Publisert vitskapeleg artikkel

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

SOCIAL SCIENCES AND EDUCATION RESEARCH REVIEW, VOL. 9, ISSUE 1 – 2022, 7-16

DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.6794376

Abstract
COVID-19 gave universities and colleges no choice. They had to switch to digital teaching and
introduce home-based exams as a substitute for ordinary school exams. At the same time, the
ambitions were to maintain the student’s learning outcomes and ensure the exam grade measured the
students’ knowledge and skills. With data from a Norwegian business school, this paper will analyse
if home based exams provide other results than traditional school exams with closed books. The
chosen method is to compare achievements before and during the pandemic and link the performance
to academic skills in other subjects and from upper secondary school. The results suggest that the
measurement of grades changed under COVID-19. This applies to the quantitatively oriented subjects
and the non-quantitative oriented subjects. This is useful knowledge since students’ grades are used
for ranking for further studies and professional careers.
Keywords: COVID-19, Exam design, home-based exam, business students, students’ performance

Athens Journal of Education – Volume 8, Issue 4, November 2021 – Pages 349-360

doi=10.30958/aje.8-4-1

Original version

. Abstract

The discussion of whether multiple-choice questions can replace the traditional exam
with essays and constructed questions in introductory courses has just started in Norway.
There is not an easy answer. The findings depend on the pattern of the questions.
Therefore, one must be careful in drawing conclusions. In this research, one will explore
a selected business course where 30 percent of the test is comprised of multiple-choice
items. There obviously are some similarities between the two test methods. Students
who perform well on writing essays tend also to achieve good results when answering
multiple- choice questions. The result reveals a gender gap where multiple-choice based
exam seems to favor the male students. There are some challenges in how to measure the
different dimensions of knowledge. This study confirms this. Hence, it is too early to
conclude that a multiple-choice score is a good predictor of the outcome of an essay
exam. This paper will provide a beneficial contribution to the debate in Norway, but it
needs to be followed up with more research.

Keywords: multiple choice test, constructed response questions, business school, gender,
regression mode

Global Conference on Business and Finance Proceedings. 2021, 16 (2), 109-119

.Johannes Idsø, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, Norway
Leiv Opstad, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway

ABSTRACT
The price level in Norway is very high and this has put limits on the number of visitors. However, the last
decade there has been significant fluctuations in the exchange rate, and this has probably affected the travel pattern. This article will examine this by focus on camping tourism the last twenty years. Furthermore, we want to see how increased income has affected its use, especially tents and caravans. The analysis is based on aggregated annual data. This limits the ability of advanced quantitative methods. This research shows that the use of campsites is sensitive to the fluctuations of the exchange rate. Taking into account the time lags in the planning, this study suggests the elasticity with regard to the exchange rate is above 1.0. Furthermore, a trend is recorded where tents and caravans have become less popular especially among domestic users. One explanation may be income development. The results are relevant for the planning of campsites.

JEL: L83, Z32
KEYWORDS: Tourism, Tourist Inflow, Exchange Rate, Campsites, Income