| dc.description.abstract | This thesis documents and analyses patterns associated with international bonds issued by Norwegian firms and compares them with patterns of domestic bond issuances. The analysis is focused towards characteristics and features at firm level. The analysis is based on empirical data from the recent period of 1998 – 2008 in order to encourage and guide future research. Three particularly noticeable patterns have been found: (1) The firms which issue bonds internationally have very different characteristics compared to the firms issuing only domestically. Firms issuing internationally have a significantly larger amount of assets, higher profitability, higher level of investment and ability to service debt. (2) Despite the link between firms doing business abroad and issuing bonds abroad, the shipping and fishfarming industries appear to be more attracted to the prominent and renowned features of the Norwegian domestic market. (3) Only 3 of the 25 banks underwriting domestic issues are responsible for underwriting Norwegian bonds internationally. This indicates that the recognition of the underwriter is as important as the recognition of the firm. These findings are then discussed in the light of existing theoretical views. | no_NO |
