Per Ståle Knardal

Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting Doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11156-026-01503-y

Sustainability reporting has increasingly attracted investors’ attention by providing information critical for informed decision-making regarding a firm’s valuations. However, concerns regarding disclosure quality and the potential for greenwashing have heightened uncertainty around corporate valuations. This study examines how equity investors respond to abnormal sustainability disclosures. We employ textual analysis to generate disclosure measures and explore the relationship between abnormal sustainability disclosures and the cost of equity capital. Using a sample of Swedish listed firms, we find that abnormal disclosures related to uncertainty, negativity, litigiousness, and discretionary disclosure are positively associated with the cost of equity capital. These disclosures also increase cost of equity for firms with high idiosyncratic risk, which may act as a channel to increase the cost of equity capital. By contrast, abnormal positivity is negatively associated with the cost of equity capital among firms with fewer incentives for positive manipulation. Furthermore, investors’ sensitivity to abnormal disclosures is significantly greater following the implementation of the Non-Financial Reporting Directive. Our main findings are robust across alternative measures of abnormal disclosures and multiple robustness tests, indicating that equity investors generally perceive abnormal disclosures unfavorably, effectuating a higher cost of equity capital.

Journal for Research in Arts and Sports Education 9(1) p. 22-42 Doi: https://doi.org/10.23865/jased.v9.6884

Research handbook on major sporting events p. 347-361 Doi: https://doi.org/10.4337/9781800885653.00035

Journal for Research in Arts and Sports Education 5(3) p. 49-64 Doi: https://doi.org/10.23865/jased.v5.2566

This paper explores how a non-governmental organisation, a school band, and the municipal school of music and performing arts (the Kulturskole) collaborate to provide music education. Drawing on the concept of co-production, this paper investigates a case where the Kulturskole and the school band jointly deliver and plan the service of music education. The findings suggest that co-production in this case was perceived to be beneficial in terms of both efficiency and learning. Other broader outcomes were also detected, such as a strengthening of social bonds in the local society. The findings further suggest that in order to make co-production work, it is necessary to establish well-functioning organisational structures and good communication and knowledge transfer between the participants. Hence, the results in this paper inform the development of co-production as a mechanism to bring together a variety of stakeholders in the delivery and planning of arts education.

Sport, Business and Management Doi: https://doi.org/10.1108/SBM-12-2020-0132

Purpose – This paper sought to determine how a major sport event can become trapped in a winner’s curse, in which the fierce competition to host the event forces organisers to spend more on acquiring and hosting it than what it is worth in economic terms. Design/methodology/approach – This study used a combination of document analysis and 47 in-depth interviews with 51 individuals representing various private and public organisations involved in the implementation of the UCI 2017 Road Cycling World Championship. Snowball sampling and a semi-structured interview guide were used to ensure coverage of all relevant information. Findings – The organiser and the host municipal lacked the necessary experience with events of this size and character. Information from previous championships events was not transferred, and the municipality administration did not utilise experiences from hosting previous events. Limited financial resources prevented the organiser from hiring enough employees with the necessary competence. Lack of communication between the stakeholders who contributed in hosting the event reduced the quality of planning and preparations. A dubious culture and lack of seriousness within the Norwegian Cycling Federation, which was the owner of organising company, seemed to have been transferred to organiser. Originality/value – The research identifies some of the reasons why major sports events so often turns out to be more problematic than expected in economic terms, not only for the organiser but also for actors in the public sector in the host city. The novelty is that it goes into depth on the underlying reasons and the dynamic forces behind these problems.

NTNU Idrett forskningskonferanse 2025

20th Biennial CIGAR Conference 25-27/6 2025

This study investigates how sociotechnical imaginaries embedded in national health policies shape management control practices through the implementation of a large-scale electronic health record (EHR) system in Norwegian municipalities. Utilizing an interpretive case study of "Helseplattformen," a high-profile digital transformation initiative, we explore how managerial visions of integrated, data-driven governance are operationalized, negotiated, and contested at the municipal level. Our analysis reveals that municipal managers play a crucial mediating role by actively translating national policy imaginaries into concrete control practices. While the central government presents the EHR system as a tool for enhancing accountability, efficiency, and transparency, its practical enactment exposes significant tensions between these imagined futures and local operational realities. Municipal managers not only implement digital infrastructures; they also engage in considerable emotional, symbolic, and institutional labour to maintain legitimacy and stabilize these visions of control. Conceptually, this paper contributes to management accounting and control literature by highlighting how sociotechnical imaginaries function as upstream authorizing frameworks, shaping what is subsequently inscribed into calculative practices and translated in organizational settings. By explicitly linking imaginaries to empirical processes of digitalization and control, we illustrate how these visions materially reshape public sector management practices and redefine managerial accountability.

European Network for Research in Organisational & Accounting Change (ENROAC) – 14th Conference

This study investigates how sociotechnical imaginaries embedded in national health policies shape management control practices through the implementation of a large-scale electronic health record (EHR) system in Norwegian municipalities. Utilizing an interpretive case study of "Helseplattformen," a high-profile digital transformation initiative, we explore how managerial visions of integrated, data-driven governance are operationalized, negotiated, and contested at the municipal level. Our analysis reveals that municipal managers play a crucial mediating role by actively translating national policy imaginaries into concrete control practices. While the central government presents the EHR system as a tool for enhancing accountability, efficiency, and transparency, its practical enactment exposes significant tensions between these imagined futures and local operational realities. Municipal managers not only implement digital infrastructures; they also engage in considerable emotional, symbolic, and institutional labour to maintain legitimacy and stabilize these visions of control. Conceptually, this paper contributes to management accounting and control literature by highlighting how sociotechnical imaginaries function as upstream authorizing frameworks, shaping what is subsequently inscribed into calculative practices and translated in organizational settings. By explicitly linking imaginaries to empirical processes of digitalization and control, we illustrate how these visions materially reshape public sector management practices and redefine managerial accountability. This study offers implications for broader discussions on New Public Management and digital governance, emphasizing the critical role managerial actors play in mediating policy-driven digital transformations.

BAFA Annual Conference and Doctoral Masterclass

3rd Annual Conference of ASFAAG