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on Discrete Choice Models |
| By: | Jack,B. Kelsey; McDermott,Kathryn; Sautmann,Anja |
| Abstract: | Multiple price lists are a convenient tool to elicit willingness to pay in surveys andexperiments, but choice patterns such as “multiple switching” and “never switching” indicate high error rates.Existing measurement approaches often do not provide accurate standard errors and cannot correct for bias due toframing and order effects. This paper proposes to combine a randomization approach with a random-effects latent utilitymodel to detect bias and account for error. Data from a choice experiment in South Africa shows that significantorder effects exist which, if uncorrected, would lead to distorted conclusions about subjects’ preferences. Templatesare provided to create a multiple price list survey instrument in SurveyCTO and analyze the resulting data usingthe proposed methods. |
| Date: | 2022–09–13 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:10173&r= |
| By: | Leidimari Neves Do Prado (BETA - Bureau d'Économie Théorique et Appliquée - AgroParisTech - UNISTRA - Université de Strasbourg - UL - Université de Lorraine - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement); Jens Abildtrup (BETA - Bureau d'Économie Théorique et Appliquée - AgroParisTech - UNISTRA - Université de Strasbourg - UL - Université de Lorraine - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement) |
| Abstract: | Brazil is the largest buyer of pesticides in the world and allows the use of chemicals that have long been banned in other countries. One in four Brazilian cities has water polluted by agrochemicals, and the poorest and most vulnerable suburban communities are considered to be suffering disproportionately from this exposure to pesticide contamination of drinking water. To increase the quantity and improve the quality of water, in 2012, the Pipiripau River Basin (PRB) was selected as the site of one of the main pilot studies in Brazil for the protection of water resources. However, the Payment for Environmental Services (PES) currently implemented in the Water Producer Programme (WPP) does not address pesticide use reduction as an environmental service. In this study, we report the result of a survey of land owners in the basin and in particular the results of a Discrete Choice Experiment (DCE) applied to estimate the potential Pipiripau Basin landowners' Willingness-To-Accept (WTA), compensation for reducing the use of agrochemicals on their land. This study is the first to apply a dce to analyse policies for pesticide reduction and the protection of water resources in Brazil, and there are very few studies worldwide on the topic to date. We find that the contract characteristics are important determinants of the WTA. Furthermore, farm and landowner characteristics also impact the estimated WTA, including, for example, the farm type, the current use of pesticides, and who is involved in the decision-making. We also find clear evidence that profit considerations are not the only determinant of landowners' decision to participate in a pesticide use reduction scheme. |
| Date: | 2022–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-03770448&r= |
| By: | Hoy,Christopher Alexander |
| Abstract: | This paper examines how the progressivity of taxes and government transfers impactspeople’s willingness to pay tax through a randomized survey experiment with over 30,000 respondents across eightdeveloping countries. Respondents increased (decreased) their willingness to pay taxes when they received accurateinformation that taxes in their country are progressive (not progressive). These effects were predominantly driven byrespondents in cases where the information they received was counter to their prior beliefs and/or consistent with theirpreferences. These results suggest changes in policies that increase (decrease) the progressivity of tax systems mayalso lead to increases (decreases) in tax compliance. |
| Date: | 2022–09–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:10167&r= |
| By: | Nicholas Chiumenti; Amrita Kulka; Aradhya Sood |
| Abstract: | This paper studies how local land-use regulations and community opposition affect the trade-offs to building single-family, multifamily, and affordable housing and how their effects on rents differ from their effects on house prices. Using lot-level zoning regulations and a boundary discontinuity design at regulation boundaries in Greater Boston, we obtain causal estimates for the effects of zoning regulations on the supply of different types of housing, single-family-house prices, multifamily rents, and households’ willingness to pay for higher density. We find that relaxing density restrictions (minimum lot size and maximum number of dwelling units)—either alone or in combination with relaxing maximum-height restrictions or allowing multifamily housing—is the most fruitful policy reform for increasing the housing supply and reducing multifamily rents and single-family-house prices. However, adopting multifamily zoning or relaxing height regulations alone has little effect on the number of units built or on rents. Moreover, in each land-use relaxation scenario where rents fall, house prices also fall, complicating the political economy of land-use reform. We also find that mature suburbs that are closer to a city center and have a representative town meeting structure of local governance are the most restrictive with respect to adding multi-unit housing. Furthermore, inclusionary zoning policies such as Massachusetts’s Chapter 40B rarely substitute for relaxing zoning regulations, particularly restrictions on building multifamily housing. |
| Keywords: | multifamily zoning; height restrictions; density; house prices; rents |
| JEL: | R21 R31 R58 H77 H11 |
| Date: | 2022–06–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedbwp:94892&r= |
| By: | Esposito Acosta,Bruno Nicola; Sautmann,Anja |
| Abstract: | Adaptive sampling in experiments with multiple waves can improve learning for “policy choiceproblems” where the goal is to select the optimal intervention or treatment among several options. This paperuses a real-world policy choice problem to demonstrate the advantages of adaptive sampling and propose solutions tocommon issues in applying the method. The application is a test of six formats for automated calls to parents in Kenyathat encourage reading with children at home. The adaptive ‘exploration sampling’ algorithm is used to efficientlyidentify the call with the highest rate of engagement. Simulations show that adaptive sampling increased theposterior probability of the chosen arm being optimal from 86 to 93 percent and more than halved the posterior expected regret. The paper discusses a range of implementationaspects, including how to decide about research design parameters such as the number of experimental waves. |
| Date: | 2022–06–23 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:10098&r= |