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on Discrete Choice Models |
| By: | Lemeilleur, S.; Subervie, J.; Presoto, A.E.; de Castro Souza, R.; Macchione Saes, M.S. |
| Abstract: | We survey Brazilian coffee farmers’ preferences for attributes of voluntary sustainability standards using a choice experiment. We collected original data from 250 coffee farmers who live in the state of Minas Gerais who were asked to choose from several hypothetical buying contracts for eco-certified coffee. Our results suggest that both cash and non-cash payments may motivate farmers to participate in sustainability standard certification schemes that require improved agricultural practices. Preferences for non-cash rewards such as long-term formal contracts or technical assistance, however, appear highly heterogeneous. Results more-over show that the minimum willingness-to-accept for the adoption of composting is twice as high as the average price premium for certified coffee in the current context, which may partly explain why most coffee farmers continue to be reluctant to enter the most stringent eco-certification schemes such as the organic standard. ....French Abstract: Dans cet article, nous étudions les préférences des producteurs de café brésiliens pour les attributs des standards volontaires de durabilité, par une méthode d’expérimentation des choix. Nous avons collecté des données originales auprès de 250 producteurs de café de l'État du Minas Gerais, invités à choisir parmi plusieurs contrats d'achat hypothétiques exigeant l'amélioration des pratiques agricoles. Nos résultats suggèrent que les paiements monétaires et non monétaires peuvent inciter les agriculteurs à participer à des standards de durabilité certifiés. Néanmoins, les préférences pour les récompenses non monétaires, tels que les contrats formels de long terme ou l’assistance technique, apparaissent très hétérogènes. De plus, les résultats montrent que la prime de consentement à adopter le compost comme moyen de fertilisation est deux fois plus élevé que la prime maximum actuelle pour le café certifié. Ceci peut expliquer en partie la raison pour laquelle la plupart des producteurs de café continuent d'être réticents à entrer dans des systèmes de certification exigeant comme le standard d’agriculture biologique. |
| Keywords: | VOLUNTARY SUSTAINABILITY STANDARDS; CERTIFICATION; COFFEE; CHOICE EXPERIMENT; PESTICIDES; COMPOST; EROSION; BRAZIL; STANDARDS VOLONTAIRES DE DURABILITE; METHODE D’EXPERIMENTATION DES CHOIX; COMPOST; EROSION; BRESIL |
| JEL: | Q01 Q15 Q57 |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:umr:wpaper:201604&r=dcm |
| By: | Frühwirth-Schnatter, Sylvia (Institute for Statistics and Mathematics, Vienna University of Economics and Business); Pittner, Stefan (Institute for Statistics and Mathematics, Vienna University of Economics and Business); Weber, Andrea (Department of Economics, Vienna University of Economics and Business and WIFO, Vienna); Winter-Ebmer, Rudolf (Department of Economics, Johannes Kepler University Linz and IHS, Vienna) |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we study data on discrete labor market transitions from Austria. In particular, we follow the careers of workers who experience a job displacement due to plant closure and observe – over a period of forty quarters – whether these workers manage to return to a steady career path. To analyse these discrete-valued panel data, we develop and apply a new method of Bayesian Markov chain clustering analysis based on inhomogeneous first order Markov transition processes with time-varying transition matrices. In addition, a mixture-of-experts approach allows us to model the prior probability to belong to a certain cluster in dependence of a set of covariates via a multinomial logit model. Our cluster analysis identifies five career patterns after plant closure and reveals that some workers cope quite easily with a job loss whereas others suffer large losses over extended periods of time. |
| Keywords: | Transition data, Markov Chain Monte Carlo, Multinomial Logit, Panel data, Inhomogeneous Markov chains |
| Date: | 2016–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ihs:ihsesp:324&r=dcm |
| By: | Erik Verhoef; Jasper Knockaert; Stefanie Peer |
| Abstract: | If left unidentified and uncorrected, self-selection biases may greatly compromise the external validity of the outcomes of field experiments. We show that self-selection biases in terms of observed und unobserved characteristics can be well identified and corrected by means of a complementary stated preference (SP) experiment conducted among the participants and non-participants of a field experiment. In the SP experiment, respondents are confronted with hypothetical choice situations that closely resemble the choice situations present in the field experiment. The SP experiment does not only allow us to compare participants and non-participants with respect to their behavior and implied preferences in the hypothetical choice situations, but also renders it possible to infer how non-participants would have behaved if they had decided to participate, using an innovative modeling approach to elicit the corresponding preference structures. We apply this approach in the context of a large-scale field experiment in which train commuters received monetary rewards for traveling outside peak hours. We find strong self-selection biases, especially with respect to the marginal utility of income, which is significantly higher among participants of the field experiment. |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:feb:natura:00568&r=dcm |