Interpreting equity price movements since the start of the financial crisis

Equity markets have experienced large price movements since the financial crisis began in mid-2007. Understanding the factors that drive equity prices is important for policymakers as they may contain information about the future course of the economy. This article uses a simple model to decompose recent equity price movements into changes in earnings expectations, the risk-free rate and the equity risk premium. Indicative evidence suggests that changes in earnings expectations can account for some, but by no means all, of the shifts in equity prices since mid-2007. Policy actions by central banks and governments are likely to have supported equity prices, for example by lowering government bond yields and reducing the likelihood of more severe downside risks to the economy materialising. The latter may also have contributed to a fall in the implied level of the equity risk premium, which had increased sharply during the financial crisis.

Utveckling av tjänster på Fölisöns friluftsmuseum

Fölisöns friluftsmuseum är ett av Helsingfors mest besökta museer, men om man jämför antalet besökare med andra friluftsmuseer i Norden kommer det fram att Fölisön inte når lika många kunder som de andra museerna. Syftet med lärdomsprovet var att förstå varför Fölisön inte når de samma besökarantalen som de andra museerna och vad museet kunde göra för att förbättra på sina resultat. Den teoretiska referensramen bygger på turisternas motivationer och preferenser, samt om push- och pull- motivering. Undersökningen utfördes via kvalitativa semistrukturerade intervjuer med museets personal. Eftersom museet är endast öppen under sommarsäsongen var det ända möjliga alternativet att intervjua personalen. Personalen blev utvald på grund av att deras arbetsuppgifter lät dem komma i kontakt med kunderna. Resultaten av intervjuerna visade att orsakerna bakom Fölisöns låga besökarantal är en orsak av dålig marknadsföring och av att varken de inhemska eller utländska besökarna var intresserade av att betala inträde för museets byggnader. Med hjälp av intervjuerna fick personalen ge sina egna förslag på hur museet kunde höja antalet besökare.The Seurasaari Open-Air Museum is one of the most visited museums in Helsinki. However, when comparing the number of visitors with visitors to other open-air museums in the Nordic countries, it becomes clear that Seurasaari is not attracting as many customers as those. The goal of the thesis is to understand why Seurasaari is not frequented by as many people as other similar museums, and what can be done to raise the number of visitors. The theoretical framework deals with the motivation and preferences of tourists, as well as the push and pull phenomena. The survey was conducted through qualitative semi-structured interviews with the staff of the museum. Due to the museum being open only during the summer, the only viable option was to interview the personnel, who were selected since they were in close contact with the visitors through their work. The results of the study show that the main reason behind Seurasaari’s low number of visitors is fairly insufficient marketing activities. Another problem is that neither Finnish nor foreign visitors are interested enough in buying entry tickets to the museum buildings. The interviews conducted for this thesis enabled the museum personnel to express their own ideas on how to raise the number of visitors

Information Content of Bank Credit Rating Changes: Evidence from Europe

This thesis examines the short-term impact of credit rating announcements on daily stock returns of 41 European banks indexed in STOXX Europe 600 Banks. The time period of this study is 2002–2015 and the ratings represent long-term issuer ratings provided by S&P, Moody’s and Fitch. Bank ratings are significant for a bank’s operation costs so it is interesting to investigate how investors react to changes in creditworthiness. The study objective is achieved by conducting an event study. The event study is extended with a cross-sectional linear regression to investigate other potential determinants surrounding rating changes. The research hypotheses and the motivation for additional tests are derived from prior research. The main hypotheses are formed to explore whether rating changes have an effect on stock returns, when this possible reaction occurs and whether it is asymmetric between upgrades and downgrades. The findings provide evidence that rating announcements have an impact on stock returns in the context of European banks. The results also support the existence of an asymmetry in capital market reaction to rating upgrades and downgrades. The rating downgrades are associated with statistically significant negative abnormal returns on the event day although the reaction is rather modest. No statistically significant reaction is found associated with the rating upgrades on the event day. These results hold true with both rating changes and rating watches. No anticipation is observed in the case of rating changes but there is a statistically significant cumulative negative (positive) price reaction occurring before the event day for negative (positive) watch announcements. The regression provides evidence that the stock price reaction is stronger for rating downgrades occurring within below investment grade class compared with investment grade class. This is intuitive as investors are more concerned about their investments in lower-rated companies. Besides, the price reaction of larger banks is more mitigated compared with smaller banks in the case of rating downgrades. The reason for this may be that larger banks are usually more widely followed by the public. However, the study results may also provide evidence of the existence of the so-called “too big to fail” subsidy that dampens the negative returns of larger bankssiirretty Doriast

”This is not about donkeys and elephants. This is about right and wrong.” : Examining frames of polarization in American political scandal reporting in the #MeToo era

American political culture has become increasingly polarized from the 1970s onwards. Among the many factors that have contributed to the rise of behavioral polarization between Democrats and Republicans is the emergence of partisan media. In this thesis, I compare the coverage of American liberal and conservative media of two political #MeToo scandals in the autumn of 2017: those of Republican Roy Moore and Democrat Al Franken. I conduct a quantitative and qualitative frame analysis of online media articles by CNN, Fox News, the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal from the first three days of each scandal. I find that liberal and conservative media differ in their coverage of the two events. First, they show differences in how they frame sexual harassment scandals. Second, the partisan leanings of the politicians seem to affect framing decisions and the volume of reporting. My findings are in line with recent research on behavioral polarization, and how partisan strength and disdain towards the opposing party may rise within a nation. Since partisan media tend to skew news topics to be more favorable to their own political leaning, people who subscribe to liberal outlets may form a very different understanding of political issues compared to those who follow conservative media

Classroom activities and scientific practices related to student situational engagement

This dissertation examined how classroom activities and scientific practices are related to student situational engagement. Research has traditionally focused on student engagement, measuring it with questionnaires or observations. However, if we want to have a closer look on the activities that engages students, the focus should be on student situational engagement. Student situational engagement was selected as main research subject, because it has several benefits for students' learning. Furthermore, student situational engagement is something that can be enhanced and modified by different activities that teachers decide to use in their science lessons. In this research, student situational engagement was defined as balance between high situational interest of an ongoing task, high evaluation of students' own situational skills and high situational challenge experienced when working on the task. This definition for situational engagement is rather new and was developed during the research. Nevertheless, it has a strong theoretical background in flow-theory and research focusing on situational interest. This dissertation consists of three original studies in which data was collected using experience sampling method (ESM). Due to the novelty of the research, Study I aimed at uncovering the level of student situational engagement in eight science classes in Helsinki area. The result revealed that student situational engagement varied by their grade level and gender. Girls as a group reported above average situational engagement in life science lessons and boys in exact science lessons. Study II and III extended the investigation by focusing on activities used in science classes in an international context. Study II showed that classroom activities were indeed related to student situational engagement. The result supported previous findings that lecturing was associated with lower levels of situational engagement. However, there were more variation in classroom activities that were related to higher levels of situational engagement. The main finding of Study III was that scientific practices, especially connected to modeling, were related to higher level of student situational engagement. This dissertation conclude that the level of student situational engagement experienced in science classes can vary depending on activities used in science lessons. The result existed when using three-level hierarchical logistic regression models that took account of classroom, student and response levels. Thus, it is reasonable to assume that the role of different activities in science lessons is something that should be emphasised e.g. in teacher education. This information could be used to highlight the role of well-structured lesson plans that include carefully selected activities when teacher training students prepare their practice lessons in pedagogical studies.Väitöskirjatutkimuksen päätavoitteena on tarkastella miten luokkahuoneaktiviteetit ja tiedekäytännöt ovat yhteydessä oppilaiden tilannekohtaiseen sitoutumiseen luonnontieteen oppitunneilla. Aikaisempi tutkimus on tyypillisesti keskittynyt oppilaiden yleiseen sitoutumiseen mitaten sitä kyselylomakkeilla tai havainnoimalla oppitunteja. Jos kuitenkin haluamme saada tarkempaa tietoa niistä aktiviteeteista, jotka sitouttavat oppilaita, tulee huomio kiinnittää oppilaiden tilannekohtaiseen sitoutumiseen. Oppilaiden tilannekohtainen sitoutuminen valikoitui tutkimuksen kohteeksi, koska se hyödyttää oppilaiden oppimista useilla eri tavoilla. Tämän lisäksi tilannekohtaista sitoutumista on mahdollista kehittää ja säädellä erilaisilla aktiviteeteilla, joita opettajat käyttävät oppitunneillaan. Tässä tutkimuksessa oppilaiden tilannekohtainen sitoutuminen määritellään tasapainoksi meneillään olevan tehtävän tarjoaman korkean tilannekohtaisen kiinnostuksen, oppilaiden korkeaksi itsearvioimien tilannekohtaisten taitojen ja tehtävän korkean tilannekohtaisen haasteellisuuden välillä. Tämä tilannekohtaisen sitoutumisen määritelmä on uusi ja kehittyi tutkimuksen aikana. Tästä huolimatta, tutkimuksella on vankka teoreettinen tausta flow-teoriassa ja tutkimuksessa, joka keskittyy tilannekohtaiseen kiinnostukseen. Väitöskirja koostuu kolmesta artikkelista, joissa aineisto kerättiin kokemusotantamenetelmällä. Tutkimuksen uutuuden takia osatutkimus I pyrki kartoittamaan, kuinka tilannekohtaisesti sitoutuneita oppilaat olivat kahdeksassa luonnontieteen luokkahuoneessa Helsingissä. Tuloksen mukaan oppilaiden tilannekohtainen sitoutuminen vaihtelee sukupuolen ja luokka-asteen välillä. Tytöt ryhmänä raportoivat keskiarvoa korkeampaa tilannekohtaista sitoutumista elämän (biologian) tiedon oppitunneilla ja pojat eksaktien (fysiikka ja kemia) tieteiden oppitunneilla. Osatutkimukset II ja III laajensivat ensimmäistä osatutkimusta keskittyen luonnontieteen oppituntien aktiviteetteihin kansainvälisessä yhteydessä. Osatutkimuksen II tuloksen mukaan luokkahuoneaktiviteetit ovat yhteydessä oppilaiden tilannekohtaiseen sitoutumiseen. Tämä tulos oli yhtenevä aiemman tutkimuksen kanssa, jonka perusteella luennointi on yhteydessä matalampaan tilannekohtaisen sitoutumisen tasoon. Kuitenkin niiden luokkahuoneaktiviteettien välillä, jotka ovat yhteydessä oppilaiden korkeampaan tilannekohtaiseen sitoutumiseen, oli enemmän vaihtelua. Osatutkimuksen III keskeisen tuloksen mukaan tiedekäytännöt, etenkin mallintamiseen liittyvät, ovat yhteydessä oppilaiden tilannekohtaisen sitoutumisen korkeampaan tasoon. Tämä väitöstutkimus osoittaa, että oppilaiden tilannekohtainen sitoutuminen luonnontieteen luokkahuoneessa on yhteydessä luonnontiedon oppitunneilla käytettäviin aktiviteetteihin. Tämä tulos esiintyi kolmetasoisessa hierarkkisessa logistisessa regressioanalyysissa, jossa huomioitiin luokkahuoneen, oppilaan ja yksittäisten oppilaiden vastausten tasot. Täten on järkevää olettaa, että erilaisten luonnontieteen oppitunneilla olevien aktiviteettien asemaa tulisi korostaa esimerkiksi opettajankoulutuksessa. Väitöskirjan antamaa tietoa voidaan käyttää korostamaan hyvin suunnitellun ja tarkoin valittuja aktiviteetteja sisältävän tuntisuunnitelman merkitystä opetusharjoittelijoille, kun he suunnittelevat heidän ensimmäisiä oppituntejaan osana pedagogisia opintoja

Public participation in the environmental permit processes at regional level

This report is a part of a wider research program titled Effective Environmental Management: law, public participation and environmental decision making (EMLE). EMLE is an innovative exploration of the nature, impact and effectiveness of public participation in environmental decision-making. The research program is founded by the Finnish Academy, the Finnish Ministry of Environment and the Finnish Environment Institute. The aim of this report is to explore the nature of public participation in environmental permit processes on the regional level in Finland. This process involves environmental permit authorities, permit applicants and (potentially) a broad spectrum of participants, and the research was designed to include all of these parties. Both quantitative and qualitative approaches were utilized in the research, including a statistical survey of judicial review of environmental permit decisions, interviews with members of the administrative courts involved in judicial review, interviews with environmental permit officers from each of the 13 environment centres and 3 environmental permit authorities as well as case studies covering 10 environmental permit processes from application to permit decision from 3 regions in Finland. The key findings of the study were that participation in the environmental permit process at regional level is both understood and experienced in a different way by the different parties to the process, and that this disparity can limit the effectiveness or, more importantly perhaps from a participant point of view, the perceived effectiveness of participation in the permit process. Overall, participation in the permit process was relatively low, with the exception of a few conflict-laden cases. The potential for being involved and affecting the permit process and outcome is not fully exploited by individuals and groups entitled to participate, and in certain cases participation is dominated by a few ‘super-activists’ who limit the heterogeneity in participatory input wanted by permit administrators. All permit officers considered public participation to be important because public participation enables better informed decisions to be made, and goes some way in building mutual acceptance between the parties involved. Nonetheless, permit applicants tended to have a rather negative opinion of participation and its impacts on the permit process and resulting decision, although this varied with the size of the applicant and the proposed activity with larger organisations showing less enthusiasm for public participation. Participants themselves were often disappointed in the permit outcomes and when their expectations of what could be achieved were not fully realised, often as a result of the legal framework that the permit process is bounded by. Despite this, most participants trusted that permit officers were competent to make environmentally and legally sound permit decisions. Several strong themes arose in the study that could prove fruitful for further research. Communication in the process was deemed by all parties to be crucial for a good process, although it was also often cited as being insufficient or somehow lacking. The channels and forms of contact that foster or inhibit communication between parties should be examined further, as well as the scope for developing this aspect of the permit process in future administrative changes. The participatory process as an instrument of learning was also discussed, although learning was not among the research questions and was not addressed specifically in the research. Learning as an outcome of participation, and a means to mitigate conflict could be explored further. Finally, the question of assessing the effectiveness of participation remains somewhat unresolved, demanding deeper examination of associated theory. As a result of the broadness of this study, no concrete conclusions are drawn in this report. However, this report is referred to in a number of more focused articles which attempt to address at least some of the themes arising in discussion of the research results, and therefore should be seen as a part of the full output arising from this research project

Taide ikäihmisen kotona asumisen tukena : Omaishoitajien kokemuksia taidetoiminnan vaikutuksista

Taide ikäihmisen kotona asumisen tukena – Omaishoitajien kokemuksia taidetoiminnan vaikutuksista oli ylemmän ammattikorkeakoulun opinnäytetyö. Opinnäytetyö oli tutkimuksellinen kehittämistyö, jonka kehittämistehtävinä oli kuvata omaishoitajien kokemuksia taidetoiminnasta arjen toimintakyvyn vahvistajana sekä tuottaa kehittämisehdotuksia taide- ja kulttuuritoiminnan juurruttamiseksi ikäihmisten päivätoiminnan sisältöön. Opinnäytetyö oli osa Kaakkois-Suomen sosiaalialan osaamiskeskus Oy:n (Socom), Etelä-Karjalan sosiaali- ja terveyspiirin (Eksote) ja Saimaan ammattikorkeakoulun (Saimia) yhdessä toteuttamaa hanketta ”Taidetyöpaja osana ikäihmisten kotona asumisen tuen palveluvalikkoa”. Tutkimuksen aineisto kerättiin Eksoten päivätoiminnassa järjestettyyn taidetoimintaan osallistuvien asiakkaiden omaishoitajilta puhelinhaastatteluilla. Taidetoimintaan osallistuvista asiakkaista neljä, joilla oli omaishoitajasuhde, osallistui tutkimukseen. Tutkimusaineisto analysoitiin strukturoitujen haastattelukysymysten osalta määrällisesti SPSS-ohjelmalla ja avointen haastattelukysymysten vastaukset analysoitiin laadullisesti teemoittelemalla. Opinnäytetyön kehittämisehdotukset muodostuivat yhdistämällä aikaisempaa tutkimustietoa, lähdekirjallisuutta sekä tämän opinnäytetyön tuloksia. Haastatteluista saadut tulokset osoittivat, että hoidettavat ikäihmiset olivat omaishoitajien kokemusten mukaan useimmiten pirteämpiä taidetoiminnan jälkeen ja pitivät taidetoiminnasta. Osa omaishoitajista koki, että taidetoiminnalla ei ollut muutoksia hoidettavan hyvinvointiin. Tämän tutkimuksellisen kehittämistyön kehittämisehdotuksina on juurruttaa taide- ja kulttuuritoiminta ikäihmisten palveluvalikkoon kehittämällä sitä laajempien tutkimusten ja jo olemassa olevan tutkimustiedon avulla, panostamalla henkilökunnan koulutukseen sekä mahdollistamalla omaisten osallistuminen taidetoimintaan ja päivätoiminnan palveluvalikon kehittämiseen. Taiteen ja kulttuurin hyvinvointivaiku-tuksia on tutkittu viime vuosina monella tapaa. Tutkimusten tulokset osoittavat, että taiteella ja kulttuurilla on hyvinvointivaikutuksia niin psyykkisen-, fyysisen-, kuin sosiaalisen hyvinvoinnin alueilla. Ikääntyneiden palvelunkäyttäjien sekä omaisten osallisuus ja kuuleminen ovat tärkeä osa kehittämistyötä.The focus of the study was to report informal caregivers' observations on elderly people's functional capacity. The purpose of the study was to introduce ideas how to improve art workshops for the elderly living at home with an informal caregiver, and guarantee the continuity of the art workshops as part of elderly's daytime activities. The study was part of a project commissioned by The Centre for Expertise in Southeast Finland's Social Services (Socom), South Karelia Social and Health Care District (Eksote) and Saimaa University of Applied Sci-ences (Saimia). The data for this study were collected from informal caregivers of the elderly people who participated in the art workshops in South Karelia Social and Health Care District. Data were collected by phone interviews from four informal caregivers. The interviews were conducted in March - May 2017. The interviews included both closed and open-ended questions. The data were analysed with SPSS-programme and thematising. The study’s development ideas were formulated by using previous researches, literature and results of this study. The study shows that elderly people were cheerier and enjoyed taking part in the art workshops. Some informal caregivers observed no changes in the elderly’s wellbeing. The study suggests to develop art workshops by making use of recent researches and large-scale studies, stressing the importance of staff training, and allowing caregivers to take part in planning and implementing the art workshops. Art and culture have important roles in the daytime activities’ content. Recent studies suggest that art promotes health and wellbeing physically, psychically and socially. Both caregivers and elderly would benefit from the art workshops greatly, which would also benefit the continuity of the project. The opinions of the elderly people (service users) as well as the informal caregivers or other close relatives, are crucial while improving the daytime activity services