| 1. |
- Ahmadi, Zahra, 1966-
(author)
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The role of market orientation in public housing companies: : A study of MO’s effect on construction strategies
- 2018
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- The development of public housing companies in Sweden is strongly influenced by legal, economic, and demographic changes. The companies long tradition of taking responsibility for customer welfare in living have recently been criticized for excessive dominance over price setting, which is claimed to give them competitive advantages in the housing market. New legislation in 2011 requires financial return on investment, implying increased competition with radical changes for the companies. Because of the law, they find themselves transitioning from the role of being responsible for living conditions in Sweden to having to work in a businesslike manner with increased competition.The purpose of this dissertation is to analyze how the public housing companies’ deal with market orientation constructs and what their impact is on construction strategy choices. Theoretically, the market orientation concept is seen as a tool for companies to create superior value for the customers and influence strategic performance, which is a relationship tested and analyzed in this dissertation.The research was conducted through data collection stages using qualitative and quantitative methods. In the first stage, a qualitative pilot study was conducted with interviews of 15 managers in 11 public housing companies in central Sweden. In the second stage, two quantitative comparative studies of public and private housing companies in declining markets in central Sweden were conducted, collecting data from 23 (22 survey respondents) public and 37 private housing companies (16 respondents). In the third and final stage, two quantitative studies were conducted, collecting data from all 289 public housing companies (165 respondents) in Sweden.Results of the five studies show, firstly, that economic condition in the municipality have a major impact on the housing companies’ construction strategies, causing them to act innovatively in order to create superior customer value. Secondly, market orientation efforts contribute to competitive advantages in growing markets, while weak economic conditions limit the companies’ construction strategy choices in declining markets. After analyzing the link between market orientation constructs and construction strategy in declining markets, results showed that the public housing companies demonstrate higher responsiveness to customer demands compared to the private sector, but these have no effects on construction strategy. Thirdly, the analysis of moderating (external) and mediating (corporate social responsibility) effects on the market orientation and construction strategy relationship confirms that economic conditions in society influence construction strategy planning and decisions. The results of the mediating effects of CSR indicate that environmental and social issues have a positive influence on the market orientation and construction strategy relationship.
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| 2. |
- Azasu, S., et al.
(author)
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Using constructive alignment to improve student research and writing skills : A case study of a master's program in real estate management
- 2015
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In: International Journal of Learning and Change. - 1740-2875 .- 1740-2883. ; 8:1, s. 83-100
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The purpose of the paper is to describe and analyse efforts to integrate research into teaching in a postgraduate degree program in real estate management. The long term goals of the changes were to increase graduation rates as well as the quality of dissertations. In order to validate our findings, the data for this paper emanate from a three main sources, namely; students' course evaluations, students' grades and a qualitative assessment of the students' thesis proposals made by senior lecturers. The results show that the first cohort of students found it stressful when individual research writing was introduced towards the end of their studies. With a more gradual and earlier introduction of writing in a series of courses in the program, coupled with changes in assessment tasks, the second cohort found individual research writing less stressful and more beneficial. Performance in the second cohort improved in appreciable ways.
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| 3. |
- Berggren, Björn, 1972-, et al.
(author)
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Does the increase in house prices influence the creation of business startups? : The case of Sweden
- 2017
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In: Region. - : European Regional Science Association. - 2409-5370. ; 4:1, s. 1-16
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Entrepreneurs are at the core of economic development in that they start new businesses or make existing firms grow. To fulfill this important role, entrepreneurs need access to financing. Owing to information asymmetry and the relatively high risk associated with business startups, many financiers shy away from engaging in relationships with firms during the early stages of their development. Based on the existing body of knowledge on the financing of entrepreneurship, we know that insider finance is of paramount importance in the early stages of firms’ development. We expand this knowledge base by analyzing the influence of house prices on business startups across municipalities in Sweden. In our analysis, we include data from all municipalities in Sweden. Our data on house prices and control variables are collected in period one, and our data on the frequency of startups are collected in period two. We find that rising house prices in a municipality lead to a higher frequency of startups. In our spatial Durbin model, we find that a 1% increase in house prices leads to around 0.15% increase in startups. Our findings are in line with the limited international research that has been previously conducted, and therefore, our study might make a small but vital addition to this growing body of knowledge within the area of entrepreneurship and regional development.
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| 4. |
- Berggren, Björn, 1972-, et al.
(author)
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Homeownership and entrepreneurship A regional and industrial analysis of house prices and startups
- 2019
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In: International Journal of Housing Markets and Analysis. - : EMERALD GROUP PUBLISHING LTD. - 1753-8270 .- 1753-8289. ; 12:3, s. 456-473
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyze the relationship between housing markets and new firm formation in six different industries in all 284 municipalities in Sweden. Design/methodology/approach The authors have used data from Statistics Sweden and The Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Growth to develop a model to analyze the relationship between house prices and industry-specific new firm formation, with the interaction effect of financial infrastructure. Findings In the data, stable high house prices have no effect on entrepreneurship. However, a market with rising house prices has a positive effect on new firm formation, in retail, construction, business-to-business services and miscellaneous sectors, but produced no effect in either mining, agriculture and fishing or in manufacturing. The interaction between rising house prices and financial infrastructure does not change the positive effect on retail, business-to-business services and miscellaneous sectors, but within the construction industry, the positive effect on new firm formation disappears. In manufacturing, the authors observe the opposite - a positive effect, instead of no effect previously. Originality/value The contribution of this study is to provide evidence of how house prices are associated with entrepreneurship in different industries, as well as analyzing how the interaction between house prices and financial infrastructure is associated with entrepreneurship. By separating observations in time, endogeneity is controlled and a causal relationship where higher house prices is postulated, which leads to an increase in entrepreneurial activity in different industries. By using a spatial Durbin model, the authors control for spatial dependency.
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| 5. |
- Ho, Cynthia Sin Tian, 1994-
(author)
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Bank branches and Entrepreneurship : A spatial analysis of new firm formation in Swedish regions and industries in a changing financial landscape
- 2019
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Licentiate thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- The purpose of this thesis is to analyse how bank branch closure has affected the formation of new firms and to explore the varying local relationships between the accessibility of bank branches and new firm formation in 290 Swedish municipalities. In the first paper, the effect of bank branch closure is examined through spatial econometric analysis, in particular, the fixed effects and the random effects spatial panel models. The findings of the first paper show that an increase in the weighted distance to the nearest bank branches due to bank branch closure negatively affects new firm formation, based on the random effects spatial panel model. The analysis also shows that spatial effects should be included in the analysis due to spill-over effects from neighbouring municipalities. In the second paper, the varying relationships between new firm formation and its determinants in 290 Swedish municipalities are examined through Geographically weighted regression (GWR). Mostly positive relationships with new firm formation are shown for firm density, human capital level, industry diversification level and percentage of immigrants living in the area. In contrast, mostly negative relationships are shown for weighted mean distance to the nearest bank branches, establishment size, unemployment rate, industry specialization. Spatially constrained multivariate clustering is also applied to group municipalities with similar conditions. Patterns in the industry composition and the location attributes are analysed for each cluster.
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| 6. |
- Ho, Cynthia Sin Tian, 1994-, et al.
(author)
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The Influence of Bank Branch Closure on Entrepreneurship Sustainability
- 2018
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In: The Influence of Bank Branch Closure on Entrepreneurship Sustainability.
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We study the influence of bank branch closure on new firm formation in Sweden, with a panel database that captures the geographical locations of all the Swedish bank branches from 2000 to 2013. Using spatial econometric analysis at a municipal level, we show that bank proximity to firms is vital for entrepreneurship to thrive and sustain in Sweden. From the Fixed-Effects spatial models, the increase in distance to the banks due to bank branch closure is shown to affect new firm formation negatively. The further a firm is located away from the bank, the higher the monitoring cost is for the banks. The increase in distance also results in an increase in information asymmetries because of the banks’ eroded ability to collect soft information about the borrower firm. Due to high risks associated with the lack of information and uncertainty, banks might not be as willing to loan money to a distant firm compared to a nearby firm. Furthermore, the presence of neighbourhood spillover effects is evidenced through the Moran’s I statistics, which means that the omission of spatial effects in the analysis would have resulted in biased estimates.
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| 7. |
- Magnus, Norberg, 1972-
(author)
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On the Nature of the Multidimensional Firm–Bank Exchange
- 2016
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Licentiate thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- The purpose of this study is to explore the nature of firm–bank exchange. Using a qualitative research method and existing theory, by capturing transaction-based and relationship-based elements, I examine ten firms and eight different bank services important for the exchange between the firms and their banks. The study indicates that the exchange is more complex than previous theories have proclaimed, since the nature of the exchange differs when central elements of different bank services are compared. There are bank services, such as bank account and loans, which have a high degree of both transaction-based and relationship-based elements. Saving and investment are also indicated as consisting of both transaction-based and relationship-based elements. Other services, such as depositing of cash, digital depositing and payments clearly have a higher proportion of transaction-based elements than of relationship-based elements, but depositing of cash differs somewhat from digital depositing regarding some of the elements investigated. The study suggests that advising has a high level of relationship-based elements, while the transaction-based elements are much less evident. For the service exchange of money, both transaction-based and relationship-based elements are present at a level below medium. In total this demonstrates that the firm–bank exchange has a multidimensional nature.
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| 8. |
- Mitraka, Evangelia, 1986-
(author)
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Conducting Polymer Electrodes for Oxygen Reduction Reaction
- 2018
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Both the pollution level of the environment and the increasing energy demands have stimulated intense research on the development of low-cost environmentally-friendly energy conversion and storage systems with high efficiency, such as metal-air batteries and fuel cells.One of the most essential parts of both fuel cells and metal–air batteries is the air-electrode which is responsible for the reduction of O2. The air-electrode can use O2 from air facilitating the layout of the device; however, the process taking place on it is significantly complex. Currently, platinum (Pt) is the benchmark for air-electrodes in such technologies, although it is expensive and exhibits other important disadvantages which diminish the fuel cell performance. Therefore, extensive research has been devoted to reduce the amount of Pt used in air-electrodes and to develop a noble metal-free version of these electrodes.The area of printed electronics could facilitate the development of low-cost electrodes produced in high volume for such applications. Conducting polymers are attractive materials for this technology because they may combine several desired properties, like electronic conduction, ionic conduction and catalysis of electrochemical reactions.Among other conducting polymers, poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) emerged as an alternative cathode catalyst material to Pt, due to its ability to effectively catalyze the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), while it also exhibits high electrical and ionic conductivity.The focus of this thesis is to study the electrocatalytic activity and mechanism of the conducting polymer poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) when employed as an airelectrode in energy storage devices, such as fuel cells and metal-air batteries. Although PEDOT is extensively studied during the last decade as an air-electrode for fuel cell and metal-air batteries, vital pieces of the catalytic mechanism that PEDOT follows remain unknown, namely: (i) the sites of PEDOT on which O2 interacts and (ii) the intermediate species which are formed during the ORR. The content of this thesis tackles these topics, both from experimental and theoretical point of view. Moreover, it investigates the use of PEDOT as an active electrocatalyst in a polymer exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell, by embedding the polymer in a cellulose matrix, aiming to fabricate a gas diffusion electrode for the ORR side of the device. Finally, the goal of the thesis surpasses the limit of the p-doped PEDOT and undertakes the evaluation of a n-type conjugated polymer of high electron affinity as a cathode in reduction processes.
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| 9. |
- Silver, Lars, et al.
(author)
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Entrepreneurial control aversion and bank financing in Swedish SMEs
- 2015
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In: Banks and Bank Systems. - : Dilovi Perspektyvy,Business Perspectives. - 1816-7403. ; 10:1, s. 65-74
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In this paper the authors argue that for the development of SME's, the learning process is instrumental for an open approach towards external financiers, including new owners. The analysis shows that firms learn to handle control aversion step by step, as they gain competence and experience through their relationship with external financiers. In this paper a linear structural equation modelling program, Lisrel, is used to analyze a sample of 281 firms (out of an original sample of 545 firms, yielding a response rate of 51.2 percent). The firms have less than 200 employees, and the sample includes both manufacturing and service firms. The questionnaire includes both attitudinal and factual aspects of control aversion and financing.
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