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on Discrete Choice Models |
| By: | Delfino, Alexia; Garnero, Andrea; Inferrera, Sergio; Leonardi, Marco; Sadun, Raffaella |
| Abstract: | We study barriers preventing jobseekers from pursuing reskilling in high-demand occupations. Using a discrete choice experiment, we quantify the demand for reskilling among Italian jobseekers in two white-collar high-demand occupations—information technology assistant and construction technician—and identify its main determinants. Willingness to pay estimates show that participants are willing to pay to reskill into IT, but would require compensation to reskill into construction. Beliefs about monetary returns and social status help explain differences in reskilling demand, but perceived identity fit in the target occupation emerges as the most important individual-level factor shaping reskilling decisions. A light-touch randomized information intervention providing data on occupational returns significantly increases both stated interest in reskilling and actual engagement in real- world training. |
| Keywords: | Information; Unemployment; Occupational change; Identity; Discrete choice experiment |
| JEL: | I20 J24 J32 J6 D83 |
| Date: | 2026–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:21055 |
| By: | Pawel Adrjan; Maria Balgova; Simon Jager; Jonas Jessen; Jason Sockin; Simon Jäger |
| Abstract: | Discrete choice experiments are widely used to estimate workers' willingness to pay (WTP) for job amenities under the assumption that varying an attribute does not change workers' beliefs about other job attributes. We test this assumption by embedding an amenity with a known market price — a popular monthly public transport pass — in a large-scale discrete choice experiment with German workers. Many workers, including public transport users, overvalue the ticket by more than 100%, despite WTP for other attributes aligning with the literature. A complementary belief-elicitation experiment shows that advertising an amenity, such as the pass but also common amenities like work from home, causally shifts beliefs about unlisted attributes of the job. Posted wages similarly signal unlisted attributes so that wage variation, the money metric for WTP calculation, is itself contaminated by belief spillovers — such as higher pay signaling heightened stress. These spillovers imply that discrete choice estimates capture perceived bundles rather than isolated attributes, and distort current estimates of non-wage compensation and monopsony power. |
| Keywords: | amenities, discrete choice, job ads |
| JEL: | J31 J32 J42 C83 C90 D83 |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_12794 |
| By: | Jan H. R. Dressler; Peter Kurz; Winfried J. Steiner |
| Abstract: | Although discrete choice (choice-based conjoint) analysis has become a widely used technique for the elicitation of consumer preferences and hence a foundation for product design, to the best of our knowledge, there exists neither free and open-source nor commercial software that covers the game-theoretic simulation of competitive reactions among firms based on discrete choice models to improve decision making beyond traditional product (line) optimization. The R package cash (conjoint + Nash) does not only provide functions to fill this gap but comprises an entire simulation pipeline including the upstream processes of discrete choice analysis itself. cash ranges from preference generation, choice design, error and response simulation, through Bayesian model estimation and evaluation, to Nash equilibrium computation. Doing so, it partly draws from established R packages concerned with discrete choice analysis. While the structure of cash generally aims towards end-to-end simulation as well as simulation of competitive dynamics based on real data, all its key elements mentioned above may be of use independently of each other. |
| Date: | 2026–06 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2606.15593 |
| By: | Sizhong Sun |
| Abstract: | This paper develops an approach for estimating demand for a new product. Taking willingness to pay (WTP) as primitive, it establishes a general and yet analytically simple demand function, and proposes an estimation procedure that consistently recovers the underlying demand function from the WTP data. Monte Carlo simulations find the estimation procedure works well in identifying the demand function. This approach complements existing methods of demand estimation, and can be applied both within and outside academia, for example in teaching economics, for a business to launch new products, and for policymakers to conduct non-market valuation. |
| Date: | 2026–06 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2606.15748 |
| By: | Mestieri, Marti; Norris, Jordan |
| Abstract: | We uncover an equivalence between two opposite behavioral microfoundations for the standard multinomial logit choice model: 1) agents optimize their choice accordingly to the random utility model under Gumbel idiosyncratic shocks; 2) agents randomize over options subject to a minimum utility requirement. Both generate identical multinomial logit choice probabilities, yet have different welfare implications: welfare is strictly lower under randomization, since only optimizing agents select into options with favorable realizations of idiosyncratic shocks. |
| Keywords: | Entropy; Logit |
| JEL: | C25 D61 C60 |
| Date: | 2026–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:21030 |
| By: | Erik Ansink (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam); Frederic Klapwijk (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam) |
| Abstract: | We study whether the number of tiers in a traffic-light eco-label affects consumer welfare. We develop a model in which consumers observe price, quality, and the label tier, but infer a product's environmental quality ("greenness'") imperfectly. In that setting, adding a tier can improve the information content of the label while still lowering welfare near newly created cutoffs. We then use a discrete choice experiment on trash bags with two-tier and three-tier traffic-light labels to test the behavioral ingredients of the model. Estimated treatment effects in the choice experiment show that adding a middle tier makes respondents more likely to choose the highest label tier, increases price sensitivity, and reduces the use of price as a cue for greenness. We interpret these results as evidence that tier count changes both the choice response to the highest label tier and price-based inference. A structural interpretation also yields a positive estimate of the price-proxy parameter, and the three-tier choice data imply a positive but modest separation between the yellow and green tiers under transparent normalizations. |
| Keywords: | Eco-labels, traffic-light labels, consumer inference, environmental disclosure, consumer welfare |
| JEL: | D12 D83 L15 Q58 |
| Date: | 2026–05–08 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tin:wpaper:20260019 |
| By: | Arnold Michel Koyou; Ousmane Z. Traoré; Maurice Doyon |
| Abstract: | This study investigates the consumer-citizen duality in willingness to pay (WTP) for improved animal welfare in the Canadian dairy sector. The study examines whether individuals express different preferences when acting as consumers in a private market setting versus citizens in a collective decision-making context. Using an experimental survey focused on milk produced under the “Certified Humane” standard, two treatments were compared: a public scenario, where the standard would be mandatory for all dairy producers, and a private scenario, where adoption would be voluntary and reflected through market choices. The findings reveal that individuals in a citizen role exhibit a significantly higher willingness to pay than those in a consumer role. However, this gap cannot be explained by hypothetical bias, strategic bias, or greater price sensitivity among consumers. The study further identifies four behavioral profiles: basic consumers, hedonic consumers, citizens, and consumer-citizens. These profiles substantially influence willingness to pay and help explain the mixed results reported in previous studies on consumer-citizen duality. Cette étude examine la dualité consommateur-citoyen dans l’évaluation du consentement à payer (CAP) pour une amélioration du bien-être animal dans le secteur laitier canadien. L’étude analyse si les individus expriment des préférences différentes lorsqu’ils agissent comme consommateurs dans un contexte de marché privé ou comme citoyens dans un contexte de décision collective. À partir d’une enquête expérimentale portant sur un lait produit selon la norme « Certified Humane », deux traitements ont été comparés : un contexte public (citoyen) où la norme serait imposée à tous les producteurs, et un contexte privé (consommateur) où elle constituerait un choix volontaire du marché. Les résultats indiquent que les individus en posture citoyenne affichent un consentement à payer significativement plus élevé que ceux en posture de consommateur. Toutefois, cet écart ne s’explique ni par les biais hypothétiques ni par une plus grande sensibilité au prix dans le contexte privé. L’étude identifie également quatre profils distincts : consommateur de base, consommateur hédonique, citoyen et consommateur-citoyen. Ces profils influencent fortement les comportements et pourraient expliquer les résultats parfois contradictoires observés dans la littérature concernant l’influence de la dualité consommateur-citoyen sur le CAP. |
| Keywords: | Consumer-citizen duality, Willingness to pay, Animal welfare, Dualité consommateur-citoyen, Consentement à payer, Bien-être animal |
| Date: | 2026–07–13 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cir:cirwor:2026s-12 |
| By: | Carattini, Stefano; Dvorak, Fabian; Logar, Ivana; Ozdemir-Oluk, Begum |
| Abstract: | Corporate social responsibility and the private provision of (global) public goods are of key interest to economists and policymakers. Over the last few years, many more private companies made their operations carbon neutral. It is an empirical question how consumers value carbon-neutral and low-carbon products, which we address as follows. First, we provide a meta-analysis of the literature. We analyze consumers’ demand for carbon-neutral and low-carbon products, based on an overall sample of 29, 666 participants. The focus is on average willingness to pay for carbon reductions as well as on the characteristics of the underlying literature, which is mainly based on stated preferences and controlled environments. Second, we leverage information on prices and product characteristics from one of the largest online marketplaces, Amazon’s. Using a hedonic approach, we infer from revealed preferences on consumers’ valuation of carbon- neutral products. The staggered process of carbon-neutral certification leads to a series of quasi-natural experiments, which we use for identification purposes. We find that the literature suggests a positive willingness to pay for carbon reductions that exceeds most estimates of the social cost of carbon. However, this finding is not supported by the hedonic analyses, where we do not find evidence that consumers value carbon neutrality. |
| Keywords: | Corporate social responsibility; Pro-social behavior; Stated and revealed preferences; Meta-analysis; Hedonic analysis; Carbon-neutral labels |
| JEL: | D12 D22 H41 Q51 Q54 |
| Date: | 2025–11 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:20843 |
| By: | Curran, Brian (University of Chicago); Meyer, Bruce (University of Chicago); Wu, Derek (University of Virginia) |
| Abstract: | When estimating nonlinear models for binary outcomes, such as probit and logit models, researchers often rely on average partial effects (APEs) to summarize the effect of a regressor. Because the marginal effect of a variable in these models depends on the values of all other variables, the value of an APE hinges on the portion of the sample used for the calculations. When averaged over parts of the sample drawn from a subpopulation not used to define the object of interest, the APE may be misleading. This paper highlights common situations, such as differences-in-means with a secondary group and difference-in-differences designs, where APEs calculated for the full sample deviate from marginal effects for the appropriate part of the sample. We propose a simple and costless solution in specific cases and demonstrate through simulations that recalculating APEs over the appropriate subsample yields unbiased results. Reexamining published results from multiple papers, we find statistically significant discrepancies between the reported estimates and the appropriately calculated APEs. |
| Keywords: | average partial effects, nonlinear models, binary choice models, difference-in-differences, randomized controlled trials |
| JEL: | C25 C21 C23 |
| Date: | 2026–06 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18741 |