Ethical vs. Non-Ethical – Is There a Difference? Analyzing Performance of Ethical and Non-Ethical Investment Funds

Ethical investments have become increasingly popular over the past years. Ethical funds restrict their investment based on environmental, social and/or ethical criteria. Prior research on the performance of ethical versus non-ethical funds yields mixed results. This paper investigates the differences in risk profiles and realized returns between ethical and non-ethical funds. A sample of 23 ethical funds and 152 non-ethical funds covering the time period between 2000 and 2007 is investigated. The analysis of the portfolio composition shows that there are small differences in the structure of portfolios concerning industry composition and company size. However, the ethical funds tend to hold more stocks in their portfolios than non-ethical ones. The results provide some evidence on the underperformance of ethical funds; this underperformance is stronger in years of poor stock market performance, which indicates that systematic risk of ethical funds may be higher.ethical, social responsible investment, SRI, investment, funds, portfolio, returns, risk, screening, Sweden

Ethical vs. non-ethical - is there a difference? Analyzing performance of ethical and non-ethical investment fund

Ethical investments have become increasingly popular over the past years. Ethical funds restrict their investment based on environmental, social and/or ethical criteria. Prior research on the performance of ethical versus non-ethical funds yields mixed results. This paper investigates the differences in risk profiles and realized returns between ethical and non-ethical funds. A sample of 23 ethical funds and 152 non-ethical funds covering the time period between 2000 and 2007 is investigated. The analysis of the portfolio composition shows that there are small differences in the structure of portfolios concerning industry composition and company size. However, the ethical funds tend to hold more stocks in their portfolios than non-ethical ones. The results provide some evidence on the underperformance of ethical funds; this underperformance is stronger in years of poor stock market performance, which indicates that systematic risk of ethical funds may be higher

Kommunikation vid bygg- och anläggningsproduktion : arbetsplatsplanering

Validerat; 20101217 (root

Students memories of fictional reading and reading motivation

From the perspective of self-determination theory this studyexamines whether affective memories of fictional reading and early reading activities have an impact on the reading motivation in lateradolescence. This studyalso highlightsstudentssuggestions on how teachers can enhance reading motivation.We conducted a survey with studentsin upper secondary school. The results showsome correlations between affective memories and motivation. Studentswith negative memories of reading tend to be more amotivated orhave controlled motivationto read, whilst studentswith positive and neutral memories tend to have more autonomous motivation. The studyalso noticed a difference between reading attitudes,whether the reading takes place in school or in the studentsspare time. The students suggestions on how teachers can motivate them to read are mostly related to (1) their own choice of literature and (2) an accessible wide range of literature that appeals to their interests. Many students also wish for their teachers to engage more in their personal reading interests. Our study has shown that reading as an activity is very complex and that teachers have an opportunity to affect the reading motivation,regardless of what memories the students hav

Konstruera organisationens anseende : En kvalitativ studie om hur svenska organisationer i livsmedelsbranschen försöker påverka sitt anseende via sin kommunikation på sociala medier.

Abstract Location: Uppsala University Level: Bachelor thesis in Media and Communication Studies Number of pages: 56 Method: The method used in this thesis is a qualitative interview study. Title: Affect your reputation! A qualitative study on how Swedish companies in the food industry try to influence their reputation through their specific communication on social media. Aim: The overall aim with this study is to understand how organizations in the food industry try to influence their reputation through communication on social media. Theories: The theoretical perspective of the study is organizational reputation and reputation on social media. Main results: The result from the interview study shows that organizations in the food industry are not communicating in the same way, contrariwise there are some common factors between the organizations in their way of influencing the reputation. The common factors are measured through the temperature on the separate organization’s users through media sourcing, communicating in a transparent and credible way and responding quickly to users. Furthermore, the result shows that each organisation find its own way of communicating on social media to influence their reputation on social media in their daily communication work. Keywords: Reputation, social media, food industry, Facebook, communicatio

Förstärkning av naturliga processer i öppen dagvattenhantering

Dagvattenhanteringen är en aktuell fråga. Vi står inför många utmaningar, där risk finns att den kommer påverkar våra gemensamma tillgångar och intressen framöver. Klimatförändringar leder till kraftigare skyfall, där större mängd dagvatten behöver fördröjas vid enskilda tillfällen, för att reducera flödestoppar och översvämningar lokalt- och nedströms. Utbredningen av städer och brukad mark leder till minskning av våtmarker, vilket i sin tur leder till försämrade förutsättningar för biologisk mångfald. Utmaningarna med föroreningar, flödestoppar och den biologiska mångfalden är således ofrånkomlig i arbetet med att skapa långsiktigt hållbara städer och landskap. Föroreningar av bland annat tungmetaller och organiska ämnen sprids via dagvatten till våra recipienter. Detta leder till försämrad ekologisk status som i praktiken kan innebära eutrofiering (övergödning) som rubbar ekosystem. I detta arbete skapas förståelse och fördjupad kunskap för naturliga processer och värden av rening, fördröjning och biologisk mångfald kopplat till dagvatten i naturlig och urban miljö. Vidare undersöks hur de naturliga processerna kan stärkas genom handfasta förbättringsåtgärder i en öppen befintlig dagvattenanläggning på allmän platsmark i södra Linero i Lunds kommun. Södra Linero har genom årliga besiktningar av vattenhuvudmannen VA SYD konstaterats vara i behov av upprustning då anläggningen inte lever upp till dess förväntade funktioner. Idag leds dagvatten genom ett öppet dike med stora erosionsskador till en dagvattendamm som fördröjer dagvattnet innan det leds vidare till Höje å. Studien baseras på en litteraturstudie för att undersöka rening, fördröjning och biologisk mångfald kopplat till dagvatten. Vidare innehåller studien en fallstudie av Södra Lineros dagvattenanläggning som resulterar i ett åtgärdsförslag som baserar sig på platsbesök, platsanalys samt litteraturstudie. Åtgärdsförslaget illustreras av handritade principskisser med textbeskrivning för att visa platsspecifika åtgärder för att öka reningen, fördröjning och gynna den biologiska mångfalden i anläggningen. Målet med åtgärderna är att förbättra den befintliga anläggningen i hanteringen av dagvattnet och samtidigt skapa mervärden för områdets boende och besökare. I praktiken innebär det att ett anläggningsarbete utförs som på sikt förväntas skapa en mer långsiktigt hållbar dagvattenhantering.Stormwater is highly relevant as the challenges involved impacts on our common resources and interests. Global warming has led to more intensive rains, meaning that larger amounts of water needs to be retained in order to avoid flooding both locally and downstream. Pollution in the form of heavy metals, nutrients and organic matter are with the help of urban runoff to recipients leading to an ecological deterioration in the form of eutrophication, acidification and reduced possibilities of a thriving biological diversity. Furthermore, the expansion of urban and arable land reduces the amount of wetlands, which in turn leads to reduced biological diversity. Pollution, runoff peak flow and the reductions of biological diversity are therefore unavoidable challenges to the creation of sustainable cities. The study aims at getting a greater understanding for the natural processes and the importance of purification, delay and biological diversity linked to runoff water in both rural and urban environments. The study further examines how these processes may be applied in practice through concrete measures in an existing open stormwater facility on public property in Södra Linero in the municipality of Lund, Sweden. Annual inspections of Södra Linero by the company VA SYD shows that the facility does not meet its expectations and is in need of improvements. At the moment, water is led in an open ditch to a pond, thus delaying it before it reaches Höje å. This study has been accomplished by studying existing literature on purification, water delay and biological diversity and how these relate to stormwater, together with a case study of Södra Linero’s stormwater facility. Based on our studies we propose a course of action for existing stormwater facilities. The proposal contains drawings with descriptions on how to improve treatment, delay and biological diversity. Our goal with these actions is to improve the current stormwater management while at the same time benefiting residents and visitors of the area. What this means in practice is that the existing facilities should be reshaped in order to provide a more sustainable treatment of stormwater

"There is talk about targeting 14-year-olds, but some say it's too late" : A qualitative study on field workers' experiences of crime prevention work with children and youth

Youth crime is a continuously growing social problem, where professionals face the complexity of the phenomenon. To manage and prevent youth crime, it is essential to implement measures and preventive interventions where field workers play a crucial role. Therefore, it is interesting to examine how field workers experience and actively implement crime prevention measures for children and youth in Sweden. This is a qualitative study based on two semi-structured group interviews with field workers. The analysis of the empirical material was conducted using a qualitative methodology, previous research, and two selected theories relevant to the study's purpose. The results of the analysis generated various themes describing the field workers' experiences and insights.  The results section of the study is divided into different parts related to the three research questions we aim to investigate. Additionally, the results section outlines the difficulties field workers face in their professional roles, where resources, time, and collaboration have proven to be lacking. Finally, it has emerged that relationship building, and early interventions are effective methods for preventing youth crime in Sweden. Ungdomskriminalitet är ett ständigt växande samhällsproblem där yrkesverksamma står inför fenomenets komplexitet. För att kunna hantera och förebygga ungdomsbrottsligheten är det av vikt att genomföra åtgärder och förebyggande insatser där fältarbetare utgör en viktig insats. Det blir därför intressant att undersöka hur fältarbetare upplever och aktivt genomför brottsförebyggande åtgärder för barn och unga i Sverige. Detta är en kvalitativ studie som grundar sig på två semistrukturerade gruppintervjuer med fältarbetare. Analysen av det empiriska materialet genomfördes genom en kvalitativ metodik, tidigare forskning och två valda teorier som är av relevans för studiens ändamål. Resultaten från analysen genererade i olika teman som beskriver fältarbetarnas upplevelser och erfarenheter.Studiens resultatdel är fördelad i olika delar relaterat till de tre frågeställningar som vi ämnar undersöka. Utöver detta redogör resultatdelen för fältarbetarnas svårigheter i deras yrkesroll där resurser, tid och samverkan har visat sig vara bristfällig. Slutligen har det framkommit att relationsskapande och tidiga åtgärder är effektiva metoder för att förebygga ungdomsbrottslighet i Sverige.

Students memories of fictional reading and reading motivation

From the perspective of self-determination theory this studyexamines whether affective memories of fictional reading and early reading activities have an impact on the reading motivation in lateradolescence. This studyalso highlightsstudentssuggestions on how teachers can enhance reading motivation.We conducted a survey with studentsin upper secondary school. The results showsome correlations between affective memories and motivation. Studentswith negative memories of reading tend to be more amotivated orhave controlled motivationto read, whilst studentswith positive and neutral memories tend to have more autonomous motivation. The studyalso noticed a difference between reading attitudes,whether the reading takes place in school or in the studentsspare time. The students suggestions on how teachers can motivate them to read are mostly related to (1) their own choice of literature and (2) an accessible wide range of literature that appeals to their interests. Many students also wish for their teachers to engage more in their personal reading interests. Our study has shown that reading as an activity is very complex and that teachers have an opportunity to affect the reading motivation,regardless of what memories the students hav

Programming's path into upper secondary school mathematics : A case study of how programming landed in four schools

Sen halvårsskiftet 2018 skedde en förändring av skolans kursplaner i matematik där det blev obligatoriskt med programmering i matematikundervisningen. Syftet med denna undersökning var att få en bild och exempel av hur förändringen togs emot samt hur den genomfördes eller planerades att genomföras på några olika gymnasieskolor. I studien användes kvalitativ metod med semistrukturerade intervjuer där fyra verksamma lärare deltog. Datan analyserades delvis utifrån den didaktiska transpositionen. Skolorna ansåg sig inte vara helt redo för att integrera programmering i matematikundervisningen. Studien har visat att det fanns behov av större förtrogenhet hos lärare inom programmering samt en ökad progression av elevernas kunskaper med digitala verktyg innan det gick att inlemma det i undervisningen så som man önskade. Dock hade samtliga skolor mer eller mindre startat upp processen med olika ansatser inom programmering.Since first of july 2018 the school's curricula in mathematics in Sweden were changed, and programming in mathematics teaching became mandatory. The purpose of this study was to get a picture and examples of how the change was received and how it was implemented or planned to be implemented at some different schools in Sweden. The study used a qualitative method with semi-structured interviews involving four active teachers. The data was partly analyzed from the didactic transposition. The schools did not consider themselves fully ready to integrate programming into mathematics education. The study has shown that there was a need for greater familiarity with teachers in programming and an increased progression of the students' knowledge with digital tools before it could be incorporated into the teaching as desired. However, all schools had more or less started up the process with different approaches in programming

“If you take the woman from the family for only a week, everything will crumble down.” : An Ecofeminist Perspective on Social Entrepreneurship in Kenya

The Kenyan society is patriarchal, has an alarming rate of deforestation where rural farmers, especially women, are highly affected by climate change. There is little research on companies operating in dry areas with a mission to address poverty, ecology and women. The objective of this study was therefore to understand how an investment model can alleviate poverty in rural Kenya and what the consequences of doing so are for the local community. This was answered using a qualitative research approach presented in an ethnographic case study, conducting 29 interviews. The field research took place at three different locations at Better Globe, an agroforestry company operating in dry areas who mainly employ and work with women in rural Kenya. Our research, analysed through an ecofeminist lens, demonstrates that the local community benefits on several areas; access to water, employment, firewood and grass, microfinance, training and education. However, there is a big power distance within the company and a high dependency from the workers as Better Globe is the sole big employer in the region. We welcome further research between the merging of ecofeminism and business, operating within the structures of the patriarchal and capitalist society.