Contractual Form and Performance in the Norwegian Bus Industry 1986-96

The Norwegian public transport market has experienced a significant development over the last decade. Over this period the number of independent companies have declined from 220 to 83, the two largest groups have through mergers and buy outs achieved control over more than 40% of the market. The regulating regime has changes from net cost contracts based on historical concessions through negotiated contracts based on normalised costs and efficiency agreements to tendered contracts in some counties, so far based on full cost. During the same period the operating unit cost has declined by approx. 20%, the subsidy rate by approx. 1/3 from 37% to 24%, and production has grown slightly. To test hypothesises about factors affecting the cost level at company and county level we have collected accounting and production data for all the companies for the period 1986-96 Statistics Norway. This pooled time series cross section data set is used to estimate the effect of contractual form, economy of scale and scope, subsidy level on cost pr vehicle km, controlling for factors as passenger density, route speed and urban area. The same data and variables are applied to test hypothesises of market efficiency measured by cost pr passenger km.Institute of Transport and Logistics Studies. Faculty of Economics and Business. The University of Sydne

The effects of risk on initial trust formation

This paper seeks to expand our understanding of initial trust by looking at how variation in risk influences the nature of trust and the process of initial trust formation. Four hypotheses were tested in two experiments involving participants with and without work experience. A first hypothesis suggested a positive relationship between a general propensity to trust and initial trust; a second hypothesis, a negative relationship between risk and initial trust; whereas a third hypothesis posited that risk would increase the importance participants place on benevolence and integrity. A fourth hypothesis suggested that risk would have a positive and moderating influence on the effect of out-of-role behavior when presented after role-conformant in-role behavior. Findings are presented and discussed and practical implications suggested

The Problem of Knowledge in the Ethics of Kierkegaard's Works of Love

The Problem of Knowledge in the Ethics of Kierkegaard's Works of Lov

Kierkegaard on Religious Belief and Risk

Kierkegaard on Religious Belief and Ris

Trusting is for doing: on goals, mindsets, and trust

In this paper we seek to disentangle goals and trust, and argue that people’s goals while interacting with other people is likely to influence the experience of trust. This again builds on the assumptions that trust is not merely a basis for decisions but a factor that influences (often favorably) other valued outcomes. Our experience of trust helps us display trust which furthers relational goals (e.g. developing work-relationships). Thus, this paper adopts a pragmatic perspective on trust (Fiske, 1992; James, 1890): Paraphrasing Fiske (1992) and replacing thinking with trusting we argue that “trusting is for doing”. People’s experience of trust constitutes not only a basis for decisions but serves important ends in its own right, enabling people to interact with ease and confidence. People’s experience of trust not only influences peoples’ selection of goals but also influences peoples’ ability to attain those goals once selected. Trust enhances peoples’ ability to effectively influence other people in that people tend to trust people who trust (Williams, 2007, Weber, Malhotra & Murnighan, 2005). Trusting likewise reduces the load on peoples’ information processing capacity, and enables people to more effectively focus on task-interaction enhancing task performance (Schmeichel & Baumeister, 2004). The effects of goals on trust we suggest tend to be automatic, often unconscious and uncontrolled (Bargh & Williams, 2007)

Can intuitive and analytical decision styles explain managers' evaluation of information technology?

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to clarify how IT managers' decision styles affect their evaluation of information technology. Design/methodology/approach – Four different decision styles were assessed in a leadership test directed towards IT managers. Each style included two dimensions: confidence judgment ability and decision heuristic usage. Participants belonging to each style were interviewed and their answers analysed with regard to their reasoning about central areas of IT management. Findings – Results suggest that a decision style combining intuitive and analytical capabilities lead to better evaluations of information technology. Originality/vale – The results of the present study are valuable for the understanding of how decision styles impact on IT management in everyday life

Testing UAVs to perform aerial photographic survey of harp and hooded seals in the West Ice area

Survey report – KV “Svalbard” 16-26 March 2014The aim of the KV “Svalbard” survey was to test two UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) to perform aerial photographic surveys of harp and hooded seal whelping patches on the drift ice in the West Ice area in the Greenland Sea. Digital cameras and a thermal infrared (IR) camera were used. We aimed to explore various survey altitudes and camera settings to obtain an optimal altitude and camera set up for photographing seal pups. Simultaneous use of digital and IR cameras enable us to explore combinations of those to detect and classify seals. Experience obtained from using the UAVs and the quality of the images taken, are promising. Both harp and hooded seals, including pups, were easily identified on the images taken at a flight altitude of 300 m. Also preliminary results from the IR camera are promising. It is, however, necessary to improve the range of the largest UAV and the methods for landing the aircraft on ice floes. Also some technical improvements on both aircrafts and operational equipment should be performe

Early trauma-focused cognitive-behavioural therapy to prevent chronic post-traumatic stress disorder and related symptoms: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Background Early trauma-focused cognitive-behavioural therapy (TFCBT) holds promise as a preventive intervention for people at risk of developing chronic post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The aim of this review was to provide an updated evaluation of the effectiveness of early TFCBT on the prevention of PTSD in high risk populations. Methods We performed a systematic literature search in international electronic databases (MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO, CENTRAL, CINAHL, ISI and PILOTS) and included randomised controlled trials comparing TFCBT delivered within 3 months of trauma, to alternative interventions. All included studies were critically appraised using a standardised checklist. Two independent reviewers selected studies for inclusion and assessed study quality. Data extraction was performed by one reviewer and controlled by another. Where appropriate, we entered study results into meta-analyses. Results Seven articles reporting the results of five RCTs were included. All compared TFCBT to supportive counselling (SC). The study population was patients with acute stress disorder (ASD) in four trials, and with a PTSD diagnosis disregarding the duration criterion in the fifth trial. The overall relative risk (RR) for a PTSD diagnosis was 0.56 (95% CI 0.42 to 0.76), 1.09 (95% CI 0.46 to 2.61) and 0.73 (95% CI 0.51 to 1.04) at 3–6 months, 9 months and 3–4 years post treatment, respectively. A subgroup analysis of the four ASD studies only resulted in RR = 0.36 (95% CI 0.17 to 0.78) for PTSD at 3–6 months. Anxiety and depression scores were generally lower in the TFCBT groups than in the SC groups. Conclusion There is evidence for the effectiveness of TFCBT compared to SC in preventing chronic PTSD in patients with an initial ASD diagnosis. As this evidence originates from one research team replications are necessary to assess generalisability. The evidence about the effectiveness of TFCBT in traumatised populations without an ASD diagnosis is insufficient

Hvordan påvirker ressursbidragene etablering av strategiske samarbeid? En casestudie av 4 industribedrifter

Masteroppgave i bedriftsøkonomi (MBA) - Universitetet i Nordland, 201