Volatility smile arising from the Black-Scholes model is a long studied subject in option pricing theory. By analysing higher order derivatives of the model, I hope to put another perspective to the problem. Accoridng to a study on the American S&P 500 future options, about 90% of the risks of holding an option in five days can be removed by using higher order derivatives of Black-Scholes. The

This project is set at the crossing of two burning topics of our time: the often ignored problematics of displaced people around the world; and the recently much more debated question of global warming. That these seemingly diverse thematics are deeply connected with each other becomes clear just by reading the IPCC* report from 2007 on global warming. As this report suggests, the real danger lies

Syftet med uppsatsen är att studera hur nyckelpersoner på Malmö Opera använder sig av ledarskap för att leda anställda mot mål och visioner. Vår metod inriktar sig på att testa teorier i ledarskap på Malmö Operas verklighet. Detta genom att analysera teorierna mot det intervjumaterial vi insamlat av nyckelpersoner från Malmö Operas ledningsgrupp. Fyra nyckelpersoner från ledningsgruppen besvarar f

In this study the relationship between the US stock market and the oil market is examined in terms of volatility and co-volatility. A multivariateGARCH approach is therefore applied by using an asymmetric BEKK model on daily returns which cover the period from 1 January 2002 to 31 December 2008. The linkage between the markets is further explored with the creation of news impact surfaces for the c

With increasing labor and capital mobility in the world, remittance flows have risen significantly to become the second source after FDI of external funding for developing countries. Remittances are now viewed by many development practitioners as an important development tool for recipient countries. This paper studies the impact of remittances on poverty in Albania –one of the top 20 remittance-r

The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether there is evidence of performance persistence among 726 funds with net asset values denominated in Euros. The study is carried out on data ranging from April 1992 to April 2009. Persistence is searched for in raw, risk adjusted and alpha performance. The results attained provide evidence for the distinguishing of performance persistence in the sho

Reducing and eradicating poverty is one of humanities pressing challenges, one that the UN Commission of Legal Empowerment of the Poor has taken on. This thesis describes the prevailing poverty of South African farm workers and dwellers and explores why the empowerment efforts that have been made have not lifted them out of poverty. The results of this study are contrasted with the results of the

In recent years the importance of lobby organizations in the American foreign policy making has increased. One organization that has gained significant influence is the Israel lobby. In this study I present the actors involved in the making of American foreign policy, the relationship America has with Israel and the strategies used by the Israel lobby to gain their influence. I use liberalism to d

Genom att lägga ut verksamhet utomlands hoppas företag på att bli mer konkuranskraftiga då detta kan innebära lägre kostnader, expansionsmöjligheter och tillgång till välutbildad och flexibel personal. Detta benämns som offshoring vilket står i centrum i detta arbete. Offshoring av IT verksamhet är ett aktuellt och växande fenomen i dagens globaliserade värld. Som många andra IT projekt så är det

In recent years a lot of criticism against the main assumptions of economic modeling has come to up, this has led to physicists entering the field of economics. By applying models originally developed for physics to economics, especially finance, analyzing methods with a different approach can be used. Inspired by earthquakes Didier Sornette created a model that analyze financial market crashes. W

Through qualitative semi-structured interviews this study deals with some key questions related to the issue of integration based on the experiences of five Southeast Asian women residing in the Faroe Islands. The motivation behind the study is the apparent lack of awareness and interest among indigenous Faroese and politicians concerning immigrants and the almost complete absence of research on t

LGBTs (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) in Lebanon have for a long time been a target of oppression were legal, economic and social factors have contributed to their historical marginalization. While the Lebanese Penal code in article 534, is criminalizing homosexuality the law is rarely applied and is primarily used to violate the privacy of gay and lesbians by denying them basic human rig

Authors: Sanna Fyledal and Sanne Hjalmar Title: Business and pleasure or victimization –media images of male and female prostitution Supervisor: Katarina Jacobsson Assessor: Håkan Jönsson Prostitution is often described as a female phenomenon in texts describing occurrence, spread and actions against prostitution. Male prostitution was only mentioned briefly, to state the lack of knowledge and in

This paper focuses on measurement methods of credit risk. By modeling credit default swap spreads and predicting possible defaults of corporations with the use of default probabilities this paper makes the search for consistent methods to measure and manage risk by constructing plausible forecasts of contingent corporate defaults. The purpose of this paper is to emphasize advantages and disadvanta

This thesis studies all regional risk- and vulnerability analyses of Swedish county administrative boards from 2006. The method used in this descriptive study is direct content analysis based on theoretical models and relevant research areas. In total, 51 questions for each of the 20 county administrative boards has been answered where some answers have been quantified. The results of the study re

This work presents a rule-based character-recognition system for the Korean script, Hangeul. An input raster image representing one Korean character (Hangeul syllable) is thinned down to a skeleton, and the individual lines extracted. The lines, along with information on how they are interconnected, are translated into a set of hierarchical graphs, which can be easily traversed and compared with a

The aim with this report was to evaluate whether it is possible for the county administration in Skåne to assess the emergency preparedness in the county based on available documented information produced in the county’s municipalities. Seven municipalities’ documented emergency preparedness was evaluated using a direct content analysis. The analysis was based on an assessment template reflecting

Abstract In this study I have sought to understand the conditions for knowledge and objectivity in family assessment-work. I have used a philosophical theory to reach understanding of what possibilities and obstacles there are for an assessor in trying to reach knowledge about, and to be objective in, working with child and family-assessment. To fulfill my purpose I have made one group- and one s

Problem/Bakgrund: Flexibiliseringen av arbetslivet har påverkat och ändrat arbetsförhållandena för människor. I den här studien undersöker vi arbetsflexibilitetens konsekvenser så som de upplevs av enskilda individer i arbeten som innebär en frihet vad gäller arbetstider, distansarbete och eget ansvar. Syfte: Vi ämnar pröva om sociologen Richard Sennetts teori stämmer för svenska arbetsförhållan

This papers examines the impact Transnational Advocacy Networks have had on the process for Human Rights Accountability in Uruguay. Uruguay has an amnesty law in place since 1986, but have in spite of this managed to prosecute main figures of the 1973-1985 dictatorship, and the amnesty law is currently seriously challenged. The 'Network thesis', regards these Transnational Advocacy Network