Using survey data to study capitalization of local public services

We use surveys in which respondents evaluate local amenities in Norway to compute proxy variables for the quality of local public services as well as other local amenities relevant to location decisions. Average satisfaction reported by the respondents is computed for each amenity and each municipality, adjusted for sample variation in personal characteristics and included as explanatory variables in a cross-section study of house prices. We find that house prices are increasing in satisfaction with health care, cultural activities and public transportation, suggesting that the quality of local public services indeed affects the attractiveness of a residential site. When the analysis is repeated with input measures of service levels instead of satisfaction variables, we find no effects of local public services on house prices, indicating that traditional Tiebout studies based on input measures may have underestimated the importance of local public services for location decisions.Capitalization; Local public services; Survey data

Drumagog og elektroakustisk trommesett i sanntid

Masteroppgave rytmisk musikk- Universitetet i Agder, 201

Kommuneoverføringer som regionalpolitisk virkemiddel

Prosjektet har hatt som hovedmål å analysere regionale sysselsettingseffekter av en økning i det kommunale konsumet på én prosent. Utgiftsøkningen holdes konstant i reelle termer, under tre ulike måter å ta ut det økte konsumet på. Det er først foretatt analyser på nasjonalt nivå med SSBs makroøkonometriske modell MODAG. Deretter er det på grunnlag av de nasjonale analysene foretatt regionale analyser, dels ved hjelp av SSBs regionale modell REGARD, og dels gjennom direkte beregninger på kommunenivået etter tre alternativer for hvordan økningen i det kommunale konsumet fordeles på landets kommuner. Det er i prosjektet også gjennomført flytteanalyser, dels for å måle effektene på nettoflytting av en økning i det kommunale konsumet på én prosent, og dels for å måle effektene på individers flytting av det kommunale tjenestetilbudet

Fish consumption by great cormorants in Norwegian coastal waters—a human-wildlife conflict for wrasses, but not gadids

Piscivorous wildlife is often perceived as competitors by humans. Great cormorants of the continental subspecies (Phalacrocorax carbo sinensis) in the Baltic and North Sea increase, while local cod (Gadus morhua) stocks decline. In contrast, numbers of the Atlantic subspecies (Phalacrocorax carbo carbo), breeding along the Norwegian and Barents Seas, have been relatively stable. We investigated the diet of both great cormorant subspecies in breeding colonies along the Norwegian Coast from Lofoten to the Skagerrak and estimated the biomass of fish consumed annually by great cormorants in Norwegian waters. The birds’ consumption was compared with estimated fish stock sizes and fishery catches. Cod and saithe (Pollachius virens) dominated the diet in the Norwegian Sea and wrasses in the North Sea and Skagerrak. Estimated total fish consumption of cod and saithe by great cormorants was <1.7% of estimated fish stocks and <9% of that of human catches and therefore considered minor. Cormorant consumption of wrasses amounted to 110% of human catches. The practice of using wrasses as cleaner fish in the salmon farming industry leads to a conflict with cormorants, and we urge for a better understanding and management of wrasse populations, taking ecosystem functioning and natural predation into account. diet analysis, fish stock size, Gadus morhua, Labridae, metabolic rate, North Atlantic, NorwaypublishedVersio

Career identity, an entrepreneurial perspective : a qualitative study of entrepreneurship students’ career identity

Bakgrunn: Politikkutformingen og forskningen har fokusert på oppstartsvirksomhet og selvansettelse som suksessindikatorer for entreprenørskapsutdanninger. Dermed har flertallet av studentene, de som ikke velger å bli gründere, paradoksalt nok vært neglisjert som fokus i forskningen. Hurtig digitalisering og gjentatte finansielle kriser har de siste årene ført til turbulente verdensmarkeder og skapt økt etterspørsel i arbeidsmarkedet etter kandidater med entreprenørielle kunnskaper. Utvikling av karriereidentitet blir ansett som en nødvendig prosess for å fremme entreprenørielle motiver og handlinger, og er en kritisk brikke i et individs evne til å tilpasse seg arbeidsmarkedet. I litteraturen er det likevel svært begrenset forskning på hvordan karriereidentitet utvikles i løpet av entreprenørskapsutdanningen og hvorvidt dette påvirker karriereaspirasjoner. Det kreves derfor mer forskning for å forstå hvordan entreprenørskapsutdanning påvirker utviklingen av karriereidentitet og studentenes evner til å tilpasse seg arbeidsmarkedet. Hensikt: Formålet med denne oppgaven har vært å skape en forståelse for hvordan entreprenørskapsutdanning påvirker utviklingen av karriereidentitet blant entreprenørskapsstudenter, og videre hvordan entreprenørskapsstudenter tester, tilpasser og videreutvikler sin karriereidentitet i arbeidslivet etter endt utdanning. Vi har søkt å skape denne forståelsen gjennom å svare på følgende problemstilling: Hvordan utvikler entreprenørskapskandidater sin karriereidentitet gjennom studieløpet og i møtet med arbeidslivet? Metode: For å besvare problemstillingen har vi gjennomført en fenomenologisk studie med individuelle dybdeintervju av alumni fra entreprenørskapsutdanning. Anerkjent identitetsteori knytter utvikling av karriereidentitet til utviklingen av “fortellinger om seg selv”. Intervjuene ga oss innsikt i informantens repertoar av selvfortellinger som i stor grad speiler informantens identitet og gir et bilde av informantens utvikling i konteksten av karrierevalg og kulturen valgene er gjort i. Funn og implikasjoner: Funnene i oppgaven bekrefter og viderefører etablert identitetsteori inn i et entreprenørskapsperspektiv. Gjennom deltakelse i ulike sosiale arenaer utfører entreprenørskapsstudentene en utviklingsprosess i tre steg der de skaffer seg en økt mulighetsforståelse, eksperimenterer med provisoriske væremåter og evaluerer utfall. Gjennom denne utviklingen på entreprenørskapsutdanningen formes studentenes entreprenørielle identitet, som senere blir tatt med inn i arbeidslivet. Vi har videre lansert begrepene Endringsagent og Stabilisator. Disse er karakteristikker av individer med henholdsvis høy og lavere grad av entreprenøriell identitet. Gjennom disse begrepene avdekkes sammenhenger mellom informantenes entreprenørielle identitet, karrierevalg og strategier for tilpasning og videreutvikling i arbeidslivet. Med utgangspunkt i funnene legger vi frem en ny konseptuell modell for entreprenørskapsstudenters utvikling av karriereidentitet gjennom utdanningen og arbeidslivet. Funnene viser blant annet sammenhenger mellom entreprenørskapsutdanningen, utviklingsprosesser og påvirkningsfaktorer som har praktiske implikasjoner for utdanningsinstitusjoner. Videre bidrar funnene til å skape en forståelse av hvordan den entreprenørielle identiteten fremstår i arbeidslivet og gir anbefalinger for videre forskning.Background: Policies and previous research have focused on start-up activities and self-employment as success indicators for entrepreneurship education. The majority of the students, those who do not choose to become entrepreneurs, have thus paradoxically been neglected as a focus of research. In recent years, rapid digitization and repeated financial crises have led to turbulent world markets and created an increased demand in the labor market for candidates with entrepreneurial knowledge. The development of a career identity is argued to be a necessary process to promote entrepreneurial motives and actions, and is a critical piece of an individual's ability to adapt to the labor market. In the literature, however, there is limited research on how career identity is developed during entrepreneurship education and whether this affects career aspirations. More research is needed to better understand how entrepreneurship education affects the development of career identity and the students' ability to adapt to the labor market. Purpose: The purpose of this thesis has been to create an understanding of how entrepreneurship education influences the development of career identity among entrepreneurship students, and how entrepreneurship students test, adapt and further develop their career identity in their working life after graduation. We have sought to create this understanding by answering the following research question: How do entrepreneurship candidates develop their career identity through their studies and their encounter with work life? Method: To answer the research question, we conducted a phenomenological study including individual, in-depth interviews of alumni from entrepreneurship education. Recognized identity theory links the development of career identity to the development of “stories about oneself”. The interviews gave us insight into the informant's repertoire of self-narratives that largely reflect the informant's identity and provided us an understanding of the informant's development in their career. Findings and implications: The findings of the thesis confirm and extend established identity theory in an entrepreneurial perspective. Through participation in various social arenas, entrepreneurship students carry out a three-step development process in which they gain a greater understanding of opportunities, experiment with provisional behaviors and evaluate outcomes. Through the entrepreneurship education, the students' entrepreneurial identity is formed, and later brought into the working life. We have then introduced the terms Change Agent and Stabilizer. These are characteristics of individuals with high and lower degrees of entrepreneurial identity, respectively. Using these terms we reveal relationships between the entrepreneurial identity, the candidate’s career choices and their strategies for adaptation and further development in the workplace. Based on the findings, we present a new conceptual model of entrepreneurship students' development of career identity through education and working life. The findings show, among other things, connections between entrepreneurship education, development processes and influencing factors that have practical implications for educational institutions. Furthermore, the findings help to create an understanding of how the entrepreneurial identity is expressed in the workplace and make recommendations for further research.M-E

Seabird beachcast events associated with bycatch in the Norwegian purse seine fishery

Beachcast events, where a large number of seabird carcasses drift ashore, occur with irregular intervals. These events are due to specific situations where mass mortality of seabirds have occurred. Disentangling the cause of these events can provide valuable information on stressors impacting seabird populations. Following several mass mortality events involving gulls in northern Norway, an investigation of the probable cause of death was initiated. In total 75 dead gulls were collected at two occasions and necropsies were carried out. The findings from the necropsy of the gulls were consistent with drowning as the primary cause of death. Bycatch in coastal purse seine fishery was considered a potential cause of the mortality and monitoring of seabird bycatch in this fishery was thus initiated. The monitoring of fishing operations revealed that 10% of 91 fishing events observed led to bycatch, with a total of 32 bycaught seabirds. These bycatch events resulted in a total estimated bycatch rate of 0.356 (95% CI = 0.133-0.949) birds per haul. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that the registered mortality events were caused by bycatch in the purse seine fishery. The highly episodic and unpredictable nature of these events makes it demanding to achieve solid estimates of the occurrence and extent of bycatch without a very high monitoring effort. Our study shows that systematic investigation following beachcast events can shed light on the occurrence of such extreme events

Implications of Regurgitative Feeding on Plastic Loads in Northern Fulmars (Fulmarus glacialis): A Study from Svalbard

Procellariiform seabirds like northern fulmars (Fulmarus glacialis) are prone to ingest and accumulate floating plastic pieces. In the North Sea region, there is a long tradition to use beached fulmars as biomonitors for marine plastic pollution. Monitoring data revealed consistently lower plastic burdens in adult fulmars compared to younger age classes. Those findings were hypothesized to partly result from parental transfer of plastic to chicks. However, no prior study has examined this mechanism in fulmars by comparing plastic burdens in fledglings and older fulmars shortly after the chick-rearing period. Therefore, we investigated plastic ingestion in 39 fulmars from Kongsfjorden (Svalbard), including 21 fledglings and 18 older fulmars (adults/older immatures). We found that fledglings (50–60 days old) had significantly more plastic than older fulmars. While plastic was found in all fledglings, two older fulmars contained no and several older individuals barely any plastic. These findings supported that fulmar chicks from Svalbard get fed high quantities of plastic by their parents. Adverse effects of plastic on fulmars were indicated by one fragment that perforated the stomach and possibly one thread perforating the intestine. Negative correlations between plastic mass and body fat in fledglings and older fulmars were not significant

Seabirds reveal mercury distribution across the North Atlantic

Author contributionsC.A. and J.F. designed research; C.A., B. Moe, A.T., S.D., V.S.B., B. Merkel, J.Å., and J.F. performed research; C.A., B. Moe, M.B.-F., A.T., S.D., V.S.B., B. Merkel, J.Å., J.L., C.P.-P., and J.F. analyzed data; C.A., B.M., V.S.B., and J.F. sample and data collection, data coordination and management, statistical methodology; H.S. sample and data contribution and Data coordination and management; D.G., M.B.-F., F. Amélineau, F. Angelier, T.A.-N., O.C., S.C.-D., J.D., K.E., K.E.E., A.E., G.W.G., M.G., S.A.H., H.H.H., M.K.J., Y. Kolbeinsson, Y. Krasnov, M.L., J.L., S.-H.L., B.O., A.P., C.P.-P., T.K.R., G.H.S., P.M.T., T.L.T., and P.B. sample and data contribution; A.T., P.F. and S.D. sample and data contribution and statistical methodology; J.Å. statistical methodology; J.F. supervision; and C.A., B. Moe, H.S., D.G., A.T., S.D., V.S.B., B. Merkel, J.Å., F. Amélineau, F. Angelier, T.A.-N., O.C., S.C.-D., J.D., K.E., K.E.E., A.E., P.F., G.W.G., M.G., S.A.H., H.H.H., Y. Kolbeinsson, Y. Krasnov, S.-H.L., B.O., A.P., T.K.R., G.H.S., P.M.T., T.L.L., P.B., and J.F. wrote the paper.Peer reviewe

Six pelagic seabird species of the North Atlantic engage in a fly-and-forage strategy during their migratory movements

Bird migration is commonly defined as a seasonal movement between breeding and non-breeding grounds. It generally involves relatively straight and directed large-scale movements, with a latitudinal change, and specific daily activity patterns comprising less or no foraging and more traveling time. Our main objective was to describe how this general definition applies to seabirds. We investigated migration characteristics of 6 pelagic seabird species (little auk Alle alle, Atlantic puffin Fratercula arctica, common guillemot Uria aalge, Brünnich’s guillemot U. lomvia, black-legged kittiwake Rissa tridactyla and northern fulmars Fulmarus glacialis). We analysed an extensive geolocator positional and saltwater immersion dataset from 29 colonies in the North-East Atlantic and across several years (2008-2019). We used a novel method to identify active migration periods based on segmentation of time series of track characteristics (latitude, longitude, net-squared displacement). Additionally, we used the saltwater immersion data of geolocators to infer bird activity. We found that the 6 species had, on average, 3 to 4 migration periods and 2 to 3 distinct stationary areas during the non-breeding season. On average, seabirds spent the winter at lower latitudes than their breeding colonies and followed specific migration routes rather than non-directionally dispersing from their colonies. Differences in daily activity patterns were small between migratory and stationary periods, suggesting that all species continued to forage and rest while migrating, engaging in a ‘fly-and-forage’ migratory strategy. We thereby demonstrate the importance of habitats visited during seabird migrations as those that are not just flown over, but which may be important for re-fuelling.publishedVersio