Thor-Erik Sandberg Hanssen

The importance of university facilities for student satisfaction at a Norwegian University

Purpose – This paper aims to explore the influence of higher education institution (HEI) facilities on overall student satisfaction, and to identify the distinct facilities that most strongly influence student overall satisfaction with HEI facilities. Design/methodology/approach – A tailor-made questionnaire is developed to measure student perception about student life, including their perceptions about the facilities at the HEI they attend. Two econometric models are estimated using OLS regression analysis. Findings – The factor that most strongly influences student satisfaction with university facilities is the quality of its social areas, auditoriums and libraries. Conversely, it is determined that computer access on campus does not influence student satisfaction. Research limitations/implications – The sample includes data only from a single university. Moreover, only Norwegian students at the university participated in the survey. Practical implications – Based on our findings, the most effective strategy to improve student overall satisfaction with the facilities at an HEI is to improve the quality of social areas, auditoriums and libraries. Such a strategy will result in students who are more satisfied with the HEI they are attending and, thereby, increase the HEI’s chances of long-term success. Originality/value – To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to identify the facilities that most strongly influence the overall satisfaction of students with the facilities at HEIs.

The value of experience in research

This article examines how different factors influence the number of times articles in the five most recognized transportation journals are cited. The effects of most of the explanatory variables indicating the characteristics of articles, authors and journals correspond with earlier studies of citation counts. Special focus in this study is placed on estimating the relationship between researchers’ human capital or skills and their experience. For the purpose of this study, human capital is defined as a scientists ability to conduct research at the frontier of his or her discipline and is measured by how frequently his or her research is cited. Experience is measured by counting the number of their previous scientific articles. Using negative binomial regression, we find that experience offers a statistically significant positive effect on the human capital of scientists. However, this effect diminishes rapidly with the level of experience. This suggests that young researchers relatively quickly learn the skills and gain the knowledge necessary to produce high-quality research.

Discrimination at the Ports

In transport, the problem of demand exceeding capacity often occurs with congestion as a result. The resulting delays impose substantial efficiency loss. Price discrimination by peak load pricing is a well-recognized way of handling the problem. Such schemes are, however, often politically controversial because they might disadvantage vulnerable groups of passengers. An alternative is the use of a priority scheme. In this paper, a framework positioned within the traditions of cost–benefit analysis is established to examine the welfare effects of granting one group of passengers priority on transport modes characterized by limited capacity and low frequency. The case is a trial arrangement initiated at a rural car ferry crossing in Northern Norway intended to ensure that local commuters (traveling to and from work) can board for the desired departure. With respect to pricing, road authorities have a stated objective that fares and discounts at ferries be equal throughout the nation. Hence, for local political authorities to ensure local commuters a predictable transport alternative by price discrimination is neither desirable nor legal. The empirical evidence demonstrates that loss of social welfare caused by congestion problems at a port can be potentially reduced by introducing such a priority scheme. Recommendations are provided in relation to the number of users required for the priority arrangement to render a positive net benefit for society. This ex ante information is useful for policy makers when they are evaluating whether to initiate such priority schemes to reduce efficiency loss in passenger transport markets.

Discrimination at the ports - the welfare effects of giving commuters priority

In transport, the problem of demand exceeding capacity often occurs with congestion as a result. The resulting delays impose substantial efficiency loss. Price discrimination by peak load pricing is a well-recognized way of handling the problem. Such schemes are, however, often politically controversial because they might disadvantage vulnerable groups of passengers. An alternative is the use of a priority scheme. In this paper, a framework positioned within the traditions of cost–benefit analysis is established to examine the welfare effects of granting one group of passengers priority on transport modes characterized by limited capacity and low frequency. The case is a trial arrangement initiated at a rural car ferry crossing in Northern Norway intended to ensure that local commuters (traveling to and from work) can board for the desired departure. With respect to pricing, road authorities have a stated objective that fares and discounts at ferries be equal throughout the nation. Hence, for local political authorities to ensure local commuters a predictable transport alternative by price discrimination is neither desirable nor legal. The empirical evidence demonstrates that loss of social welfare caused by congestion problems at a port can be potentially reduced by introducing such a priority scheme. Recommendations are provided in relation to the number of users required for the priority arrangement to render a positive net benefit for society. This ex ante information is useful for policy makers when they are evaluating whether to initiate such priority schemes to reduce efficiency loss in passenger transport markets.