nep-dcm New Economics Papers
on Discrete Choice Models
Issue of 2008‒08‒06
two papers chosen by
Philip Yu
Hong Kong University

  1. Analyzing the determinants of willingness-to-pay values for testing the validity of the contingent valuation method. Application to home care compared to hospital care By Marie-Odile Carrère; Nathalie Havet; Magali Morelle; Raphaël Remonnay
  2. Redeveloping Derelict and Underused Historic City Areas: Evidence from a Survey of Real Estate Developers By Paolo Rosato; Anna Alberini; Valentina Zanatta; Margaretha Breil

  1. By: Marie-Odile Carrère (GATE - Groupe d'analyse et de théorie économique - CNRS : UMR5824 - Université Lumière - Lyon II - Ecole Normale Supérieure Lettres et Sciences Humaines, GRESAC - Groupe de Recherche en Economie de la SAnté et réseaux de soins en Cancérologie - CNRS : FRE2747); Nathalie Havet (GATE - Groupe d'analyse et de théorie économique - CNRS : UMR5824 - Université Lumière - Lyon II - Ecole Normale Supérieure Lettres et Sciences Humaines); Magali Morelle (GATE - Groupe d'analyse et de théorie économique - CNRS : UMR5824 - Université Lumière - Lyon II - Ecole Normale Supérieure Lettres et Sciences Humaines, GRESAC - Groupe de Recherche en Economie de la SAnté et réseaux de soins en Cancérologie - CNRS : FRE2747); Raphaël Remonnay (GATE - Groupe d'analyse et de théorie économique - CNRS : UMR5824 - Université Lumière - Lyon II - Ecole Normale Supérieure Lettres et Sciences Humaines, GRESAC - Groupe de Recherche en Economie de la SAnté et réseaux de soins en Cancérologie - CNRS : FRE2747)
    Abstract: The contingent valuation (CV) method is an attractive approach for comparing home care to hospital care in which the only difference is patients’ well-being during the treatment process and not health outcomes. We considered the empirical situation of blood transfusion (BT) in cancer patients and collected willingness to pay (WTP) values among BT users. Our main objective was to test the validity of the CV method, namely its ability to elicit true preferences. Firstly, possible determinants of WTP values and their expected influences were identified, from both economic and non economic literature and from the findings of a pilot study. Secondly, they were compared to predicted influences resulting from appropriate econometric analysis of WTP values elicited by a bidding process. From the health economics literature it appeared that the double-hurdle model is the most appropriate approach to account for zero values and protest responses. However, because the number of protest responses was too small, we used a truncated regression model. None of the 7 hypothesized influences was invalidated by econometric results. The anchoring bias hypothesis was confirmed. The WTP for home BT compared to hospital BT increased with household income, with previous experience of home care, with living far from the hospital and with low quality of life. Conversely, it was lower for advanced-stage (palliative or terminal) than for early-stage (curative) patients. We conclude that the CV approach is acceptable to severely ill patients. Moreover, WTP values demonstrate good validity given that influences predicted by our model are consistent with expected determinants.
    Keywords: contingent valuation ; validity ; protest responses ; censored data ; home care
    Date: 2008
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-00303725_v1&r=dcm
  2. By: Paolo Rosato (Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei); Anna Alberini (Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei); Valentina Zanatta (Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei); Margaretha Breil (Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei)
    Abstract: Infill redevelopment—the transformation of previously used urban sites—is generally regarded as an important way to attain environmental and urban sustainability goals. At many locales, however, such urban renewal, community development, and tax revenue goals must be reconciled with historic preservation objectives. Are economic incentives and regulatory relief useful tools for encouraging reuse of abandoned or underutilized urban sites with historic buildings? Answering this question is of key importance for many European cities and for older US cities, and has important implications in terms of urban sustainability and “smart growth” initiatives. We use conjoint choice experiments to explore the relative importance of economic incentives, regulatory relief, land use and property regime offerings at underutilized historical sites in Venice, Italy. We survey real estate developers and investors, and ask them to choose between pairs of hypothetical projects in three Venice locations, as well as between one of these projects and the alternative to do a development project elsewhere. Statistical models of the responses to these choice questions indicate that respondents are sensitive to the price of acquiring the land (and hence to any policies that influence prices), and especially sensitive to the property regime that would be granted to developers and investors and to the allowable land use. Contrary to expectations, our respondents were insensitive to tightening or relaxing the stringency of building conservation restrictions. Our findings sound a common theme with Howland (2004), who warns that redevelopment of previously used sites in Baltimore is impaired by obsolete land uses, zoning and infrastructure (but not by suspected or actual contamination). We conclude that the City should focus on offering land uses and property regimes that are more in tune with developer demand.
    Keywords: Conjoint Choice Experiments, Real Estate Developers, Building Conservation Restrictions, Redevelopment Incentives, Brownfields, Infill Redevelopment
    JEL: Z1 R52
    Date: 2008–07
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fem:femwpa:2008.60&r=dcm

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