The aim of our paper is firstly to review the changes in the ownership structure in the transport companies in Norway after the authorities introduced competitive tendering in 1994. Secondly it is investigated how these structural changes influences the behaviour of the transport companies and finally discuss central implications for the transport authorities regulation policy as a result of the structural and behaviour changes. A central assumption in the study is that the ownership structure, through the transport companies objectives and utility functions, influences the companies market strategies, or that the term behaviour is operationalised by factors like quality level and scale of production. Earlier studies indicate that two main dimensions influence owner objectives. The first dimension is the geographical location of the shareholders. Shareholders outside the area where the company operate are assumed to maximise their profit to a greater extent than local owners. The second dimension is whether shareholders are public enterprises or private firms. Public owners are assumed to maximise welfare to a greater extent than private owners. This implicate that private foreign owners are more focused on profit maximisation while local public owners are more oriented towards welfare maximisation. The applied research design consists of both a descriptive longitudinal study of ownership structure and a cross- sectional study of the involved parts behaviour and attitudes. For the covering abstract please see ITRD E135207.
Abstract