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on Discrete Choice Models |
| By: | Mohammed H. Alemu (Department of Food and Resource Economics, University of Copenhagen); Søren B. Olsen (Department of Food and Resource Economics, University of Copenhagen); Suzanne E. Vedel (Department of Food and Resource Economics, University of Copenhagen); Kennedy O. Pambo (Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology); Victor O. Owino (International Atomic Energy Agency) |
| Abstract: | Edible insects are receiving substantial attention because of their potential as a significant future food source of high nutritional value and with important environmental benefits. As a result, there is a focus on the supply side to establish and optimize the insect production sector and develop the value chain. However, as the ultimate success of a product development depends on consumers' product judgement and acceptance, acquiring information about potential demand is of paramount importance for policy advice. In this paper, we aim to give a first insight into the potential demand for termite-based food products (TBFPs) in Kenya. We assess the demand in terms of consumer preferences and willingness to pay using a stated choice experiment method. A novel feature of this paper is that it focuses on how the termites should be presented and introduced, either as whole or processed, in a typical daily meal in order to increase consumer acceptance. Results from the latent class model reveal that consumers prefer and are willing to pay more for TBFPs with high nutritional value and when they are recommended by officials. In addition, results show that high to a very high food safety control levels of the TBFPs are valued positively by most consumers. |
| Keywords: | Stated Choice Experiment; Edible insects; Latent class model; Termite-based food products; WTP |
| JEL: | D12 Q11 Q13 Q18 Q54 Q56 |
| Date: | 2015–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:foi:wpaper:2015_10&r=all |
| By: | Anthony Scott (Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, University of Melbourne); Julia Witt (Department of Economics, University of Manitoba) |
| Abstract: | In the discrete choice experiment literature, it has been argued that the choice sets from which respondents choose should include an unforced choice because this is more realistic and accounts for status quo bias. However, we propose a much stronger set of arguments for preferring to use unforced choices where relevant. These relate to the concepts of loss aversion, reference dependence and diminishing sensitivity from prospect theory. We use data from a discrete choice experiment of different types of jobs for nurses, where the introduction of a third alternative, representing the respondent’s current job, changes the reference point, which is different for each respondent. The increased salience of the reference point, in turn, changes the size of any losses or gains when comparing Job A or Job B with their current situation, and since losses are valued more than gains, this affects the marginal utility of each attribute. This has implications for policy conclusions based on willingness to pay. Including an unforced choice is necessary (when appropriate) not only for the purposes of ‘realism’, but also because different marginal utilities are produced due to loss aversion, reference dependence and diminishing sensitivity. Classification-I11, J24, J32, D80, C99 |
| Keywords: | Discrete choice experiments, loss aversion, reference dependence, diminishing sensitivity, health workforce |
| Date: | 2015–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iae:iaewps:wp2015n16&r=all |
| By: | Myrto Kalouptsidi; Paul T. Scott; Eduardo Souza-Rodrigues |
| Abstract: | Dynamic discrete choice models are non-parametrically not identified without restrictions on payoff functions, yet counterfactuals may be identified even when payoffs are not. We provide necessary and sufficient conditions for the identification of a wide range of counterfactuals for models with nonparametric payoffs, as well as for commonly used parametric functions, and we obtain both positive and negative results. We show that access to extra data of asset resale prices (when applicable) can solve non-identifiability of both payoffs and counterfactuals. The theoretical findings are illustrated empirically in the context of agricultural land use. First, we provide identification results for models with unobserved market-level state variables. Then, using a unique spatial dataset of land use choices and land resale prices, we estimate the model and investigate two policy counterfactuals: long run land use elasticity (identified) and a fertilizer tax (not identified, affected dramatically by restrictions). |
| JEL: | C5 Q1 |
| Date: | 2015–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:21527&r=all |
| By: | Myrto Kalouptsidi; Paul T. Scott; Eduardo Souza-Rodrigues |
| Abstract: | Dynamic discrete choice models are non-parametrically not identified without restrictions on payoff functions, yet counterfactuals may be identified even when payoffs are not. We provide necessary and sufficient conditions for the identification of a wide range of counterfactuals for models with nonparametric payoffs, as well as for commonly used parametric functions, and we obtain both positive and negative results. We show that access to extra data of asset resale prices (when applicable) can solve non-identifiability of both payoffs and counterfactuals. The theoretical findings are illustrated empirically in the context of agricultural land use. First, we provide identification results for models with unobserved market-level state variables. Then, using a unique spatial dataset of land use choices and land resale prices, we estimate the model and investigate two policy counterfactuals: long run land use elasticity (identified) and a fertilizer tax (not identified, affected dramatically by restrictions). |
| Keywords: | Identification, Dynamic Discrete Choice, Counterfactual, Land Use |
| JEL: | C Q1 |
| Date: | 2015–08–31 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tor:tecipa:tecipa-546&r=all |
| By: | Michael Brock (University of East Anglia) |
| Abstract: | This study elicits the values associated with deer-culling and forest management in the UK using choice experiments. Whilst intentions- based choice theories provide improved predictions relative to standard economic models, these still fail to fully capture people's true decision-making. These results suggest an importance to appreciating procedure, consequence and ethics in order to derive realistic conjectures over our preferences for actions which involve moral or 'sacred' values. This work also emphasises the necessity to consider context-specifics when investigating ethically contentious topics. Under an environmental setting, we explore how 'nature connectivity' (or engagement with the natural world) may influence how easily we can achieve sustainable ecological or economic objectives. |
| Keywords: | intentions, doctrine of double effect, choice experiment, nature connectivity, local wildlife valuation |
| JEL: | Q26 Q57 H42 C35 D63 D71 |
| Date: | 2015–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uea:wcbess:15-06&r=all |
| By: | Franco, Daniele; Luiselli, Luca |
| Abstract: | The estimation of wetlands’ non-use values to build up a total economic evaluation can be based on stated preference methods, which derives from the standard economic model that assumes a rational assessment of the consequence of preferences on personal utility. The paper describes the citizens’ shared ecological knowledge (SEK) of wetlands functions. It descibes SEK nature, SEK relation with the official knowledge, the relation between the motivations outlined by SEK and those expected by the standard economic model. The results demonstrate that economic preferences are driven by multiple motivations well rooted in the SEK’s social nature, and not by simply consequential motivations. In this case study, social knowledge of wetlands' ecological functions is proportionally related to people's living proximity to those wetlands. Unexpectedly, SEK of historically well-known and critically important services like hydraulic and hydrologic services has also been diminishing. Furthermore, there is a partial or clear-cut separation between official knowledge and SEK on crucial aspects like wetlands’ climate change role. This approach helps to construct a motivational framework to derive values that are useful as long as they allow accounting for a complex socio-cultural capital in the public decision making process. |
| Keywords: | Wetlands; ecosystem services; ecological functions; public goods; multiple motivation analyses; environmental awareness; perceived utility |
| JEL: | Q5 Q57 Z1 Z13 |
| Date: | 2014–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:66496&r=all |
| By: | de Boer, Henk-Wim (CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis); Jongen, Egbert L. W. (CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis); Kabátek, Jan (Tilburg University) |
| Abstract: | To promote the labor participation of parents with young children, governments employ a number of fiscal instruments. Prominent examples are childcare subsidies and in-work benefits. However, which policy works best for employment is largely unknown. We study the effectiveness of different fiscal stimuli in an empirical model of household labor supply and childcare use. We use a large and rich administrative data set for the Netherlands. Large-scale reforms in childcare subsidies and in-work benefits in the data period facilitate the identification of the structural parameters. We find that an in-work benefit for secondary earners that increases with income is the most effective way to stimulate total hours worked. Childcare subsidies are less effective, as substitution of other types of care for formal care drives up public expenditures. In-work benefits that target both primary and secondary earners are much less effective, because primary earners are rather unresponsive to financial incentives. |
| Keywords: | discrete choice, household labor supply, latent classes, differences-in-differences, work and care policies |
| JEL: | C25 C52 H31 J22 |
| Date: | 2015–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp9298&r=all |