vara enkla att förstå och snabba att genomföra. Fokusgrupper, Visit och Riskanalys ger konkret vägledning för fortsatt utvecklingsarbete. Fokusgrupper ger ett brett underlag för en fortsättning som bygger på dialog, en djupare analys på individnivå samt har psykiska och sociala dimensioner. Därmed sågs Fokusgrupper som den mest intressanta metoden att gå vidare med. Denna studie indikerar att det finns möjlighet att påverka ledare att ta beslut om aktiviteter för att utveckla den mänskliga resursen. Det finns därmed anledning att ytterligare studera ett antal företag där en och samma metod används. Valet har fallit på Fokusgrupper, även om andra metoder skulle vara tänkbara. Abstract This report concerns a sub-study of the project attractive competitiveness (AKK). The aim of the work is to evaluate five methods that are supposed to” raise awereness” about the advantages of initiating activities to better utilize human resources at work. Based on that shall one method be elected for depend studies. The driving forces for creation of good work environments are many. The primary can be said to be the humanitarian driving force. Except for the considerations that are behind the work environment legislations and agreements between social partners is therefore good reasons for entrepreneurs to give priority to work environment work. The focus of this study is to which extent it is possible by a limited input influence the liability of a manager with responsibilities for the work environment to take decisions to start a process aimed at improving the use of the human resources in the company. The goal is that the manager decides to start such a process which also is supposed to recruit, retain and engage competent staff. In the sub-study have five insight methods been developed or adapted. Those methods have been named gap-analysis, focus groups attractive work, visit, risk analysis, and scenario. The ten participating companies employed between eleven and thirty-nine persons. The companies represented different branches as production, repair work and maintenance. The results from the test of the methods shows that they all meet the criteria’s to be simple to understand and quick to carry through. Focus groups attractive work, visit, and risk analysis gives substantial guidance for further development work. Focus groups attractive work gives a broad base for a continuation built on a dialogue, a deeper analyses of individual level as well as mental and social dimensions. Of that reason chosen for deepened studies. This study indicates that there are possibilities to influence managers to decide about activities aimed at better use of human resources. There are therefore reasons to make further studies in a number of companies where the elected method is used.

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.

Determinants of Capital Structure of Swedish limited companies : Testing Trade-off Theory Against Pecking Order Theory

Research question- This thesis investigates the determinants of capital structure of the Swedish companies. In order to do so, the two dominant theories of the corporate structure are studied and their assumptions are tested. Thus, the study researches which one of the two theories is more appealing for the Swedish market. Methodology-The study follows a purely quantitative study, by conducting an econometric analysis. The data are collected from a secondary source and more particularly the "Retriever" database, which contains financial data of the Swedish companies. Findings- The findings indicate that the determinants of the corporate structure for the Swedish market do not differ from other studies which have been conducted in other countries. However, there is a difference when it comes to tax and non-tax shields. The results suggest that in most cases the Pecking Order Theory appears to be more representative for the Swedish market, since most of the coefficient appear to be in favour of it. Moreover, the significance of the effect of the industry for the financial leverage is confirmed.