Browsing by Author "Larsson, Erik"

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AKTIV ELLER PASSIV FONDFÖRVALTNING? - En kvantitativ studie om fondavkastning och fondavgift
(2018-07-12) Göker, Adem; Larsson, Erik; University of Gothenburg/Department of Economics; Göteborgs universitet/Institutionen för nationalekonomi med statistik
Mutual funds have risen in popularity across Sweden and over the last 20 years the amount invested have risen from 1000 billion Swedish Crowns to over 4000 billion Swedish Crowns. The majority of the increase has been in the funds investing in equity. The purpose of this study is to examine the difference in performance of both active and passive Swedish mutual equity funds over a time period from 1998-2017. The study will also investigate how the expense ratio impacts the fund’s return. The study uses a quantitative research method. Data of all Swedish funds from 1998-2017 were gathered and analyzed. Both existing and non-existing were included. The funds were divided into two categories, active and passive. The active funds have slightly higher average yearly return than the passive. The difference is not statistically significant and therefore no conclusion about which management style to prefer regarding return can be made. However, the passive funds are less volatile and the Sharpe ratio is nearly the same as the active. Implicating that active fund managers take on more risks without gaining any excessive return. The correlation between expense ratio and return is greater for the passive funds.
Balanced Scorecard - Design, användning och deras samband
(2009-04-24T07:33:17Z) Nylund, Andreas; Larsson, Erik; Göteborg University/Department of Business Administration; Göteborgs universitet/Företagsekonomiska institutionen
Bakgrund och problem: Det balanserade styrkortet utvecklades som en reaktion på behovet att komplettera de finansiella måtten med icke finansiella. Sedan introduktionen av begreppet har konceptet varit under ständig utveckling och det råder en tvetydig definition av vad det verkligen syftas på när det talas om balanserat styrkort. Då det balanserade styrkortet existerar i olika former skapas olika användningsområden och det är vår avsikt att undersöka hur användning och design ser ut i svenska företag samt undersöka sambandet mellan användning och design. Syften: Vårt syfte är att identifiera vilka olika typer av balanserade styrkort som används av svenska företag. Vi vill skapa en djupare förståelse om konceptet balanserat styrkort och påvisa hur användningen och processerna är utformade och utreda eventuella samband mellan användning och design. Avgränsningar: Vi har inte för avsikt att lägga någon värdering i hur det balanserade styrkortet används eller är designat. Därmed kommer det inte föras någon diskussion om huruvida det balanserade styrkortet innebär något positivt eller negativt för företagen. Metod: Vi har gjort en kvalitativ undersökning på 11 svenska företag, där vi har använt oss semistrukturerade personliga intervjuer inom de olika företagen. Resultat och slutsatser: Vi har i vår slutsats kunnat visa att det balanserade styrkortet används på varierande sätt i svenska företag. Ett antal styrkort är enkla och används främst som mätverktyg. Vi har identifierat tre unika styrkort som är speciellt anpassade av företagen samt ett antal som använder det balanserade styrkort fullt ut i enlighet med teorin. Vidare har vi funnit att designen har en stor påverkar på hur användningen ser ut och huruvida styrkortet präglas av strategi. Förslag till fortsatt forskning: Det skulle vara intressant att göra en djupare analys till varför konceptet har övergetts bland företagen i vårt urval och vilken typ av styrkort de har använt. Ytterligare en intressant fråga att undersöka skulle vara att se hur styrkortet utvecklas över tid, det vill säga när styrkortet når en viss mognadsgrad, hur ser det ut då och hur har förvandlingen till det stadiet gått till?
Career Management - HR-managers views on career opportunities for newly graduated economists
(2012-07-03) Lalic, Nadja; Larsson, Erik; University of Gothenburg/Department of Business Administration; Göteborgs universitet/Företagsekonomiska institutionen
Change Management Strategies for Seamless Adoption of Digital Healthcare Solutions in the Healthcare Industry
(2024-07-11) Larsson, Erik; Thesing, Maren; University of Gothenburg/Graduate School; Göteborgs universitet/Graduate School
This thesis examined the integration of digital health technologies within healthcare systems, focusing on identifying and overcoming barriers through effective change management. Despite the potential of digital health technologies to enhance healthcare delivery and efficiency, their integration faces significant challenges, including resistance to change, technological adaptation issues, and regulatory complexities. By employing a qualitative research methodology and conducting semi-structured interviews with healthcare professionals from Germany and Sweden, this study explored these challenges in depth. The findings revealed that successful integration requires tailored change management strategies that address specific organizational, cultural and training-related barriers. Informed by the findings and existing literature, this research proposed a comprehensive change management framework designed to guide healthcare organizations through the complexities of digital transformation. The framework starts by establishing a clear vision and strategy and involves end-user participation in tool selection, creation of cross-functional support teams, and awareness building. The process continues with resistance management, peer-to-peer and dynamic training, and concludes with ongoing support and sustained change efforts. This framework not only facilitates the practical implementation of digital health solutions but also contributes significantly to the academic and practical understanding of change management in healthcare, offering a strategic pathway for organizations aiming to successfully adopt digital health technologies.
Hur finansieras kommunala bolag? En fallstudie om kapitalstruktur i Borås Stads kommunala bolag
(2017-07-06) Jakobsson, Isac; Larsson, Erik; University of Gothenburg/Department of Business Administration; Göteborgs universitet/Företagsekonomiska institutionen
Problem: The purpose of this study is to examine how Borås municipality finances their municipality owned companies and to explore the relationships between the involved parties. There are a number of different parties involved in and around the process including politicians, board of directors, company management and officials from the municipality. Methodology: The purpose of this study is achieved by using a case study methodology. The data is collected by conducting interviews with the involved parties as well as complementary secondary data gathered from official documents. The interviews were designed to be semi structured. The interview guide was written with the theoretical framework as a guide. Theoretical Framework: This study uses three primary theories as the theoretical framework. The three theories are agency theory, stewardship theory and the rubber stamp theory. These three theories examine different aspects of relationships in an organisation. For the discussion about optimal level of external financing the trade-off theory is used as a complementary theory. Empirical Foundation: Three officials from the municipality with leading roles in the financing and management of the municipality owned companies have been interviewed as well as three politicians from the voting council with board positions in different municipal companies. Lastly a chief executive officer from one of the largest companies in the municipality has been interviewed. Conclusion: This study finds that there are conflicting views inside the municipality regarding the financing of the municipality owned companies. The politicians don’t think of external funding as a risk and think of solidity as a non existent problem. The officials and managerial staff think there is a risk with external funding and low solidity. The owners use a few different methods to control the companies including a low level of equity. The boards tend to be weak compared to the managers in the companies. Lastly the officials have much responsibility over the process.
Implications of the new lease proposal - A case study on a multinational manufacturing company and its stakeholders
(2011-10-21) Larsson, Erik; Peters, Martin; University of Gothenburg/Department of Business Administratio; Göteborgs universitet/Företagsekonomiska institutionen
The current lease standard has been criticized for permitting companies to account for similar transactions in different ways, making analysts compelled to adjust for lease obligations not recognized on the balance sheet. In order to overcome this issue IASB (International Accounting Standards Board) and FASB (Financial Accounting Standards Board) released an exposure draft describing a new lease standard. This new proposal has, however, been criticized for implying high costs for companies preparing the financial reports. This paper therefore examines the main implications following the proposal and whether potential benefits will exceed its costs for a chosen company and its stakeholders. The research questions will be attended with the assistance of a model, showing five different perspectives on the proposal. Each perspective is analyzed through interviews with informed respondents which then are compared in order to arrive at a final result. Eventually we come up with the conclusion that differing opinions exist on whether the proposal can be considered as beneficial or not. However, most respondents were fairly neutral to its effects, with a slight predominance of the negative effects.
Market efficiency and index fund flow: An empirical study of the relationship between passive investment and broad-market efficiency
(2020-07-08) Larsson, Erik; Wergeland, Jacob; University of Gothenburg/Graduate School; Göteborgs universitet/Graduate School
An observable rise in the popularity of index funds have caused the index funds to, in 2017, capture 20% of total fund assets globally. A cornerstone of such passive investment is a belief in an efficiently priced security market. This paper aims to relate index fund flows with market efficiency during the period 2000-2019. Using S&P500 returns we estimate a market efficiency measurement called the Hurst exponent, using two accredited methods: the rescaled range analysis (RS) and the detrended fluctuation analysis (DFA). We find similar estimations as previous studies, wherein the S&P500 index have exhibited a slight mean-reverting return process, close to theoretical market efficiency. We further relate this time-varying market efficiency measurement of S&P500 to its index fund flows. Using a correlation filtering method to find index funds in the US targeting the S&P500 index, and aggregating these mutual funds individual flow, we obtain aggregate index fund flow. Conducting a Granger causality test on both fractional flow and dollar flow, we find a causality that market efficiency Granger cause index fund flow. We further estimate that a lesser degree of market efficiency have a negative impact on flow: the more long-term memory the index experience, the smaller level of flow. These results hold stronger for dollar flow rather than fractional flow.
Regulation of gene expression in the vascular wall
(2009-03-31T07:39:16Z) Larsson, Erik
Blood vessel growth and function are closely related to a number of pathological conditions, including tumor angiogenesis, wound healing and atherosclerosis. Smooth muscle cells (SMC) and endothelial cells (EC), the two major constituents of the vascular wall, are both characterized by the expression of unique phenotypic marker genes, many of which have vital roles in blood vessel development and disease. We therefore sought to obtain a more complete picture of vascular-specific gene expression, gene regulation and genetic variation. We performed an unbiased computational screen to identify cases of transcriptional coregulation in mammalian cell differentiation. This generated a number of novel hypotheses, one of them being that the SMC marker gene lipoma-preferred partner (LPP) could be activated by serum response factor (SRF), a known master regulator of SMC differentiation. Using chromatin immunoprecipitation, gel shift assays, reporter assays and transgenic mouse models, we showed that LPP belongs to the category of SMC-specific genes that are regulated by SRF, an important insight because LPP has a role in the control of SMC migration. By combining in-house and public genome-wide expression data, we identified 32 novel EC-specific mRNAs. A number of these, such as the G-protein coupled receptors Gpr116 and Ramp2, represent putative drug targets. By integrating our results with data from published genome-wide association studies, we investigated if genetic variation in EC-specific genes contributes to human disease. Independent replication of selected SNPs in 10,505 individuals revealed that a variant in one of the novel EC markers, DRAM, is associated with the development of essential hypertension. Finally, the role of microRNAs (miRNA), an abundant class of small regulatory RNAs, was evaluated in the microvasculature. Through screening of public expression data, we identified a novel microvascular-enriched miRNA, miR-145, and showed that overexpression of this molecule leads to reduced cell migration. In conclusion, we identified novel vascular marker genes and provided insights into the regulation of such genes. In addition, we showed that genetic variation in a novel EC marker gene contributes to the development of hypertension in the human population.
Vårdproduktion i balans En fallstudie i syfte att optimera befintliga resurser för att möta ökade behov hos avdelningen för arbets- och fysioterapi vid Mölndals sjukhus.
(2022-06-30) Björkdahl, Christian; Larsson, Erik; Rapphed, Jonathan; University of Gothenburg/Department of Business Administration; Göteborgs universitet/Företagsekonomiska institutionen
I syfte att förkorta vårdköer har avdelningen för handkirurgi vid Mölndals sjukhus (Handkirurgen) tilldelats utökade resurser för att utöka sin produktion. Detta medför ett större in􀎟öde av patienter för efterföljande vårdenhet, avdelningen för arbets- och fysioterapi vid Mölndals sjukhus (ArbFys). Denna fallstudie har genomförts i syfte att presentera åtgärdsförslag som bidrar till att e􀎛ektivisera patient􀎟ödet genom ArbFys och därmed rusta avdelningen för att kunna hantera det ökade vårdbehovet. Med stöd i teori och tidigare forskning har fokus lagts på balansering av behov med tillgänglig kapacitet, samt att identi􀎞era värdeskapande och icke-värdeskapande aktiviteter enligt Lean. Analysen baseras på intervjuer med terapeuter från arbets- och fysioterapin samt patientstatistik från vårdens administrationssystem, Elvis. Studien resulterar i konkreta åtgärdsförslag som bidrar till att ArbFys kan reducera andelen icke-värdeskapande tid och exempli􀎞erar på vilket sätt inkommande remisser och tillgängliga resurser kan balanseras på taktisk nivå. Härigenom ges ArbFys bättre möjligheter att utnyttja tillgänglig kapacitet på bästa sätt och öka avdelningens produktionsförmåga.