nep-dcm New Economics Papers
on Discrete Choice Models
Issue of 2011‒12‒19
six papers chosen by
Philip Yu
Hong Kong University

  1. Rural Land Use and Land Tenure in New Zealand By Tímár, Levente
  2. Towards an Incentive Salience Model of Intertemporal Choice By Leonhard K. Lades
  3. EDUCATION AND LABOUR MARKET OUTCOMES: EVIDENCE FROM INDIA By Geraint Johnes; A Aggarwal; R Freguglia; G Spricigo
  4. Transport modal choice by multinational firms : firm-level evidence from Southeast Asia By Hayakawa, Kazunobu; Tanaka, Kiyoyasu; Ueki, Yasushi
  5. REFERENCING, GAINS-LOSSES ASYMMETRY AND NON-LINEAR SENSITIVITIES IN COMMUTER DECISIONS: ONE SIZE DOES NOT FIT ALL! By Amanda Stathopoulos; Stephane Hess
  6. DESIGN OF A STATED RANKING EXPERIMENT TO STUDY INTERACTIVE FREIGHT BEHAVIOUR: AN APPLICATION TO ROME’S LTZ By Marcucci E.; Stathopoulos A.; Gatta V.; Valeri E.

  1. By: Tímár, Levente (Motu Economic and Public Policy Research and GNS Science)
    Abstract: Private land-use decisions are critical for a broad spectrum of environmental and social outcomes, ranging from water quality and climate change to rural income distribution. I use a large dataset of the land-use decisions of New Zealand landowners to estimate a cross-sectional multinomial logit model of land use. In this model, the optimal land-use choice depends on geophysical attributes of the land, the cost of access to markets, and on land tenure (M?ori freehold title versus general freehold title). I employ the estimated relationship in a counterfactual scenario to assess the overall impact of M?ori tenure on the willingness of landowners to supply land for the four most important rural uses in the country: dairying; sheep or beef farming; plantation forestry; and an economically unproductive use, scrub. This allows me to conjecture about the environmental implications of New Zealand’s land-tenure system.
    Keywords: land use, land tenure, discrete choice model
    JEL: Q15
    Date: 2011–12
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mtu:wpaper:11_13&r=dcm
  2. By: Leonhard K. Lades
    Abstract: This theoretical paper presents an incentive salience model of intertemporal choice. The model is a variation of the quasi-hyperbolic discounting model. Based on the distinction between 'wanting' and 'liking', the paper presents one possible explanation of impulsive choices of smaller sooner rewards instead of larger later ones. These impulsive choices are induced by cues that trigger strong motivational 'wanting' to obtain smaller sooner rewards, but do not necessarily influence the degree to which the rewards are 'liked'. Cue-triggered 'wanting' can occur when an individual is in a specific need deprivation state, perceives a cue previously associated with an immediately obtainable reward, knows that the cued reward can reduce the current deprivation state, and lacks self-control. By integrating cue-triggered 'wanting' into an intertemporal choice model, the incentive salience model allows to predict which rewards elicit impulsive choices of smaller sooner rewards, thus offering an explanation for the domain effect.
    Keywords: Intertemporal Consumer Choice, Impulsivity, 'Wanting' versus 'Liking'
    JEL: C62 C72 C73
    Date: 2011–12–15
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:esi:evopap:2011-18&r=dcm
  3. By: Geraint Johnes; A Aggarwal; R Freguglia; G Spricigo
    Abstract: The impact of education on labour market outcomes is analysed using data from various rounds of the National Sample Survey of India. Occupational destination is examined using both multinomial logit analyses and structural dynamic discrete choice modelling. The latter approach involves the use of a novel approach to constructing a pseudo-panel from repeated cross-section data, and is particularly useful as a means of evaluating policy impacts over time. We find that policy to expand educational provision leads initially to an increased takeup of education, and in the longer term leads to an increased propensity for workers to enter non-manual employment.
    Date: 2011
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lan:wpaper:4256&r=dcm
  4. By: Hayakawa, Kazunobu; Tanaka, Kiyoyasu; Ueki, Yasushi
    Abstract: We examine transport modal decision by multinational firms to shed light on the role of freight logistics in multinational activity. Using a firm-level survey in Southeast Asia, we show that foreign ownership has a significantly positive and quantitatively large impact on the likelihood that air/sea transportation is chosen relative to truck shipping. This result is robust to the shipping distance, cross-border freight, and transport infrastructure. Both foreign-owned exporters and importers also tend to use air/sea transportation. Thus, our analysis presents a new distinction between multinational and domestic firms in their decision over transport modes.
    Keywords: International business enterprises, Industrial management, Transportation, Costs, Southeast Asia, Transport mode, Logistics, Multinational firms, Multinomial logit
    JEL: F15 F23 R41
    Date: 2011–11
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jet:dpaper:dpaper318&r=dcm
  5. By: Amanda Stathopoulos (University of Trieste); Stephane Hess (University of Leeds)
    Abstract: In contrast with expected utility theory, empirical findings indicate that decisionmakers are sensitive to departures from reference points rather than states. Several tests of the reference-dependent preference framework have been carried out in experimental economics, and to a smaller extent in a choice modelling setting, to date. However, these empirical applications have generally focussed on a single behavioural phenomenon using uniform modelling approaches. This paper aims to broaden existing work by presenting a multi-attribute framework, allowing contemporarily for gain-loss asymmetry, non-linearity and testing for several possible reference points. The framework is tested in the context of commuter choices and reveals important gains in model fit and further insights into behaviour compared to standard modelling approaches, including substantial impacts on implied welfare measures.
    Keywords: Choice modeling, discrete choice experiment, reference effects, non-linearity, gain/loss deviations, commuting
    JEL: C25 C9 D03 R49
    Date: 2011
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rcr:wpaper:05_11&r=dcm
  6. By: Marcucci E. (DIPES, University of Roma Tre, Italy); Stathopoulos A. (DISES University of Trieste, Italy); Gatta V. (Sapienza, University of Rome, Italy); Valeri E. (DISES, University of Trieste, Italy)
    Abstract: City logistics policies require an understanding of several issues (e.g. freight distribution context, preferences and relationship among agents) seldom accounted for in current research. Policies run the risk of producing unsatisfactory results because behavioural and contextual aspects are not considered. The acquisition of relevant data is crucial to test hypothesis and forecast agents’ reactions to policy changes. Despite recent methodological advances in modelling interactive behaviour the development of apt survey instruments is still lacking to test innovative policies acceptability. This paper expands and innovate the methodological literature by describing a stated ranking experiment to study freight agent interactive behaviour and discusses the experimental design implemented to incorporate agent-specific priors when efficient design techniques are employed.
    Keywords: urban freight distribution, group decision making, agent-specific interaction, stated preference, stated ranking experiments
    Date: 2011
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rcr:wpaper:04_11&r=dcm

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