Skatteforsk congratulates Jens Christian Haatvedt, who successfully defended his doctoral thesis at NMBU on Thursday 8 October 2026. His achievement marks an important milestone for the centre and its work to develop research expertise and connect academic research with public sector practice.
Jens Christian Haatvedt holds a master’s degree in economics from the University of Oslo and works as a senior adviser at Helfo, the Norwegian Health Economics Administration. He completed his doctoral research while working full time at Helfo, bringing practical experience from public administration into his research.
— I was motivated by the opportunity to study questions that are relevant to my work at Helfo in a more systematic way. Combining academic research with my regular work has allowed me to step back and look at familiar processes from a different perspective, Haatvedt says.
His doctorate was undertaken through the Public Sector PhD scheme, with funding from the Research Council of Norway and Helfo. His main supervisor was Professor Annette Alstadsæter, Director of Skatteforsk, with Oddbjørn Raaum of the Ragnar Frisch Centre for Economic Research as co-supervisor.
— Working with Annette has been a great experience. She is creative, good at finding solutions to difficult problems, and a lot of fun to work with, he says.
The doctoral work was connected to the innovation project Lærende kontroll, which brought together Helfo, Skatteforsk, the Norwegian Institute of Public Health and the Centre for e-Health at the University of Agder. The project aimed to develop tools using data and machine learning to prevent incorrect healthcare reimbursements and make reporting easier for healthcare providers seeking to follow the rules. Read our earlier article about the collaboration.
Haatvedt’s thesis, Four essays on data-driven compliance and enforcement in trust-based healthcare systems, examines how data, information and audits influence general practitioners’ use of Norway’s National Insurance reimbursement system.
— The most important takeaway from my research is that relatively small measures to improve compliance can have surprisingly large effects, Haatvedt says.
Across four articles, he explores the groundwork needed to use administrative data securely, the effects of information messages and the consequences of auditing claims for e-consultations. In one study, GPs among the 15 per cent with the highest reimbursements received a message highlighting their high reimbursement levels and encouraging correct reporting. Their claims fell by 4.6 per cent over nine months.
Another study, based on a nationally representative audit conducted by Helfo in 2023, found errors in more than 40 per cent of e-consultation claims. Further analysis showed that being audited led to lasting changes in doctors’ billing behavior. The findings provide evidence that can help public authorities use data, information and targeted audits to improve compliance in healthcare reimbursement systems.