CORRUPTION IN FOOTBALL: MECHANISMS, ACTORS AND DRIVERS

Master thesis Business Administration - University of Agder 2016Corruption has existed since the beginning of time, and the first documented case of corruption related to sport took place 388 years BC. Several previous studies and research conclude that corruption appears in sport, and that it is a major problem. However, there are relatively few studies emphasising the main actors, mechanisms and drivers and that seek to find feasible solutions on how to prevent and decrease corruption in football. This thesis will use a comparative case study analysis of six cases in order to investigate the main actors, mechanisms and drivers. In the theoretical part, a special focus will be set on New Institutional Economics. The focus will be to see if this thinking can be an explanatory factor regarding whom the main actors are and reasons for their corruptive behaviour. The thesis will investigate how officials within FIFA, football clubs in Italy and Turkey and criminal organizations use their influence to corrupt the game. Political interference is prominent and some of the most politicians in the world are involved. It seems as football bodies and organizations with predominance of members from perceived highly corrupt countries are more adaptive to corruptive behaviour. Furthermore, lack of transparency provides fertile ground for corruption. Initiatives that aim to enhance transparency will contribute to prevent the possibilities for corruptive behaviour

Valuation of XXL ASA

This master thesis presents a comprehensive valuation analysis of XXL ASA, a prominent Norwegian retail company operating in the Nordic sports industry. A fundamental valuation method, in combination with a supplementary comparative valuation has been utilized to estimate the equity value of the company as of December 31, 2021. The valuation has been performed from an investor perspective, using only publicly available information. The purpose of this study is to provide a trading strategy: buy, hold, or sell, based on the estimated equity value and the corresponding stock price. Therefore, the research question addressed in this study is as follows: “What is the fair value of XXL ASA’s equity as of December 31, 2021?” To address this research question, a strategic analysis of internal and external factors has been conducted to map XXL’s strengths and weaknesses, as well as to identify opportunities and threats. Furthermore, a financial statement and credit risk analysis of historical data has been performed, which together with the strategic analysis forms the basis for future expectations for the industry and the projected financials for XXL. The analysis indicated that XXL in the short term is expected to face challenges due to macroeconomics conditions, high inventory levels, and increased competition. However, in the long term, the company is expected to reverse this trend, regaining profitability and growth. Based on the assumptions about the future and the projected financials, the value per share using a fundamental approach for XXL is estimated to be NOK 5.98. To test the uncertainty in the valuation estimate, a sensitivity analysis has been conducted to assess the robustness and reasonableness. In addition, the comparative valuation yielded a value per share of NOK 51.61 based on the average of multiples. For comparison, the market price of XXL on the Oslo Stock Exchange at the valuation date was NOK 14.03. In determining the final value estimate of XXL’s equity and the corresponding stock price, the comparative valuation has been excluded due to an excessively high valuation and its weaknesses. Therefore, only the fundamental valuation is taken into consideration in estimating the value per share to be NOK 5.98. This leads to the following conclusion: The XXL stock is overpriced, and we recommend selling the stock as of December 31, 2021

Bpop: an efficient program for estimating base population allele frequencies in single and multiple group structured populations

Base population allele frequencies (AF) should be used in genomic evaluations. A program named Bpop was implemented to estimate base population AF using a generalized least squares (GLS) method when the base population individuals can be assigned to groups. The required dense matrix products involving (A22 )-1v were implemented efficiently using sparse submatrices of A-1, where A and A22 are pedigree relationship matrices for all and genotyped animals, respectively. Three approaches were implemented: iteration on pedigree (IOP), iteration in memory (IM), and direct inversion by sparsity preserving Cholesky decomposition (CHM). The test data had 1.5 million animals genotyped using 50240 markers. Total computing time (the product (A22)-11) was 53 min (1.2 min) by IOP, 51 min (0.3 min) by IM, and 56 min (4.6 min) by CHM. Peak computer core memory use was 0.67 GB by IOP, 0.80 GB by IM, and 7.53 GB by CHM. Thus, the IOP and IM approaches can be recommended for large data sets because of their low memory use and computing time

Valuation of XXL ASA

This master thesis presents a comprehensive valuation analysis of XXL ASA, a prominent Norwegian retail company operating in the Nordic sports industry. A fundamental valuation method, in combination with a supplementary comparative valuation has been utilized to estimate the equity value of the company as of December 31, 2021. The valuation has been performed from an investor perspective, using only publicly available information. The purpose of this study is to provide a trading strategy: buy, hold, or sell, based on the estimated equity value and the corresponding stock price. Therefore, the research question addressed in this study is as follows: “What is the fair value of XXL ASA’s equity as of December 31, 2021?” To address this research question, a strategic analysis of internal and external factors has been conducted to map XXL’s strengths and weaknesses, as well as to identify opportunities and threats. Furthermore, a financial statement and credit risk analysis of historical data has been performed, which together with the strategic analysis forms the basis for future expectations for the industry and the projected financials for XXL. The analysis indicated that XXL in the short term is expected to face challenges due to macroeconomics conditions, high inventory levels, and increased competition. However, in the long term, the company is expected to reverse this trend, regaining profitability and growth. Based on the assumptions about the future and the projected financials, the value per share using a fundamental approach for XXL is estimated to be NOK 5.98. To test the uncertainty in the valuation estimate, a sensitivity analysis has been conducted to assess the robustness and reasonableness. In addition, the comparative valuation yielded a value per share of NOK 51.61 based on the average of multiples. For comparison, the market price of XXL on the Oslo Stock Exchange at the valuation date was NOK 14.03. In determining the final value estimate of XXL’s equity and the corresponding stock price, the comparative valuation has been excluded due to an excessively high valuation and its weaknesses. Therefore, only the fundamental valuation is taken into consideration in estimating the value per share to be NOK 5.98. This leads to the following conclusion: The XXL stock is overpriced, and we recommend selling the stock as of December 31, 2021

Menighetens forbønn - hvem eier den? Refleksjon basert på høringsuttalelser i forbindelse med gudstjenestereformen

Undersøkelsen viser at de fleste menigheter har et sterkt ønske om å involvere flere i gudstjenestearbeidet, men strever med å finne måter å gjøre dette på. Flere etterlyser gode strukturer å arbeide innenfor. Det er også tydelig at kulturforskjellene innad i landet er store, og at involvering av menigheten vil måtte foregå på mange ulike måter. Det er også grunn til å tro at barn og ungdom vil kunne være veivisere

Lokalhistorie og læringsressurser En studie av lokalhistorieundervisning på ungdomstrinnet

I denne oppgaven er semi-strukturerte intervjuer brukt for å undersøke hvordan lokalhistorie undervises på ungdomstrinnet og hvilke faktorer som påvirker valg av læringsressurser i lokalhistorieundervisningen. Gjennom dette var målet å finne ut hvorfor, hvordan og i hvilken grad lærerne benytter seg av lokalhistorien og det lokale. Gjennom den didaktiske relasjonsmodellen får vi en forståelse av hvilke faktorer som er til stede når lærere skal planlegge og gjennomføre undervisning. Læreplanen (LK20) er mer åpen enn tidligere læreplaner og den legger til rette for at en kan bruke lokalhistorien mye i arbeidet med å styrke elevenes identitet og tilhørighet til hjemstedet. De målene og det som står i de andre delene av læreplanen forteller noe om hva lærerne ideelt sett skal få til i undervisningen. Hva som gjør at lærere oppnår eller ikke oppnår dette idealet er viktige momenter for å finne ut hvordan lokalhistorien benyttes. Analysen av datamaterialet viser at de rammefaktorene som påvirker bruken av lokalhistorien, er lærernes egen kunnskap og interesse og tid til planlegging og gjennomføring. Læringsressurser som blir mye benyttet er: vandring i lokalsamfunnet, bygninger, minnesmerker og lokale ressurspersoner, mens museer og gatenavn blir lite benyttet. Arbeidet med lokalhistorien foregår ofte med en form for utforskende arbeidsmetode. Det er ofte temaene industriell revolusjon og andre verdenskrig lokalhistorien blir knyttet opp mot. Under egenvurdering vurderer elevene selv at de ikke har lært så mye av lokalhistorieprosjekter.In the thesis local history and learning resources: A study of local history teaching in secondary schools, semi-structured interviews are used to investigate how local history is taught at the lower secondary level and which factors influence the choice of learning resources in local history teaching. Through the didactic relationship model, we gain an understanding of the factors that are present when teachers plan and carry out teaching. The Norwegian national curriculum (LK20) is more open than previous curricula and facilitates that one can use local history a lot in the work of strengthening students' identity and their belonging to their own hometown. The goals and what is stated in the other parts of the curriculum tell us something about what the teachers should ideally achieve. What makes teachers achieve or not achieve this ideal are important moments in finding out how local history is used. The analysis of data shows that the settings that influence the use of local history are the teachers' own knowledge and interest and time for planning and implementation. Learning resources that are used a lot are: walks in the local community, buildings, memorials, and local resource persons, while museums and street names are used less. The work with local history often takes place with a form of exploratory working method. It is often the themes of industrial revolution and World War II that local history is linked to. During self-assessment, the students themselves consider that they have not learned much from local history projects

Blood Pressure in Patients with Intermittent Claudication Increases Continuously During Walking

ObjectivesThe purpose of this study was to compare the circulatory responses to walking in patients with peripheral atherosclerotic disease (PAD) and healthy controls.MethodsThe participants were eleven patients with diagnosed PAD, and a control group of six healthy age-matched adults. Blood pressure, heart rate (HR), and acral skin perfusion were recorded continuously before, during and after a walking exercise on a treadmill.ResultsThe patients walked to maximum claudication distance (MCD) on a treadmill, median walking distance 103 (34–223) metres [median (range)], at 3.3 (1.0–4.5) km/h. There was a steep increase in HR and mean arterial pressure (MAP) while the patients were walking. At claudication the median rise in MAP was 46.6 (10.3–61.3) mmHg, systolic blood pressure (SP) increased by 84.9 (31.4–124.9) mmHg, and diastolic blood pressure (DP) by 21.7 (−2.1–31.7) mmHg. HR increased by 34.9 (12.9–48.1) beats/min. The control group walked for 5 minutes at 3.2 (3.0–3.3) km/h. In the control group the blood pressure initially increased moderately but stabilised thereafter. Median rise in MAP during walking was 8.5 (5.6–14.6) mmHg, SP increased by 30.9 (6.6–41.5) mmHg, and DP was reduced by −1.4 (−5.4–1.5) mmHg. HR increased by 27.1 (18.8–34.9) beats/min. We found no significant differences in acral skin perfusion during walking exercise between the patients and control group.ConclusionsIn patients with PAD, blood pressure increased continuously and significantly when walking to MCD (dynamic exercise). The level of increase in blood pressure was similar to that caused in response to isometric exercise

Oedema in the Lower Limb of Patients with Chronic Critical Limb Ischaemia (CLI)

AbstractObjective: approximately 70% of patients with chronic critical limb ischaemia (CLI) show clinical signs of oedema in the distal leg and foot. The primary aim of the present investigation was to quantify this oedema. In addition we investigated whether oedema formation could be due to deep venous thrombosis (DVT). Methods: fifteen patients with unilateral CLI and oedema were studied, four males and 11 females, with a mean age of 77±10.3 years. Water displacement volumetry (WDV) was used to measure limb volume. Colour duplex ultrasound (CDU) and venous occlusion plethysmography (VOP) were applied to exclude functionally significant DVT. Blood chemistry was analysed to screen for some causative factors of generalised oedema formation. Results: the mean volume of the limbs with CLI was 9% greater than the contralateral limbs (1279±325 ml vs. 1179±298 ml). None of the patients had functionally significant DVT. The mean plasma albumin concentration was reduced at 28.5±6.6 g/l. Conclusion: a significantly reduced plasma albumin concentration cannot be regarded as a causative factor, since the oedema is unilateral. The aetiology of oedema formation is probably multifactorial, and further investigations are under progress to elucidate relevant pathogenetic factors