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.

Les économies de taille en production laitière en Amérique du Nord

Après une période où la valeur des quotas laitiers a été en forte croissance au Québec, un plafond à cette valeur a été fixé à compter de 2007. Ce plafond a eu pour effet de limiter l’offre de quota sur le marché et la croissance de la taille des entreprises laitières québécoises. Cette situation soulève un questionnement sur l’efficience économique, le blocage de la croissance des entreprises les empêchant de bénéficier d’économies de taille, si bien entendu il en existe. En conséquence, cette étude s’intéresse aux économies de taille en production laitière en Amérique du Nord. Les économies de taille des entreprises ont été mesurées à l’aide d’une régression linéaire multiple à partir de certains indicateurs de coût monétaire et non monétaire. Cette analyse comprend quatre strates de taille formées à partir d’un échantillon non aléatoire de 847 entreprises du Québec, de l’État de New York et de la Californie, ainsi qu’à partir d’un groupe d’entreprises efficientes (groupe de tête). Les résultats démontrent l’existence d’économies de taille principalement au niveau des coûts fixes et plus particulièrement des coûts fixes non monétaires. Ils révèlent aussi que les deux indicateurs où l’effet des économies de taille est le plus important sont le coût du travail non rémunéré et l’amortissement. Par ailleurs, lorsque la taille d’une entreprise augmente, les économies de taille supplémentaires réalisées deviennent de moins en moins importantes. Enfin, les résultats indiquent qu’il existe des déséconomies de taille au niveau des coûts d’alimentation. Les résultats obtenus au niveau du groupe de tête vont dans le même sens. Ils confirment également qu’il est possible pour les grandes entreprises efficientes de réaliser des économies de taille pour la plupart des indicateurs de coût. Toutefois, les économies additionnelles que ces entreprises peuvent réaliser sont moins importantes que celles obtenues par les petites entreprises efficientes. Mots clés : Agriculture, production laitière, Amérique du Nord, économies de taille, efficience économique, régression linéaire.

Institutional Persistence and Change in England's Common Law: 1700-1865

Institutions are widely regarded as important, even ultimate drivers of economic growth and performance. A recent mainstream of institutional economics has concentrated on the effect of persisting, often imprecisely measured institutions and on cataclysmic events as agents of noteworthy institutional change. As a consequence, institutional change without large-scale shocks has received little attention. In this dissertation I apply a complementary, quantitative-descriptive approach that relies on measures of actually enforced institutions to study institutional persistence and change over a long time period that is undisturbed by the typically studied cataclysmic events. By placing institutional change into the center of attention one can recognize different speeds of institutional innovation and the continuous coexistence of institutional persistence and change. Specifically, I combine text mining procedures, network analysis techniques and statistical approaches to study persistence and change in England’s common law over the Industrial Revolution (1700-1865). Based on the doctrine of precedent - a peculiarity of common law systems - I construct and analyze the apparently first citation network that reflects lawmaking in England. Most strikingly, I find large-scale change in the making of English common law around the turn of the 19th century - a period free from the typically studied cataclysmic events. Within a few decades a legal innovation process with low depreciation rates (1 to 2 percent) and strong past-persistence transitioned to a present-focused innovation process with significantly higher depreciation rates (4 to 6 percent) and weak past-persistence. Comparison with U.S. Supreme Court data reveals a similar U.S. transition towards the end of the 19th century. The English and U.S. transitions appear to have unfolded in a very specific manner: a new body of law arose during the transitions and developed in a self-referential manner while the existing body of law lost influence, but remained prominent. Additional findings suggest that Parliament doubled its influence on the making of case law within the first decades after the Glorious Revolution and that England’s legal rules manifested a high degree of long-term persistence. The latter allows for the possibility that the often-noted persistence of institutional outcomes derives from the actual persistence of institutions.

Factors affecting fertility in frozen-thawed boar sperm

Frozen-thawed boar sperm holds the potential to have an impact on the future of the swine industry. Utilization of this technology could improve a swine producer’s ability to access top-tier genetics from around the world, to improve efficiency, profitability, and the quality of product to meet consumer demands. Effective application of frozen-thawed sperm can help reduce the potential risk associated with devastating economic loss due to the spread of disease. Frozen storage of boar sperm also provides a safeguard in the event of disease outbreaks, as genetic material from paternal lines can be preserved and banked for repopulation purposes. Historically these benefits have been masked by reduction in fertility measures such as litter size. The reduced fertility results from the damage sustained by the sperm cell during cryopreservation. However, increased understanding of this damage has lead to improved cryopreservation methods, ultimately increasing post-thaw viability and fertility. Enhancements in breeding technology have also resulted in a better understanding of the AI methods required to achieve acceptable farrowing rates and litter size. Fertility following AI with frozen-thawed sperm is approaching that of liquid stored sperm, and producers may soon reap the benefits of this technology. This thesis will outline the current swine industry, opportunities for utilizing frozen-thawed sperm, the main components of sperm, why they are susceptible to damage, and current freezing and breeding practices. Objective 1 was to develop a cryopreservation protocol for our lab that resulted in consistent post-thaw motility ( ≥ 40%) that would eventually be used by Illinois boar studs for domestic and international sale of frozen sperm. Evaluation with both manual microscopy and CASA methods were conducted to verify quality. A preliminary breeding trial was then conducted to test the fertility of sperm frozen with this method. There were 41 ejaculates from 23 boars used for freezing. Sperm were frozen at 1.4x109 sperm/mL, averaging 55.61.1% (meanSE) motility, following thaw. The samples assessed were not different (P>0.05) in motility when compared with manual or CASA systems, and results were most reliable at a 1:40 sperm dilution. In the preliminary breeding trial, gilts (n=14) were inseminated with either a single (n=10) or double (n=4) AI using 1, 2, or 4x109 motile, frozen-thawed sperm. Overall, the resulting pregnancy rates averaged 71.4% and numbers of normal fetuses per litter averaged 15.51.3 per litter. A feasibility study for freezing cost per ejaculate was estimated at $275/ejaculate or $11/dose of frozen-thawed semen at standard doses of 5x109 total frozen-thawed sperm. This cost estimate did not include genetic value, fixed equipment costs, depreciation, or variable lab space fees. Objective 2 focused on the proper methods for breeding with frozen-thawed boar sperm to achieve fertility. Our hypothesis was that increased numbers of inseminations and increased numbers of motile frozen-thawed sperm would improve pregnancy rate and litter size. Results showed acceptable fertility at high sperm numbers, but also the optimal method for insemination with the lowest dose tested. Gilts (n=111) responded to synchronization methods and were bred with 1, 2, or 4x109 motile frozen-thawed sperm from six boars using a single AI at 32 h, or a double AI, with the first AI at 24 and 32 h following estrus. Ultrasound was conducted at 12 h intervals to estimate the time of ovulation. On day 32 of gestation, overall pregnancy rate (73%) and number of normal fetuses per litter (10.80.5) across all treatments did not differ, and were not affected by number of motile sperm, or the interaction of number of motile sperm and number of inseminations. However, the number of inseminations tended to affect (P=0.14) the number of normal fetuses. Litter size increased with a double AI compared to single AI. Multiple inseminations helped to allow insemination to occur close to ovulation in response to variation in the time of ovulation. Both pregnancy rate and number of normal fetuses were greater when the time of the AI at 32 h occurred closer to the estimated time of ovulation (P<0.05). In addition, other factors such as presence of an abnormal ovary at day 30 decreased (P<0.001) pregnancy rate, while boar affected number of normal fetuses (P<0.01). Analysis of our data using a fertility index revealed doses of 2x109 motile sperm with multiple AI can achieve acceptable fertility with use of less sperm, when compared to AI using 4x109 motile sperm. The methods described here will investigate the potential for improved fertility when using frozen-thawed sperm, while accounting for variation in time of ovulation.

Development of a long-life vacuum-packaged ready-to-eat meat product based on a traditional Portuguese seasoned meat

Carne do alguidar is a Portuguese traditional pork fried meat, usually manufactured for self-consumption purposes. This study developed a ready-to-eat (RTE) meat product, to meet today's consumers’ convenience, manufactured at the industrial scale evaluating its quality and shelf-life, assessing the effect of vacuum packaging and the use of an antioxidant (50 ppm BHT) to enhance oxidative stability. Physicochemical and microbiological parameters were assessed and a sensory analysis was performed. Interestingly, no significant differences were recorded between control (non-BHT) and antioxidant (BHT) samples. Microbiological counts remained at low levels throughout the storage period, ensuring the product’s required microbiological quality. At later storage stages, higher values of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances arose and off flavours and aromas were perceived. Still, overall appreciation was not affected until 12 months storage and a significant depreciation was perceived only after 15 months. Fibrousness and rising of off flavours were negatively correlated with overall appreciation.