Samspel mellan trafikslag på Uppsala Resecentrum

Uppsala Resecentrum är en relativt nybyggd mötesplats för många olika färdsätt. När ett flertal olika verksamheter och transportleder ska samspela på en begränsad yta behöver avvägningar göras. Alla funktioner på platsen kan inte få det utrymme som vore ultimat för verksamheten. Syftet med fallstudien är att undersöka hur olika färdsätt interagerar i transportnoder där trafikslagen samexisterar med olika villkor vad gäller hastighet, manövrerbarhet, skydd/säkerhet och krav på utrymme. Så hur har de avvägningar som gjorts på Uppsala resecentrum kommit att påverka samspelet mellan färdsätten på platsen? En yta i anslutning till centralpassagen, Stadshusgatan och Kungsgatan har avgränsats för att göra undersökningen överblickbar. Ytan är vald för att den innehåller många olika transportsätt och interaktion mellan dessa. För att få en greppbar bild av området har undersökningen delats in i ett flertal metoder. Fallstudien innehåller intervjuer med personer som är verksamma på platsen, inventeringar av färdstråk och konflikter och observationer av beteenden hos brukare. De slutgiltiga resultaten ger en enklare bild av en plats som förändras med tiden. En plats som påverkas av de som vistas där men även av platsens strukturer.Uppsala Resecentrum is a relatively newly built junction for different ways of traveling. Trade-offs need to be made when a number of different activities and transport routes must interact in a limited space. In the end functions on the site may not get the space that would be perfect for their needs. The purpose of the case study is to investigate how different transportation solutions interact in the transport nodes when they coexists with different conditions in terms of speed, maneuverability, safety / security and space requirements. So how are the trade-offs made at Uppsala Resecentrum? An area adjacent to Centralpassagen, Stadshusgatan and Kungsgatan has been selected for the survey. This area has been chosen because it is a place where pedestrians, bicykles and motorised traffic coexist. To create a usefull image of the examined area a number of different methods have been used. The case study includes interviews with people who are active on site, inventories of routes and conflicts and observations of the behavior of users. The final results provide a simplified picture of a place that changes over time and never remains the same. A place that is affected by those staying there, but also by the site's structures

Hemtjänstens kön : En intervjustudie om subjektskapande hos hemtjänstarbetare

Arbetsmarknaden är könssegregerad och ojämställd på grund av att den är beroende av föreställningar om manliga och kvinnliga egenskaper. Vård- och omsorgssektorn är en av de mest segregerade och lågavlönade delarna av arbetsmarknaden på grund av att yrkena är nära förknippade med egenskaper som ses som kvinnliga. I denna studie analyseras intervjuer med 8 hemtjänstarbetare för att undersöka sambandet mellan omsorgsarbete och genusarbetsdelning. För att undersöka sambandet mellan dessa analyseras möjliga subjektspositioner och egenskaper som tillskrivs hemtjänstarbetare. Den metod som använts är diskursanalys baserad på Laclau och Mouffes diskursteori. För att analysera har teorier om den heterosexuella matrisen, maskulinitet, heteronormativ genusarbetsdelning och emotionellt lönearbete använts. Studien visar att subjektspositionen hemtjänstarbetare är ambivalent. Studien visar att subjektspositionen hemtjänstarbetare har stark koppling till kvinnligt kodade egenskaper samtidigt visar studien att betydelsen bakom subjektspositionen förskjuts av jämställdhetsdiskursen och ökat manligt deltagande i yrket. Studien visar även att hemtjänstyrket påverkas av olika ekonomiska diskurser och heteronormativitet

Added value of hydrogeological information in the case of PFA's contamination

Godkänd; 2015; 20160331 (eliols

Norsholm : in the centre of periphery

Norsholm kan beskrivas som en bostadsort i ett lugnt och unikt läge vid sjön Roxen och Göta kanal som på sommaren lever upp i och med omfattande turisttrafik på kanalen, vilket även lockar besökande på land. Det lilla samhället präglas av småskalighet men har närhet till en stor bostads-, studie- och arbetsmarknad. Inom regionen vill kommunerna i framtiden genom bra kommunikationer knyta samman redan etablerade orter som ett alternativ till att bygga ut nya förortsområden och i detta sammanhang nämns Norsholm som en potentiell utvecklingsort. Södra stambanan skär idag genom samhället, men tågen stannar inte här. Om Ostlänken blir verklighet, som innebär att Södra stambanan kan öppnas upp för pendeltågstrafik, skulle Norsholm kunna få en egen pendeltågsstation med täta avgångar inom regionen. Flera viktiga planeringsfrågor aktualiseras beträffande Norsholms framtid, men den viktigaste är var och hur en expansion av orten kan ske, vilket föranleder en strategi som kan formuleras genom ett program

The Economic Value and Use of Geological Information

The overall purpose of this thesis is to investigate the economic value and use of geological information. Earthobservations of a geological nature, may have profound impacts on peoples everyday lives. Geological informationplays a key role in addressing the challenges of sustainable development, and contributes to improved decisionmakingprocesses related to, for instance, land degradation and water protection. Still, few have researched theeconomic values attached to such information. This thesis contains an introduction and five self-contained papers.Paper (I) provides a review of previous research addressing the economic value of geological information andother earth observations, as well as, related products, services and infrastructure. The paper also identifiesimportant lessons and topics that require increased attention in future research. The review of prior research showsthat significant economic benefits can be attached to the use of geological information. Still, it is often difficult tocompare results across studies since they differ in scope and make alternative assumptions concerning whichsectors to cover. Furthermore, previous research is not uniform in its treatment of potential (rather than onlyexisting) users, and it employs varying conceptions of avoided costs. The paper concludes that future researchshould devote more attention to the public and experience good characteristics of geological information and othertypes of earth observations, thus highlighting the preconditions for information adoption as well as addressing therole of potential users.Papers (II) and (III) investigate the determinants of adopting geological information in the public sector, with anemphasis on Swedish municipalities. Paper (II) contributes to the literature by providing theoretical explanationsand empirical findings on various individual and organizational factors influencing the adoption of geologicalinformation. The paper employs an information adoption model based on literature on diffusion of innovation. Itis estimated using data collected from 677 officials in all Swedish municipalities. The results indicate thatperceived usefulness and educational efforts have the largest influence on the adoption decision followed by agender effect. Furthermore, the results also show that organizational effects exist at the working unit level, butthere appear to be no spatial interactions across municipal boundaries.Paper (III) further investigates the adoption of geological information in the public sector by considering whetheranalyses of user patterns can be improved by considering an interrelated model estimation involving two types ofgeoinformation. The empirical tests focus on whether there are gender differences in how peer advice affects theuse of geoinformation. The information adoption model is estimated using probit and bivariate probits. Overall theresults indicate a more accurate prediction pattern when a secondary geoinformation decision was included, thussuggesting that different types of geoinformation should be analyzed jointly. The officials at Swedishmunicipalities tend to use both types of geoinformation, thus alluding to a demand for combined geoinformationproducts among the target population. Finally, there is evidence of women’s decisions to use geoinformation beingaffected by peer advice.Paper (IV) focuses on the economic value of hydrogeological information, namely water quality. The willingnessto pay (WTP) for reduced health risks following the exposure to emerging contaminants and microbial outbreaksin drinking water is assessed. Emerging contaminants, such as highly fluorinated substances (e..g., PFOA andPFOS), have been found in drinking water post treatment on a global level. The drinking water is the main sourceof exposure for humans. The WTP is assessed through a choice experiment approach, which also accounts fordifferences in perceptions between PFASs and microbial outbreaks due to parasites or bacteria. Knowledge aboutpublic preferences across different health threats is key to assessing support for policies aimed at reducing suchhealth risks. A majority of the respondents were found to have a higher WTP for reducing the risk of chemicalexposure to PFASs than reducing the corresponding risk of microbial outbreaks.In Paper (IV) it is evident that risk adverse individuals have a higher WTP for reducing health risks of drinkingwater, compared with individuals with other risk preferences. However, there is no consensus in the literature onhow to accurately capture risk preferences beyond financial decisions. Paper (V) therefore discusses thetheoretical assumptions used when measuring risk preferences and whether it is necessary to address domain riskspecific preferences. In order to test if a general risk preference is enough we present a hypothetical experimenton risk preferences for the health and financial domains, respectively. We also consider the design of theexperiment and compare the format with a reduced form to control for potential framing effects. The riskpreferences were elicited using switch multiple price list lotteries with hypothetical payments, and the questionswere adapted to the health domain by framing the lotteries as improvements in current health status using a visualanalogue scale as the reference point. The results show that individual risk preferences tend to be relativelyinconsistent across the two studied domains, and that the respondents appear to be more risk averse in the healthdomain than in the financial. The majority of the respondents tend to give too much weight to low-probabilityevents, which is consistent with cumulative prospect theory

Hemtjänstens kön : En intervjustudie om subjektskapande hos hemtjänstarbetare

Arbetsmarknaden är könssegregerad och ojämställd på grund av att den är beroende av föreställningar om manliga och kvinnliga egenskaper. Vård- och omsorgssektorn är en av de mest segregerade och lågavlönade delarna av arbetsmarknaden på grund av att yrkena är nära förknippade med egenskaper som ses som kvinnliga. I denna studie analyseras intervjuer med 8 hemtjänstarbetare för att undersöka sambandet mellan omsorgsarbete och genusarbetsdelning. För att undersöka sambandet mellan dessa analyseras möjliga subjektspositioner och egenskaper som tillskrivs hemtjänstarbetare. Den metod som använts är diskursanalys baserad på Laclau och Mouffes diskursteori. För att analysera har teorier om den heterosexuella matrisen, maskulinitet, heteronormativ genusarbetsdelning och emotionellt lönearbete använts. Studien visar att subjektspositionen hemtjänstarbetare är ambivalent. Studien visar att subjektspositionen hemtjänstarbetare har stark koppling till kvinnligt kodade egenskaper samtidigt visar studien att betydelsen bakom subjektspositionen förskjuts av jämställdhetsdiskursen och ökat manligt deltagande i yrket. Studien visar även att hemtjänstyrket påverkas av olika ekonomiska diskurser och heteronormativitet

The Adoption of Geological Information in the Public Sector : A Joint Estimation with Related Information

The objective of this paper is to examine the impacts of individual, social and organizational effects on the adoption of geological information in the public sector, and to test if this information is jointly adopted with related information. Variables covering the motivation to adopt, perceived skills, perceived usefulness, gender, working unit and collegial advice are included in the estimation. The related information considered in this paper includes map data, demographic information and building information. The empirical results build in data from Swedish municipalities, and suggest that the adoption of geological and related information is a joint and complementary decision. Officials tend to adopt both geological and related information, which supports the idea for combined geoinformation products. The results also indicate that collegial advice, perceived skills from education, motivation to adopt, perceived usefulness, gender and working unit affiliation affect the adoption of geological information. Perceived usefulness has the largest effect on the likelihood of adopting, followed by motivation to adopt and perceived skills from education. This confirms the importance of potential adopters’ perception of the characteristics of the information. Moreover, the results also suggest that interpersonal contacts act as an important source of information that can affect the level of individual involvement with the information.Godkänd; 2015; 20160331 (eliols

The Economic Value and Adoption of Geological Information in Sweden

The purposes of this thesis are to: (a) provide a review of previous research on the economic value of geological information, including the identification of important lessons from such work: and (b) assess the current use and non-use of geological information in Swedish municipalities. The thesis consists of three papers all related to the assessment or adoption of geological information.Paper I provides a review of previous research on the economic value of geological information and other earth observations as well as related products, services and infrastructure. Furthermore, the paper identifies important lessons and issues that require increased attention in future research. The review of prior research shows that significant economic benefits are attached to the use of geological information. The value of geological information has typically been measured in terms of avoided costs. Still, it is difficult to compare results across studies since they differ in scope and make alternative assumptions concerning which sectors to cover. Furthermore, previous research is not uniform in its treatment of potential (rather than only existing) users, and it employs varying conceptions of avoided costs. The paper concludes that future research should devote more attention to the public and experience good characteristics of this type of information, thus highlighting the preconditions for information adoption as well as addressing the role of potential users. A number of specific methodological challenges also deserve further scrutiny in future research, such as the use of discount rates and benefit-transfer approaches in the empirical context of geological information.Based on the results of Paper I it is important to also analyze what, beyond technological advances, influences the adoption of geological information. Paper II and III investigate the determinants of adopting geological information in the public sector with an emphasis on Swedish municipalities. Paper II contributes to the literature by theoretical explanations and empirical findings on individual and organizational effects influencing the adoption of geological information. In this paper an information adoption model is proposed and tested against data collected from 677 officials in Swedish municipalities. The model is estimated using linear probability (LPM) and instrument variable generalized method of moment (IV-GMM) approaches. The results suggest that perceived advantages have the largest effect on the likelihood of adopting geological information, but also follow-up education (motivation) and gender are found to affect adoption behavior. In addition, the results also indicate a group effect within working units. Some implications of the findings and future research areas are discussed.Paper III further investigates the adoption of geological information in the public sector by considering social effects (collegial advice), and whether the information is jointly adopted with related information. The related information considered in this paper is other geoinformation such as map data, demographic information concerning population or building information. The empirical analysis builds on the survey sent out to officials at Swedish municipalities. The information adoption model is estimated using probit and bivariate probits. The results suggest that the adoption of geological and related information is a joint and complementary decision. It is also found that collegial advice, perceived skills from education, motivation to adopt, perceived advantage, gender and working unit affect the likelihood of adopting geological information.Godkänd; 2015; 20150212 (eliols); Nedanstående person kommer att hålla licentiatseminarium för avläggande av ekonomie licentiatexamen. Namn: Elisabeth Häggquist Ämne: Nationalekonomi / Economics Uppsats: The Economic Value and Adaption of Geological Information in Sweden Examinator: Professor Patrik Söderholm Avdelning Samhällsvetenskap Institutionen för ekonomi, teknik och samhälle Diskutant: Universitetslektor Jonas Lundberg Handelshögskolan vid Umeå Universitet Tid: Tisdag den 24 mars 2015 kl 13.00 Plats: A109, Luleå tekniska universitet</p