NHH professor appointed to New Nav expert committee

Katrine V. Løken is Professor of Economics at NHH and Vice Rector for Research. She has been appointed to a new government expert committee reviewing Nav. Photo: Sigrid Folkestad
Katrine V. Løken is Professor of Economics at NHH and Vice Rector for Research. She has been appointed to a new government expert committee reviewing Nav. Photo: Sigrid Folkestad
By Sigrid Folkestad

25 February 2026 12:42

NHH professor appointed to New Nav expert committee

Katrine V. Løken has been appointed to a new expert committee that will provide advice on how Nav should be organised in the future.

According to Nav (2025), 700,000 people of working age were outside employment and education last year. This corresponds to 20.5 percent of the population aged 20 to 66.

In response, Minister of Labour and Social Inclusion Kjersti Stenseng has appointed an expert committee to conduct a comprehensive review of the agency, 20 years after the Nav reform.

– Nav’s main mission is to help more people into work and reduce reliance on benefits. At the same time, those who need assistance must receive it at the right time. To succeed, we need to determine whether Nav is adequately equipped for the future. Therefore, we need a comprehensive review now, 20 years after the Nav reform, Stenseng said in a press release.

Katrine V. Løken is Professor at the Department of Economics and affiliated with the Centre of Excellence FAIR. She also serves as Vice Rector for Research at NHH.

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The committee will assess Nav’s responsibilities and organisational structure, cooperation with the education and health sectors, and how the agency can contribute to preventing dropout and including more people in working life.

It will also consider:

  • the potential for further digitalisation
  • how partnerships within local Nav offices can be better utilised
  • whether regulations and organisational structures hinder goal achievement

The expert committee:

  • Frode Forfang (Chair), former Director of the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration
  • Tone Fløtten, Senior Researcher at Fafo
  • Talieh Sadeghi, Research Director at OsloMet
  • Katrine V. Løken, Professor at NHH
  • Erik Stene, Director at the Norwegian Board of Health Supervision
  • Bjørn Gudbjørgsrud, Municipal Director of Lillestrøm
  • Liza Øverdal, Municipal Director of Sokndal
  • Roar Olsen, Director at the Norwegian Government Secure Platform Services
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