”Gullgraving i sandkassa? Profittmuligheter og uttak av verdier fra private barnehager”.

The purpose of this study is to give an idea of the profit opportunities that exist in the private kindergarten sector, including whether profitability at daycare centres is linked to specific ownership structures or other characteristics.

The author makes several reservations about the results and points out that the suggestions for profit opportunities should be seen in the light of the methods and analysis approaches applied, which have not been used before in profitability analyses. The study shows that daycare facilities with profit motives are more likely to generate a higher surplus than facilities without profit motives. On average, the private kindergarten sector has solid profits, but at the same time variation is great, as some daycare facilities have large deficits, whereas others have large profits. Daycare facilities run as private limited companies and daycare facilities with sole proprietors generate the greatest surplus. The author concludes that the financial gain in connection with a relatively small reduction in the staff can be significant.

The study is based on data from Statistics Norway. Data material consists of figures from 3,252 privately owned daycare facilities which have submitted annual accounts for 2010. This data material was analysed using statistical methods, for example regression analysis.

Lunder, T.E. (2011). ”Gullgraving i sandkassa? Profittmuligheter og uttak av verdier fra private barnehager”. Bø i Telemark: Telemarksforskning.