Är det lönsamt att producera ekologiskt?

Sverige har som mål att öka dels jordbruksmarken som används till ekologisk produktion, dels konsumtionen av ekologiska varor. För att nå dessa mål behöver ekologisk produktion bli attraktivare och mer lönsam. Men vad vet vi egentligen om lönsamheten inom ekologisk produktion? I detta faktablad tittar vi närmare på vad forskare säger om lönsamhet i relation till ekologisk lantbruksproduktion och konsumtion samt beskriver några aspekter centrala för ekonomin på den ekologiska gården

Finansieringsstrukturen i nystartade företag - En undersökning av teknikutvecklingsföretag baserade i forskningsparken Ideon

Titel: Finansieringsstrukturen i nystartade företag - en undersökning av teknikutvecklingsföretag baserade i forskningsparken Ideon Ämne/Kurs: FEKN90 Examensarbete Magisternivå, 30 högskolepoäng Datum: 2014-05-16 Författare: Rebecca Lindberg och Anna Tunberg Handledare: Claes Svensson Nyckelord: Finansieringsstruktur, Kapitalstruktur, Pecking order-teorin, Små nystartade teknikutvecklingsföretag, Finansiell Bootstrapping Syfte: Studiens syfte är att generera en utvecklad Pecking order-teori för finansieringsstrukturen i nystartade teknikutvecklingsföretag. Metod: Kvantitativ metod med datainsamling genom enkäter till teknikutvecklingsföretag startade i Ideon, Lund. Kvalitativa inslag genom en explorativ pilotstudie i form av intervjuer. Teoretiska perspektiv: Studien är baserad på teoretiska ansatser och metoder inom ramen för finansieringsstruktur. Empiri: Empirin består av enkät- och intervjusvar från företagsledningen på teknikutvecklingsföretag från forskningsparken Ideon i Lund. Slutsatser: Pecking order-teorins stämmer inte överens med hur företagsledare i små nystartade teknikutvecklingsföretag väljer finansieringsalternativ. Förslag till en utvecklad pecking order-teori har framställts.Abstract Title: The financial structure in early stage companies - a survey of technology-based firms in Ideon Science Park Course: FEKN90 Degree Project Master Level in Business Administration, 30 university points (ECTS) Date: 2014-05-16 Authors: Rebecca Lindberg and Anna Tunberg Advisor: Claes Svensson Key words: Financial structure, Capital structure, Pecking order-theory, New technology-based firms, Financial bootstrapping Purpose: The purpose of the study is to generate a new Pecking order-theory in regard to the financial structure in new technology-based firms. Methodology: Quantitative methods with data collection through surveys to technology-based firms first based in Ideon, Lund. Qualitative features through an exploratory pilot study conducted through interviews. Theoretical perspectives: The study is based on theoretical approaches and methods in the context of capital structure. Empirical foundation: The empirical data consists of responses from surveys and interviews from business managers in technology-based firms in Ideon Science Park in Lund. Conclusion: The Pecking order theory is not consistent with how business leaders in new technology-based firms choose financing options. A proposal for a developed Pecking order theory has been produced

Growing a small firm:experiences and managing difficult processes

Contrary to a simple model of small firm growth where increased inputs produce greater outputs, we consider growth is a complex and difficult process. Accordingly, the paper is concerned with how small firms grow, especially how they make sense of the growth process.  We collected narratives of the experiences of small firm growth in an extended case study to draw out how growth is understood and managed.  We saw how owners became entangled in the process of growing, especially where a change in one aspect led to problems in other dimensions of growth. Their narratives were about trying to make sense, and give some sense to the complexity of growth and some direction to what they should manage. We identified a repertoire of narrative forms: Growth is understood through output indicators, growth is treated as the internal development of the firm and finally, growth is taken to be inevitable - a necessity to which the firm has to conform. These illustrate how growth can be understood as processes of growing, bound up in the context, created in space and time, and contingent on how growth is understood and experienced. Far from a smooth trajectory, enacting growth reflects the experience of the moment, it is shaped by reactions rather than strategy and it is messy rather than ordered. This study contributes to the literature by complementing the functionalist and output oriented view by understanding firm growth as a social phenomenon constructed and reconstructed in the interactions between people and experiences of context

The digitalisation of the Nordic bioeconomy and its effect on gender equality

With digitalisation, the male-dominated bioeconomy sector becomes intertwined with the male-dominated tech sector. We focus on the effects on gender equality within the bioeconomy sector when these two gender unequal sectors are merged. We review the existing literature by studying three concepts - bioeconomy, digitalisation and gender - as a way to highlight the current state of knowledge on gender in the Nordic digitalised bioeconomy. Through this investigation we provide directions for future research and suggest actions to be taken. The contemporary literature discusses two major areas of focus: the impact of history on today's situation and gender inequality as a women's issue. We propose four areas of future research focus: moving beyond a historical perspective, understanding the effectiveness of women-only activities, focusing on men's role in gender equality work, and developing sustainability. We identify four points of action for practitioners in the literature: female role models, mentorship programmes, networks for young professionals and students and incorporating gender into bioeconomy-related education. However, together with the proposed future research, we suggest two considerations when practitioners in the Nordic digitalised bioeconomy take action: being mindful of the purpose and structure of women-only activities and including men when working with gender issues

Variation in Serripes groenlandicus (Bivalvia) growth in a Norwegian high-Arctic fjord : evidence for local- and large-scale climatic forcing

Author Posting. © Blackwell, 2006. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of Blackwell for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Global Change Biology 12 (2006): 1595-1607, doi:10.1111/j.1365-2486.2006.01181.x.We examined the growth rate of the circumpolar Greenland Cockle (Serripes groenlandicus) over a period of 20 years (1983-2002) from Rijpfjord, a high-Arctic fjord in northeast Svalbard (80º10´N, 22°15´E). This period encompassed different phases of large-scale climatic oscillations with accompanying variations in local physical variables (temperature, atmospheric pressure, precipitation, sea ice cover), allowing us to analyze the linkage between growth rate, climatic oscillations, and their local physical and biological manifestations. Standard Growth Index (SGI), an ontogenetically-adjusted measure of annual growth, ranged from a low of 0.27 in 2002 up to 2.46 in 1996. Interannual variation in growth corresponded to the Arctic Climate Regime Index (ACRI), with high growth rates during the positive ACRI phase characterized by cyclonic ocean circulation and a warmer and wetter climate. Growth rates were influenced by local manifestations of the ACRI: positively correlated with precipitation and to a lesser extent negatively correlated with atmospheric pressure. A multiple regression model explains 65% of the variability in growth rate by the ACRI and precipitation at the nearest meteorological station. There were, however, complexities in the relationship between growth and physical variables, including an apparent 1-year lag between physical forcing changes and biological response. Also, when the last 4 years of poor growth are excluded, there is a very strong negative correlation with ice cover on a pan-arctic scale. Our results suggest that bivalves, as sentinels of climate change on multi-decadal scales, are sensitive to environmental variations associated with large-scale changes in climate, but that the effects will be determined by changes in environmental parameters regulating marine production and food availability on a local scale.This research was supported in part by the Norwegian Research Council, NORDKLIMA Program (150356-S30 and 151815-S30 to MLC), the U.S. National Science Foundation Offices of Polar Programs (OPP-0138596, OPP-0222423 to WGA) and Ocean Sciences (OCE-0215905 to SRT), the BBVA Foundation in Madrid (to MG), and with funds from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute through Bates College