Abstract

Master's thesis in Economics Norway has acted as a laboratory for electric vehicles. It has taken a leading role in the introduction of electric vehicles and the development of a sustainable electric vehicle market. According to a recent report from the Norwegian Electric Vehicles Association (NEVA), electric vehicles in Norway have enjoyed increasing sales of almost one-third per year. Given this staggering rise, the purpose of this study is to identify the variables that impact people’s intent on electric vehicle adoption in Norway. An online survey is conducted to determine the selection factors for the behavioral intentions of 280 individuals towards electric vehicles in Norway. Applying multiple regression analysis, the study finds that environmental concern, subjective norms, reception of economic benefits, and overall perception of electric vehicles have a statistically significant influence on people’s behavioral intention to buy an electric vehicle. The regression analysis concludes that the direct effect of the reception of economic benefit (β = 0.309) is more significant than the direct effect of subjective norms (β = 0.291) and the perception of electric vehicles (β = 0.241). Our findings provide a better understanding of Norwegian consumers’ motivations in buying electric vehicles and should guide the government, electric vehicle manufacturers, and investors in Norway to better marketing and incentivization decisions.

Abstract

The paper addresses a transport market consisting of two firms with goals extending beyond pure profit maximisation. Considering that transport companies often have public owners and that managers have different objective that the owners, it is argued the firms maximise a weighted sum of profits, revenues and total consumer surplus. The paper analyses equilibrium fares and quantities arising from collusion and competition on price (Bertrand) and quantity (Cournot), when the firms produce symmetrically differentiable services and have identical cost and goal functions. Special focus is given to analyzing how the firms’ costs, the degree of substitutability and complementarity between their services and their goal functions influence equilibrium prices in the three different competitive situations. The influence of parameters included in the model regarding the differences between the equilibrium prices is also addressed. The study provides relevant knowledge for transport authorities of how transport firms respond to changes in competitive regimes depending on their objectives and competitive situation. Document type: Article