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on Discrete Choice Models |
| By: | Cavit Pakel; Martin Weidner |
| Abstract: | Average effects in discrete choice panel data models with individual-specific fixed effects are generally only partially identified in short panels. While consistent estimation of the identified set is possible, it generally requires very large sample sizes, especially when the number of support points of the observed covariates is large, such as when the covariates are continuous. In this paper, we propose estimating outer bounds on the identified set of average effects. Our bounds are easy to construct, converge at the parametric rate, and are computationally simple to obtain even in moderately large samples, independent of whether the covariates are discrete or continuous. We also provide asymptotically valid confidence intervals on the identified set. Simulation studies confirm that our approach works well and is informative in finite samples. We also consider an application to labor force participation. |
| Date: | 2023–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2309.09299&r=dcm |
| By: | Liang Chen; Eugene Choo; Alfred Galichon; Simon Weber |
| Abstract: | We propose new results for the existence and uniqueness of a general nonparametric and nonseparable competitive equilibrium with substitutes. These results ensure the invertibility of a general competitive system. The existing literature has focused on the uniqueness of a competitive equilibrium assuming that existence holds. We introduce three properties that our supply system must satisfy: weak substitutes, pivotal substitutes, and responsiveness. These properties are sufficient to ensure the existence of an equilibrium, thus providing the existence counterpart to Berry, Gandhi, and Haile (2013)'s uniqueness results. For two important classes of models, bipartite matching models with full assignment and discrete choice models, we show that both models can be reformulated as a competitive system such that our existence and uniqueness results can be readily applied. We also provide an algorithm to compute the unique competitive equilibrium. Furthermore, we argue that our results are particularly useful for studying imperfectly transferable utility matching models with full assignment and non-additive random utility models. |
| Date: | 2023–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2309.11416&r=dcm |
| By: | Oliver Frings (BETA - Bureau d'Économie Théorique et Appliquée - AgroParisTech - UNISTRA - Université de Strasbourg - Université de Haute-Alsace (UHA) - Université de Haute-Alsace (UHA) Mulhouse - Colmar - 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 - Université de Haute-Alsace (UHA) - Université de Haute-Alsace (UHA) Mulhouse - Colmar - UL - Université de Lorraine - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement); Claire Montagné-Huck (BETA - Bureau d'Économie Théorique et Appliquée - AgroParisTech - UNISTRA - Université de Strasbourg - Université de Haute-Alsace (UHA) - Université de Haute-Alsace (UHA) Mulhouse - Colmar - UL - Université de Lorraine - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement); Salomé Gorel (SMART - Structures et Marché Agricoles, Ressources et Territoires - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement - Institut Agro Rennes Angers - Institut Agro - Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement); Anne Stenger (BETA - Bureau d'Économie Théorique et Appliquée - AgroParisTech - UNISTRA - Université de Strasbourg - Université de Haute-Alsace (UHA) - Université de Haute-Alsace (UHA) Mulhouse - Colmar - 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: | Based on a survey of the French population, this study investigates consumer preferences for forest ecosystem services (FES) provision towards efficiency and equity in the context of additionality, and differences in willingness to pay (WTP) for FES between a tax-based and a donation-based payments for ecosystem services (PES) scheme. We show that consumers prefer equity to strict additionality adherence, with this preference being significantly stronger among females. However, consumer preferences are heterogeneous, and respondents with a closer connection to forests express the opposite preference. Regarding WTP, we find no systematic difference between the two payment vehicles, though WTP does vary depending on how respondents perceive potential free-riding. When considering that non-contributors also benefit from a particular PES scheme, a small group perceived this as unfair and reacted by reducing their contribution. A second, significantly larger group interpreted this as an opportunity to contribute to the common good and showed a higher WTP, indicating a markedly altruistic attitude towards FES provision in French society. We conclude by discussing the role of altruism in PES, the dilemma posed by the partial economic and legal incompatibilities of additionality and equity, and the environmental impact of environmental credits when credit buyers do not account for additionality. |
| Keywords: | Ecosystem services valuation Additionality Equity Warm glow Free-riding Payment vehicle |
| Date: | 2023–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-04192829&r=dcm |
| By: | Amalie Bjørnåvold (Department of Engineering Management - Faculty of Business and Economics - UA - University of Antwerp); Maia David (UMR PSAE - Paris-Saclay Applied Economics - AgroParisTech - Université Paris-Saclay - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement); Vincent Mermet-Bijon (UMR PSAE - Paris-Saclay Applied Economics - AgroParisTech - Université Paris-Saclay - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement); Olivier Beaumais (LERN - Laboratoire Environnement Ressources de Normandie - LITTORAL - LITTORAL - IFREMER - Institut Français de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la Mer); Romain Crastes Dit Sourd (Leeds University Business School - University of Leeds); Steven van Passel (Department of Engineering Management - Faculty of Business and Economics - UA - University of Antwerp); Vincent Martinet (UMR PSAE - Paris-Saclay Applied Economics - AgroParisTech - Université Paris-Saclay - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement) |
| Abstract: | In 2023, the European Union will vote on the reauthorization of glyphosate use, renewed in 2017 despite concern on impacts on the environment and public health. A ban is supported by several Member States but rejected by most farmers. What are citizens' preferences to phase out glyphosate? To assess whether taxation could be an alternative to a ban, we conducted a discrete choice experiment in five European countries. Our results reveal that the general public is strongly willing to pay for a reduction in glyphosate use. However, while 75.5% of respondents stated to support a ban in the pre-experimental survey, experimental results reveal that in 73.35% of cases, earmarked taxation schemes are preferred when they lead to a strong reduction in glyphosate use for an increase in food price lower than that induced by a ban. When glyphosate reduction is balanced against its costs, a tax may be preferred. |
| Abstract: | En 2023, l'Union européenne votera sur la réautorisation de l'utilisation du glyphosate, renouvelée en 2017 en dépit des préoccupations sur les impacts sur l'environnement et la santé publique. Une interdiction est soutenue par plusieurs États membres, mais rejetée par la plupart des agriculteurs. Quelles sont les préférences des citoyens pour l'élimination progressive du glyphosate? Pour évaluer si la fiscalité pourrait être une alternative à une interdiction, nous avons mené une expérience de choix discret dans cinq pays européens. Nos résultats révèlent que le grand public est tout à fait disposé à payer pour une réduction de l'utilisation du glyphosate. Cependant, alors que 75, 5% des répondants ont déclaré soutenir une interdiction dans le sondage pré-expérimental, les résultats expérimentaux révèlent que dans 73, 35% des cas, les régimes fiscaux spécifiques sont préférables lorsqu'ils conduisent à une forte réduction de l'utilisation du glyphosate pour une augmentation du prix des denrées alimentaires inférieure à celle induite par une interdiction. Lorsque la réduction du glyphosate est équilibrée avec ses coûts, une taxe peut être préférée |
| Keywords: | Discrete Choice Experiment, Glyphosate |
| Date: | 2023 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-04057671&r=dcm |
| By: | Riccardo Di Francesco |
| Abstract: | Empirical studies in various social sciences often involve categorical outcomes with inherent ordering, such as self-evaluations of subjective well-being and self-assessments in health domains. While ordered choice models, such as the ordered logit and ordered probit, are popular tools for analyzing these outcomes, they may impose restrictive parametric and distributional assumptions. This paper introduces a novel estimator, the ordered correlation forest, that can naturally handle non-linearities in the data and does not assume a specific error term distribution. The proposed estimator modifies a standard random forest splitting criterion to build a collection of forests, each estimating the conditional probability of a single class. Under an "honesty" condition, predictions are consistent and asymptotically normal. The weights induced by each forest are used to obtain standard errors for the predicted probabilities and the covariates' marginal effects. Evidence from synthetic data shows that the proposed estimator features a superior prediction performance than alternative forest-based estimators and demonstrates its ability to construct valid confidence intervals for the covariates' marginal effects. |
| Date: | 2023–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2309.08755&r=dcm |
| By: | Yeon-Koo Che; Dong Woo Hahm; YingHua He |
| Abstract: | Inferring applicant preferences is fundamental in many analyses of school-choice data. Application mistakes make this task challenging. We propose a novel approach to deal with the mistakes in a deferred-acceptance matching environment. The key insight is that the uncertainties faced by applicants, e.g., due to tie-breaking lotteries, render some mistakes costly, allowing us to reliably infer relevant preferences. Our approach extracts all information on preferences robustly to payoff-insignificant mistakes. We apply it to school-choice data from Staten Island, NYC. Counterfactual analysis suggests that we underestimate the effects of proposed desegregation reforms when applicants' mistakes are not accounted for in preference inference and estimation. |
| Date: | 2023–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2309.14297&r=dcm |
| By: | Albert Chiu; Xingchen Lan; Ziyi Liu; Yiqing Xu |
| Abstract: | Two-way fixed effects (TWFE) models are ubiquitous in causal panel analysis in political science. However, recent methodological discussions challenge their validity in the presence of heterogeneous treatment effects (HTE) and violations of the parallel trends assumption (PTA). This burgeoning literature has introduced multiple estimators and diagnostics, leading to confusion among empirical researchers on two fronts: the reliability of existing results based on TWFE models and the current best practices. To address these concerns, we examined, replicated, and reanalyzed 37 articles from three leading political science journals that employed observational panel data with binary treatments. Using six newly introduced HTE-robust estimators, we find that although precision may be affected, the core conclusions derived from TWFE estimates largely remain unchanged. PTA violations and insufficient statistical power, however, continue to be significant obstacles to credible inferences. Based on these findings, we offer recommendations for improving practice in empirical research. |
| Date: | 2023–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2309.15983&r=dcm |
| By: | Federico Zincenko |
| Abstract: | Considering a continuous random variable Y together with a continuous random vector X, I propose a nonparametric estimator f^(.|x) for the conditional density of Y given X=x. This estimator takes the form of an exponential series whose coefficients T = (T1, ..., TJ) are the solution of a system of nonlinear equations that depends on an estimator of the conditional expectation E[p(Y)|X=x], where p(.) is a J-dimensional vector of basis functions. A key feature is that E[p(Y)|X=x] is estimated by generalized random forest (Athey, Tibshirani, and Wager, 2019), targeting the heterogeneity of T across x. I show that f^(.|x) is uniformly consistent and asymptotically normal, while allowing J to grow to infinity. I also provide a standard error formula to construct asymptotically valid confidence intervals. Results from Monte Carlo experiments and an empirical illustration are provided. |
| Date: | 2023–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2309.13251&r=dcm |
| By: | Jeroen Scheper (WUR - Wageningen University and Research [Wageningen]); Isabelle Badenhausser (P3F - Unité de Recherche Pluridisciplinaire Prairies et Plantes Fourragères - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement); Jochen Kantelhardt (University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences); Stefan Kirchweger; Ignasi Bartomeus (EBD - Estación Biológica de Doñana - CSIC - Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas = Spanish National Research Council); Vincent Bretagnolle (CEBC - Centre d'Études Biologiques de Chizé - UMR 7372 - ULR - La Rochelle Université - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement); Yann Clough (Lund University); Nicolas Gross (UREP - Unité Mixte de Recherche sur l'Ecosystème Prairial - UMR - VAS - VetAgro Sup - Institut national d'enseignement supérieur et de recherche en alimentation, santé animale, sciences agronomiques et de l'environnement - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement); Montserrat Vilà (EBD - Estación Biológica de Doñana - CSIC - Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas = Spanish National Research Council, Universidad de Sevilla / University of Sevilla); Carlos Zaragoza-Trello (EBD - Estación Biológica de Doñana - CSIC - Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas = Spanish National Research Council); David Kleijn (WUR - Wageningen University and Research [Wageningen]) |
| Abstract: | Agricultural expansion and intensification have boosted global food production but have come at the cost of environmental degradation and biodiversity loss. Biodiversity-friendly farming that boosts ecosystem services, such as pollination and natural pest control, is widely being advocated to maintain and improve agricultural productivity while safeguarding biodiversity. A vast body of evidence showing the agronomic benefits of enhanced ecosystem service delivery represent important incentives to adopt practices enhancing biodiversity. However, the costs of biodiversity-friendly management are rarely taken into account and may represent a major barrier impeding uptake by farmers. Whether and how biodiversity conservation, ecosystem service delivery, and farm profit can go hand in hand is unknown. Here, we quantify the ecological, agronomic, and net economic benefits of biodiversity-friendly farming in an intensive grassland–sunflower system in Southwest France. We found that reducing land-use intensity on agricultural grasslands drastically enhances flower availability and wild bee diversity, including rare species. Biodiversity-friendly management on grasslands furthermore resulted in an up to 17% higher revenue on neighboring sunflower fields through positive effects on pollination service delivery. However, the opportunity costs of reduced grassland forage yields consistently exceeded the economic benefits of enhanced sunflower pollination. Our results highlight that profitability is often a key constraint hampering adoption of biodiversity-based farming and uptake critically depends on society's willingness to pay for associated delivery of public goods such as biodiversity. |
| Keywords: | agroecology, ecosystem services, biodiversity-friendly farming, land-use intensity, wild bees |
| Date: | 2023 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-04167122&r=dcm |
| By: | John M. Abowd; Kevin L. McKinney |
| Abstract: | We study mixed-effects methods for estimating equations containing person and firm effects. In economics such models are usually estimated using fixed-effects methods. Recent enhancements to those fixed-effects methods include corrections to the bias in estimating the covariance matrix of the person and firm effects, which we also consider. |
| Keywords: | mixed-effects models, generalized linear models |
| JEL: | J3 C5 |
| Date: | 2023–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cen:wpaper:23-43&r=dcm |
| By: | Borger, Michael; Elacqua, Gregory; Jacas, Isabel; Neilson, Christopher; Westh Olsen, Anne Sofie |
| Abstract: | This paper studies school choice and information in the context of education markets in rural Haiti. Using a market level randomized control trial, we evaluate the aggregate effect of providing test score information on subsequent test scores, prices, and enrollment. After the intervention, we find that private schools have higher test scores, with an average increase of 0.3 standard deviations in treated markets. However, we are unable to detect significant changes to prices and market shares. These findings suggest that providing information in poor education markets can improve market efficiency and benefit children's welfare. |
| Keywords: | private schooling;information asymmetries;school choice;economic development;Haiti |
| JEL: | I20 I21 I22 I24 I25 I28 |
| Date: | 2023–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:idb:brikps:12884&r=dcm |
| By: | Aruguete, Natalia; Batista, Flavia; Calvo, Ernesto; Guizzo Altube, Matías; Scartascini, Carlos; Ventura, Tiago |
| Abstract: | Previous research has extensively investigated why users spread misinformation online, while less attention has been given to the motivations behind sharing fact-checks. This paper reports a four-country survey experiment assessing the influence of confirmation and refutation frames on engagement with online fact-checks. Respondents randomly received semantically identical content, either affirming accurate information (“It is TRUE that p”) or refuting misinformation (“It is FALSE that not p”). Despite semantic equivalence, confirmation frames elicit higher engagement rates than refutation frames. Additionally, confirmation frames reduce self-reported negative emotions related to polarization. These findings are crucial for designing policy interventions aiming to amplify fact-check exposure and reduce affective polarization, particularly in critical areas such as health-related misinformation and harmful speech. |
| Keywords: | misinformation;Fact-checking;Social media |
| JEL: | D83 D91 |
| Date: | 2023–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:idb:brikps:12991&r=dcm |