Leiv Opstad Professor,
Norwegian University of Science and Technology Trondheim, p 53-60

Abstract
A key requirement within higher education is to identify which factors influence academic success. The current paper investigates students’ performance at a business school in Scandinavia. This study includes around 200 students. By using a linear regression model, we analyse the impact of different explanatory variables. The results show that gender and age have little impact on grades achieved. Academic results from upper secondary school also have only a minor influence. The most important indicator of undergraduates’ performance for subjects in the second and third year is GPA (grade point average) from the first year. But it depends on the kind of business course. There is a clear link between performance in a subject during the first year and later outcomes in the same field.

Keywords: GPA, undergraduates, business school, success, regression model

Citation: Opstad, Leiv, Johannes Idsø and Robin Valenta. 2022. The
Dynamics of the Profitability and Growth of Restaurants; The Case of
Norway. Economies 10: 53. https://doi.org/10.3390/economies10020053

Abstract: The restaurant industry is quite similar across borders. It is a labour-intensive industry
that is important for tourism and employment. It consists mainly of many small businesses that are
regionally dispersed. There are many studies that have analysed this sector. However, rather few
articles have focused on the dynamics of growth and profit. The purpose of this paper is to apply the
theory of profit persistence and the law of proportionate effect (LPE) to Norwegian restaurants by
using publicly available public panel data from 2010 to 2019. The sample includes 866 restaurants.
One important finding is that Gibrat’s law (LPE) does not seem to hold, meaning the growth is not
independent of the size of the firms. Small businesses grow faster than the others, and they are also
more profitable. There is some degree of profit persistence in the restaurant industry. Profitability is
negatively linked to debt ratios but positively related to working capital. The study shows there is a
trade-off between size and profit. These findings are useful for the industry and for others (public
planning, lenders, and more).
Keywords: restaurant industry; GMM estimator; panel data; profit persistence; Gibrat’s law; law of
proportionate effect (LPE); Norway

Citation: Opstad, L.; Idsø, J.; Valenta,R. The Dynamics of Profitability
among Salmon Farmers—A Highly Volatile and Highly Profitable Sector.
Fishes 2022, 7, 101. https://doi.org/10.3390/fishes703010

Abstract: Salmon farming stands out from many other industries with its very high profitability,
but it is also highly volatile. The main question is whether the profit of individual firms is stable, or
whether profitable firms change from year to year. The purpose of this article is to apply the theory
of profit persistence to answer this question for salmon farming in Norway. By using panel data
from 2010 to 2019, available from public statistics, we study the relative deviation from the average
profits. We estimate the speed of adjustment to the profit norm by using a dynamic GMM estimator.
We find a high degree of convergence to the average profit among salmon farmers. For companies
belonging to the group with below-average profit, there is a positive correlation between growth and
profitability and a negative link between debt ratio and deviation of profit rate. Our finding is that
although the Norwegian aquaculture industry has large profits, there is large volatility in the profits
of this industry. This is useful knowledge for investors, lenders, public authorities and others who
need to know something about the risk in the aquaculture industry.
Keywords: salmon farming; GMM estimator; panel data; profit persistence; Gibrat’s law; law of
proportionate effect (LPE); Norway