Popular press, outreach and rapports 


Rapports: 

SIRUS Rapport med Hans Olav Melberg

English summary: Report for the Norwegian Drug and Alcohol Research Unit  (SIRUS now FHI).

Norwegian municipalities can set their own bar opening hours within the national maximum allowed limit of 3:00 a.m. This study estimates the effect of bar opening hours on bar revenue by using municipal variations in bar revenue and opening hours between 2000 and 2010. Based on data from 220 firms in the industry, we find that a one-hour reduction in opening times was associated with between 9 and 12 percent reduction in revenues for pubs and bars. The results were statistically significant for bar revenue, but less so for average per capita turnover in the industry in a sample of municipalities. 

Popular press

Debattinnlegg i Minerva med Runar Bjørkvik Mæland, 20.04.2021

English summary: Opinion piece on inheritance tax in the Norwegian right-wing periodical Minerva. 

Norway currently has no tax on inheritance while having a progressive income tax.  This opinion piece argues that from a libertarian perspective, such as Nozick or Dworkin, this is unfair. We argue that this libertarian view is in line with people's notions of fairness observed in economic experiments. We argue in favor of a tax scheme with low inheritance tax on large estates and no tax on estates under 10 million NOK. The increase in the state's tax revenues from the tax should be offset by reductions in wage taxes to avoid growth in the Norwegian public sector and to make the proposal distribution neutral.

Coverage


SIRUS Rapport med Hans Olav Melberg

English summary: Report for the Norwegian Drug and Alcohol research unit (SIRUS).

Norwegian municipalities can set their own bar opening hours within the national maximum allowed limit of 3:00 am. This study estimates the effect of bar opening hours on bar revenue by using municipal variations in bar revenue and opening hours between 2000 and 2010. Based on data from 220 firms in the industry, we find that a one-hour reduction in opening times was associated with between 9 and 12 percent reduction in revenues for pubs and bars. The results were statistically significant for bar revenue, but less so for average per capita turnover in the industry in a sample of municipalities. 


Innlegg i Dagens Næringsliv, 30.03.22

 Innlegg i Dagens Næringsliv, 10.04.22

English summary: Two Opinion pieces. One suggests a new market mechanism for the Norwegian electricity market and one explains the political economy reasoning behind the mechanism.

Both are published in Norway`s third-largest newspaper, Dagens Næringsliv. 

Norwegian electricity production is mainly hydroelectric with low production cost. Norway has a substantial net yearly export of electricity and interconnections with the European grid come with potential large efficiency benefits by enabling smoothing of daily consumption variation.   Under the current market system, interconnection also drives up domestic prices. This reduces the political support for these projects.  An additional factor putting pressure on the present market design is the  Norwegian state's ambition to increase its electricity production from sources like wind and gas. As these sources have production prices above the production cost of hydroelectric, this new production is reliant on further interconnection with the  European power grid to be profitable.  A separation of the domestic and export markets is a possible solution giving Norwegian policymakers the ability to pursue both goals of lowering domestic prices while increasing electricity production from higher-cost sources. The newspaper piece proposes a novel market design for hydroelectric producers in Norway to archive these goals and points to some factors determining the policy's desirability.   




"Er det god klimapolitikk å kutte i lønnsom oljeproduksjon?"Debattinnlegg i Nationen  30.09.21,  med Knut Olav Alhaug

"Inntekter fra olje og gass kan brukes til å utvikle miljøvennlig teknologi" i Nordlys 

26.10.2021

English summary: Opinion pieces arguing that Norway should keep extracting oil and natural gas and use the surplus for the development of new climate-friendly technology.


"Handel og samarbeid trenger ikke bety overføring av politisk makt"

Debattinlegg i Bergens Tidene med Reidar Digarness

English summary:  Opinion piece arguing that trade and cooperation do not need to imply a transfer of political power.  The article goes on to argue that Norway should develop a modern and open economy outside of the EU. 

Outreach talks


"Why the west got rich and the Middle East did not; The historical relationship between Political and economic legitimacy" 

1:30 Minutes talk for FAKS, Conservative Students Union of Tromsø 14. March on economic history