NHH Brage (Norges Handelshøyskole)
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Beyond the Diploma : A Detailed Exploration of the Gender Wage Gap : An Empirical Analysis of the Gender Wage Gap among Graduates with Completed First-Stage Tertiary Education
Get PDFA gender wage gap has been thoroughly documented, both in Norway and internationally.
Prior studies have substantiated a significant wage discrepancy between genders among
those holding an MBA, yet comprehensive research into this disparity across other graduatelevel
disciplines remains scarce. The purpose of this thesis is to fill this gap, by examining
the wage gap, not only among business graduates, but also among medicine, law, and
STEM graduates. To examine the gender wage gap in these four educational groups, we
utilize cross-sectional register data from 2019, obtained from Microdata.no. Using recent
high-quality data enables us to determine the severity of the graduate-level wage gap, and
allows for an exploration of potential disparities between different educational groups.
Our analysis reveals a significant wage gap among graduate-level workers with educational
backgrounds in medicine, law, STEM, and business fields. In this combined sample of
graduate-level workers, we identified a raw wage gap of 15.39% and an adjusted wage gap
of 7.98%. In comparison, the unadjusted wage gap in the general working population in
Norway stood at 12.4% in 2019. Thus, our results suggest that the wage gap might be
larger among those with a graduate-level degree than in the general working population.
We also uncover considerable gender wage gaps within the four educational groups.
Moreover, our analysis reveals that the wage gap is substantially smaller among part-time
workers than full-time workers. Additionally, we found that men enter the labor market
with significantly higher wages than women, and that they have a significantly higher
return on experience. At last, we found that the gender wage gap, at large, is greater
among graduate-level workers than among undergraduate-level workers.
In this study, we confirm the existence of a wage gap between men and women at the
graduate level in Norway. To successfully close the wage gap, we suggest several measures.
First, additional research should be conducted to understand why men experience a higher
return on experience. Moreover, we recommend initiatives to encourage more women to
pursue full-time positions. The promotion of efforts to support and encourage women into
senior roles, where compensation tends to be higher, could also contribute to narrowing
the wage gap. Lastly, altering workplace structures and shifting societal expectations
might further reduce segregation in the workforce.nhhma
Man vs. Machine: An applied study comparing a man-made lexicon, a machine learned lexicon, and OpenAI's GPT for sentiment analysis.
No full textSentiment analysis, at scale, has become an essential tool in the methodological toolbox of
finance. In this thesis, we construct a sentiment lexicon using a supervised machine learning
model by Taddy (2013) and compare it to the traditional finance lexicon by Loughran and
McDonald (2011). Additionally, a state-of-the-art AI natural language processing model from
OpenAI's GPT family is introduced to challenge both of these classical lexical sentiment analysis
approaches. Utilizing unbalanced panel data regressions, we compare the different approaches
in a "horse race". First, we find that textual sentiment significantly explains stock returns.
Secondly, we find that GPT outperforms both lexical approaches in terms of economic and
statistical significance, with an adjusted R2 of 3.9% versus 2.5% and 2.2% for the machine
learned and Loughran and McDonald lexicon, respectively. Thirdly, we find that by fine-tuning
GPT models for detecting sentiment, the performance increases significantly. Lastly, we find
that the current optimal available GPT model for financial sentiment analysis in the GPT model
library is GPT-3.5-Turbo.nhhma
The 2015 Paris Climate Agreement and stock market performance : An empirical analysis of the stock market reaction across different industries in Europe and the United States
Get PDFAggregated market behavior: We used cumulative average abnormal returns (CAARs) to analyze the aggregated market behavior. There were negative average abnormal returns (AARs) in the days leading up to the announcement and positive AARs in the days following the announcement. The U.S. and European markets were both negative leading up to the event, but the U.S. had a stronger reaction with larger CAARs. In the U.S., the two closest windows to the announcement day (-5:-1, -2:-1) were negative and significant, while in Europe, only one window was significant (-5:-1). Both markets turned positive after the announcement of he PA when the terms of the agreement became known. Thus, the announcement day (�� =14.12.2015) was a clear shifting point in the market sentiment for the period around the Paris Agreement in both markets. Our interpretation of this shift is that the market viewed the terms of the Paris Agreement as good for business.
Industry market behavior: We used the cumulative abnormal return (CAR) of each industry to analyze the market behavior of each industry. Most industries followed the same pattern as the aggregated market, with a negative CAR before the announcement and a positive CAR after. We expect emissions-heavy industries to have a stronger market reaction. In the windows looking exclusively before the announcement (-15:-1, -7:-1, -5:1, -2:-1), many "brown" industries are among the industries with the biggest negative CARs (Oil, Gas & Consumable Fuels, Construction Materials, Metals & Mining, and Automobiles). The "brown" industries are also among those with the biggest positive CARs in the after windows. This positive CAR in the after period reduces the net effect in the whole period, measured in the equal windows (-15:15, -10:10, -5:5, -2:2) with an equal number of days before and after the announcement. The equal windows have small CARs and low significance levels. Accordingly, it is not possible to say anything conclusive about the market reaction of these industries over the entire period. Beta change: We looked at the beta change of individual industries to measure changes in systematic risk for each industry. We found significant beta changes in eight industries with synchronized behavior in both markets. Two industries, Metals & Mining and IT Services, had an increased beta, which is associated with increased risk. The six industries with reduced beta and reduced risk were: Containers & Packaging, Construction Engineering, Airlines, Communication equipment producers, Electronics equipment producers, and the Entertainment industry.nhhma
Rentebegrensningsregelen fra 2019 : En analyse av hvordan Norske Skog berøres av regelen
Get PDFFlernasjonale konsern har insentiv til å flytte gjeld til selskaper i land med relativt høy skattesats
for å maksimere skatteskjoldet fra rentekostnader innad i konsernet (tynn kapitalisering). Som
følge av dette har OECD og EU ATAD utarbeidet anbefalinger og regler for hvordan medlemsland
kan implementere rentebegrensningsregler for å motvirke tynn kapitalisering. Land som Sverige,
Finland, Storbritannia, Tyskland og Danmark har innført regler i tråd med EU ATAD og OECD,
hvor netto rentekostnader kan avskjæres hvis de overstiger en fradragsramme på mellom 25-30%
av skattejustert EBITDA. Finland og Tyskland har i tillegg innført en balansebasert unntaksregel,
som innebærer at selskap kan få fullt fradrag for netto rentekostnader dersom egenkapitalandelen
til selskapet er tilsvarende eller høyere enn egenkapitalandelen til det globale konsernet. Norge
innførte rentebegrensningsregler i 2014 etter at gjeldene praksis ikke ble ansett som tilstrekkelig
for å motvirke tynn kapitalisering. I 2019 ble reglene endret, som medførte at alle typer
rentekostnader kan avskjæres for selskaper i konsern. Det ble også innført en balansebasert
unntaksregel.
I denne masteroppgaven analyserer vi hvordan endringen av den norske rentebegrensningsreglen
fra 2019 har påvirket den norske delen av Norske Skog-konsernet, og hvordan selskapene har
tilpasset seg de nye reglene. I analysen benytter vi oss av årsregnskap fra perioden 2018 til 2020,
og undersøker om det foreligger vesentlige endringer i avskårne renter og kapitalstruktur etter
regelendringen.
Vi finner indikasjoner på at selskaper med mulighet til å anvende den balansebaserte
unntaksregelen fra 2019 i større grad finansieres med konsernintern gjeld enn de andre selskapene
i konsernet. Videre er det også verdt å merke seg at Norske Skog ASA hadde en vesentlig økning
i egenkapitalandel fra 2018, samt at selskapet hadde høye eksterne rentekostnader. Det er riktignok
vanskelig å fastslå en konklusjon på hvorvidt de observerte endringene skyldes
rentebegrensningsregelen fra 2019. Dette fordi det ikke foreligger tilstrekkelig med opplysninger
om skattemessige størrelser i årsregnskapene. Avslutningsvis spekulerer vi i hvordan et selskap
hjemmehørende i et skatteparadis kan sette opp en konsernstruktur som drar fordel av den
balansebaserte unntaksregelen.nhhma
Market Reactions to ESG News : How do negative firm specific ESG news affect the market value of public companies in Europe and the US?
Get PDFIn this master thesis, we examine how negative ESG news specific to individual firms impact
the market value of publicly traded companies in the US and Europe over a short term period.
We assess news events of 329 listed companies in the period between 2010 and 2020. Initially,
we conduct an event study with the full sample to test a general but fundamental hypothesis and
analyze whether we can find negative abnormal returns that are significantly different from zero
following firm specific negative ESG news.
Moreover, to provide further insight, we perform three additional event study analyzes with
split samples. To examine whether companies with higher ESG commitment are being
penalized by the market, we split the sample using UN Global Compact membership as a proxy.
Furthermore, we split the sample based on the reach of the media source that reported the
incident, and lastly whether the incident was new or recurring for the individual firms.
Our analysis reveals a significant negative abnormal return for ESG incidents that were
considered novel for the companies. Additionally, incidents reported by limited reach media
sources also show a marginally significant negative impact. Moreover, our findings indicate
that companies operating within specific industries tend to face more pronounced negative
abnormal returns when the news incidents are related to environmental issues. Furthermore, we
find marginally significant results of companies with higher ESG commitment experiencing
larger negative abnormal results. However, concerning our general research question, we
cannot find evidence suggesting that ESG news has a significant negative effect on a public
company’s market value in the short term.nhhma
Replikeringsevnen til passive fond i det europeiske markedet : En analyse av replikeringsmetoder og ulike faktorers påvirkning på replikeringsevnen til indeks- og børsfond
Get PDFMed bakgrunn i den økte populariteten ved investering i passive fond undersøker vi tre
metoder som anvendes når fondene skal kopiere referanseindeksen, full, delvis og syntetisk
replikering. Ved bruk av 152 indeks- og børsnoterte fond som investerer i Europa i perioden
2013 til 2022, undersøker denne oppgaven hvilken replikeringsmetode som følger
referanseindeksen tettest og hvilke faktorer som kan påvirke replikeringsevnen. Målt ved
relativ volatilitet observerer vi at det er syntetiske fond som evner å kopiere referanseindeksen
tettest, mens det er fond med full replikering som skaper en meravkastning. Vi finner at fond
med større totalkapital har en høyere differanseavkastning, og høyere representative kostnader
påvirker differanseavkastningen i negativ retning. Eldre fond har lavere differanseavkastning,
og de får høyere relativ volatilitet enn yngre fond. Til slutt observerer vi at fond som følger en
indeks med høy utbytteavkastning fører til en høyere differanseavkastning hos fondet.nhhma
Optimal Allocation of Norwegian Offshore Wind Power : A Copula Approach : How can a thoughtful placement of offshore wind parks reduce variability in production output?
Get PDFThis thesis investigates how to optimize stable wind production along the coast of Norway.
The research is carried out by studying how well a compound dependency model, consisting
of a time series and copula model, for simulation of wind power data performs compared
to historical data when optimizing a portfolio for wind power production areas. The
weights for the areas in the portfolio are computed so that the areas with the most stable
joint power production are included. The findings of this research will contribute to the
understanding of how effective different optimization approaches for offshore wind park
placements are and provide insights into the selection of optimal areas for offshore wind
power development in Norway.
The study's findings indicate that portfolio optimization performed on simulated data
performs better than on historical data. Consequently, zero and low production values are
reduced, and stability is increased for the portfolio made with simulated data. Moreover,
Value at Risk (VaR) is argued to be a better performance measure for stable wind
production than variance. The portfolio distribution when maximizing VaR is more
left-skewed than the portfolio minimizing variance. Thus, maximizing VaR results in a
higher variance, but less zero and low production values, and a higher average production
which is argued to be more important.
The positive effect of dispersed wind parks regarding stable wind production is evident.
Following the pattern of diminishing correlation as distance increases, the optimal
combination of wind parks includes places throughout the Norwegian coast. All areas are
included in the optimal solution, but the most influential areas which should be prioritized
are Sørlige Nordsjø 2, South of Kristiansand, West of Tromsø, and North of Tanafjorden.
When the criteria for stable wind production is extended to include a penalty factor for
low average production, diversification is partly de-prioritized to include areas with high
average production, among these, more southern areas are included.nhhma
The Game Theory of Penalty Kicks : A framework for approximating Nash equilibria
Get PDFThis paper presents a game-theoretic analysis of penalty kicks in football. There must exist a
Nash equilibrium in penalty kicks, but the nature of it depends on the unique abilities of the
penalty taker and the goalkeeper. Thus, this study introduces a flexible framework that
approximates a Nash equilibrium, based on a user-inputted set of player-dependent
assumptions. The study also seeks to improve our general understanding of the characteristics
of Nash equilibria in penalty kicks. This is achieved by investigating a diverse set of playerdependent
assumptions, as well as gradually adding new elements of complexity to the models,
and observing the shifts in the equilibrium.
In the most basic model, the players make a simultaneous choice, where the penalty taker
decides where to aim, and the goalkeeper decides which area to cover. The penalty taker isn’t
able to shoot with perfect accuracy, so the hit-coordinate will likely differ from the aimcoordinate.
In later models, the penalty taker is also allowed to choose the velocity of the ball,
which in turn impacts the area coverage of the goalkeeper. In the final model, an element of
sequential choice is added, such that the penalty taker may pretend to shoot, and observe if the
goalkeeper starts to move.
The Counterfactual Regret Minimization algorithm is employed to locate the Nash equilibrium,
while an enhanced Coordinate Search algorithm is developed for determining the optimal aimcoordinates
for the penalty taker. The most complex and realistic model indicates that the
penalty taker should abstain from aiming at the middle region of the goal, and rather either
pretend to shoot, or shoot at one of the sides. This is because the goalkeeper needs to stay in
the middle fairly often, to avoid revealing their intention in the case where the penalty taker
pretends to shoot. It’s also viable for the goalkeeper to commit to diving to either side without
waiting to observe the trajectory of the ball.nhhma
Multi-Periodic Distributional-Robust Stackelberg Game with Price-History-Dependent Demand and Environmental Corrective Actions
Get PDFThe paper investigates a multi-period supply channel facing uncertain and price-history dependent demands and environmental regulations. The knowledge about the demands is limited to its mean and standard deviation in each period, .e., there is incomplete information on the actual distribution. A distributional robust approach is conducted to address incompleteness. The chain is incorporating environmental policies such as pollution constraints and (optimal) corrective taxes. A single contract covers all periods. Numerical examples highlight the benefits of a single contract
Prising av villaforsikring : En kvalitativ studie av prisprosesser blant norske forsikringsaktører
Get PDFDenne masterutredningen kartlegger hvordan norske forsikringsaktører fastsetter pris for
villaforsikring i privatmarkedet. Ved utførelse av fem semistrukturerte intervjuer legger den
kvalitative studien til rette for å undersøke hvordan prosessen for prisfastsettelse foregår,
hvilke prismetoder og prisstrategier som utøves, samt hvordan faktorer som variabler og
konkurransesituasjonen påvirker prisfastsettelsen. Avgrensningen forankres i egne
utarbeidede utvalgskriterier basert på at aktørene representerer skadeforsikringsbransjen med
variasjoner i bedriftsstørrelse og har forsikring som hovedtilbud, samtidig som informantene
har beslutningsmyndighet og kompetanse om prisfastsettelsen.
Studiens hovedfunn kartlegger samvariasjon i prisprosessen, hvor samtlige av aktørene,
uavhengig av bedriftsstørrelse, fastsetter pris for villaforsikring basert på predikasjon av risiko
gjennom dataanalyser i tre hovedkategorier av variabler og kostnadsanalyser ved
selvkostmetoden. De mindre aktørene i utvalget baserer dessuten prisfastsettelsen i større grad
på kundevariabler enn de større aktørene, noe som samsvarer med aktørenes segmenterte
prisstruktur basert på kundenes karakteristika for å maksimere verdien. De mindre aktørene i
utvalget avviker imidlertid i større grad fra selvkostmetoden ved å benytte
penetreringsstrategier, gjeldende markedspris, følge prislederen og hyppigere utøve
prisrabatter. Dette forankres i en klar differensieringsstrategi med pris som hovedvariabel, noe
som samsvarer med motivet for økt vekst og en overordnet oppfatning av høyere konkurranse
enn de største aktørene.
Det overordnet motivet bak prisfastsettelsen for samtlige av informantene er økt bærekraftig
avkastning. Gitt teoretiske implikasjoner ved dagens prismetoder, selvkost og markedsbasert
prising, vil aktørenes optimalisering av profitt sjeldent oppnås. Dette legger fundamentet for
å adressere dagens implikasjoner i prisfastsettelsen og fremlegge strategiske forbedringstiltak.
Ved å implementere elementer av en segmentert prisstruktur kombinert med verdibasert
prising, kontrollere for faktorer som påvirker priselastisiteten, prispolitikk og
priskommunikasjon vil studiens sekundære formål oppfylles ved å utgjøre et
handlingsgrunnlag for å forbedre dagens prisatferd. I tillegg må villigheten og evnen til å
diskutere og utføre endringer, fremfor å basere prisfastsettelsen på etablerte rutiner som dagens
praksis, utføres i takt med makromiljøets dynamiske endringer. Dette legger til rette for at
fremtidens prisstrategier håndterer trusler og utnytter muligheter for å bevare og ytterligere
øke lønnsomheten.nhhma