nep-dcm New Economics Papers
on Discrete Choice Models
Issue of 2023‒01‒02
nine papers chosen by
Edoardo Marcucci
Università degli studi Roma Tre

  1. Privacy trade-offs in the ride-hailing services By Michał Paliński
  2. The Inverse Product Differentiation Logit Model By Mogens Fosgerau; Julien Monardo; André de Palma
  3. WILLINGNESS TO PAY FOR GREEN BUILDINGS IN GHANA: WHAT ARE THE INFLUENCING FACTORS? By Yelly Kwesy Lawluvy; Olivia Kwakyewaa Ntim; Albert Agbeko Ahiadu
  4. How Much Do Workers Actually Value Working from Home? By Markus Nagler; Johannes Rincke; Erwin Winkler
  5. Could fMRI data proxy subjective value because of the statistical relationship between Poisson and Conditional Logit? An Observation in Search of a Theory By Crespi, John M.
  6. What drives the acceptability of restrictive health policies: An experimental assessment of individual preferences for anti-COVID 19 strategies By Thierry Blayac; Dimitri Dubois; Sébastien Duchêne; Phu Nguyen-Van; Bruno Ventelou; Marc Willinger
  7. WILLINGNESS TO PAY FOR GREEN BUILDINGS IN GHANA: THE IMPACT OF BENEFIT SENSITISATION By Yelly Kwesy Lawluvy; Albert Agbeko Ahiadu; Olivia Kwakyewaa Ntim
  8. Who likes it more? Using response times to elicit group preferences in surveys By Carlos Alós-Ferrer; Michele Garagnani
  9. Spectral estimation for mixed causal-noncausal autoregressive models By Alain Hecq; Daniel Velasquez-Gaviria

  1. By: Michał Paliński (Faculty of Economic Sciences, University of Warsaw; Digital Economy Lab (DELab UW)
    Abstract: We test for users readiness for co-financing ride-hailing service with their personal data applying a Discrete Choice Experiment. We design an experiment in which respondents are asked to choose between hypothetical app-based taxi rides which offered discounts as a compensation for intruding their privacy and a regular service. Our analysis compare how awareness of rights stemming from GDPR affects respondent’s privacy preferences. Cross-group analysis indicate that reminding users about their rights stemming from the GDPR significantly increases their valuation of personal data. The results of WTA analysis suggest that there is a market for "pay with your data" business models.
    Keywords: economics of privacy, mobile apps, DCE, mixed logit, WTA
    JEL: C25 D12 L51
    Date: 2021
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:war:wpaper:2021-14&r=dcm
  2. By: Mogens Fosgerau; Julien Monardo; André de Palma (Université de Cergy-Pontoise, THEMA)
    Abstract: We introduce the inverse product differentiation logit (IPDL) model, a micro-founded inverse market share model for differentiated products that captures market segmentation according to one or more characteristics. The IPDL model generalizes the nested logit model to allow richer substitution patterns, including complementarity in demand, and can be estimated by linear instrumental variables regression using market-level data. Furthermore, we provide Monte Carlo experiments that compare the IPDL model to the workhorse empirical models of the literature. Lastly, we show the empirical performance of the IPDL model using a well-known dataset on the ready-toeat cereals market.
    Keywords: Demand estimation, Inverse demand, Logit, Consumer model, Differentiated products.
    JEL: C26 D11 D12 L
    Date: 2022
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ema:worpap:2022-22&r=dcm
  3. By: Yelly Kwesy Lawluvy; Olivia Kwakyewaa Ntim; Albert Agbeko Ahiadu
    Abstract: Although green buildings have been found to be more life-cycle cost-effective than conventional buildings, the capital cost of building green remains greater than that of traditional alternatives, especially in the Ghanaian market. As such, for green buildings to gain proliferation in Ghana, adopters must be willing to bear a cost premium. This study tests Ghana's green building proliferation readiness by investigating Ghanaians' willingness to pay a green building cost premium. An online survey was administered and responded to by 1,227 participants, upon which statistical analysis, including ANOVA and correlation analyses, were conducted. 70.1% of respondents showed a willingness to pay a cost premium for green buildings, with 33.4% of respondents indicating a willingness to pay a premium of up to 5% of the cost of a conventional alternative. Further analyses revealed statistically significant differences in willingness to pay for green buildings across Education levels, Income levels, Environmental Concern levels, and Green Building Awareness levels. However, no significant differences were found between different ages and genders.
    Keywords: sustainability; Willingness to pay; Ghana; Green building; Influencing Factors
    JEL: R3
    Date: 2022–01–01
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:afr:wpaper:2022-052&r=dcm
  4. By: Markus Nagler; Johannes Rincke; Erwin Winkler
    Abstract: Working from home (WFH) has become ubiquitous around the world. We ask how much workers actually value this job attribute. Using a stated-preference experiment, we show that German employees are willing to give up 7.7% of their earnings for WFH, but they value other job attributes more. For instance, the willingness-to-pay is 13.2% for reducing a commute of 45 to 15 minutes. WFH valuations are heterogeneous across workers and WFH substantially contributes to compensation inequality across education levels. Finally, valuations meaningfully interact with commuting distance and WFH reduces (but does not close) the gender gap in willingness-to-pay to avoid commuting.
    Keywords: working from home, working conditions, inequality, commuting, compensating wage differentials
    JEL: J20 J31 J33 J81
    Date: 2022
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_10073&r=dcm
  5. By: Crespi, John M.
    Abstract: This proposition uses the statistical relationship between the Poisson distribution and conditional logit to show that in the absence of a direct measure of signal from a neural region of interest, the conditional logit model may be useful to elicit willingness to pay (WTP) and proxy subjective value in a neuroscience experiment. If neurons fire in a Poisson manner then because the Poisson and Conditional Logit likelihood functions are nested, there would seem to be a link between neuron spikes and WTP. One might be able to use measures from fMRI to infer WTP even if one cannot directly measure the neuronal spike activity. This paper is presented as an observation in search of a theory, and there may be obvious reasons it is wrong. I place it in circulation in order to help discovery.
    Date: 2022–01–12
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:isu:genstf:202201122014160000&r=dcm
  6. By: Thierry Blayac (CEE-M - Centre d'Economie de l'Environnement - Montpellier - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement - Institut Agro Montpellier - Institut Agro - Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement - UM - Université de Montpellier); Dimitri Dubois (CEE-M - Centre d'Economie de l'Environnement - Montpellier - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement - Institut Agro Montpellier - Institut Agro - Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement - UM - Université de Montpellier); Sébastien Duchêne (Groupe Sup de Co Montpellier (GSCM) - Montpellier Business School); Phu Nguyen-Van (EconomiX - UPN - Université Paris Nanterre - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique); Bruno Ventelou (AMSE - Aix-Marseille Sciences Economiques - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - AMU - Aix Marseille Université - ECM - École Centrale de Marseille - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, ORS PACA - Observatoire régional de la santé Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur [Marseille]); Marc Willinger (CEE-M - Centre d'Economie de l'Environnement - Montpellier - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement - Institut Agro Montpellier - Institut Agro - Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement - UM - Université de Montpellier)
    Abstract: The public acceptability of a policy is an important issue in democracies, in particular for anti-COVID-19 policies, which require the adherence of the population to be applicable and efficient. Discrete choice experiment (DCE) can help elicit preference ranking among various policies for the whole population and subgroups. Using a representative sample of the French population, we apply DCE methods to assess the acceptability of various anti-COVID-19 measures, separately and as a package. Owing to the methods, we determine the extent to which acceptability depends on personal characteristics: political orientation, health vulnerability, or age. The young population differs in terms of policy preferences and their claim for monetary compensation, suggesting a tailored policy for them. The paper provides key methodological tools based on microeconomic evaluation of individuals' preferences for improving the design of public health policies.
    Keywords: Policy design,Discrete choice experiment,Individual preferences,Acceptability
    Date: 2022–11
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-03866196&r=dcm
  7. By: Yelly Kwesy Lawluvy; Albert Agbeko Ahiadu; Olivia Kwakyewaa Ntim
    Abstract: Global discourse on sustainable construction has aroused great interest in the need for green building proliferation as a strategic means to reduce the environmental harms of conventional buildings. However, green building adoption remains laggard in Ghana as individuals are unwilling to pay extra for green buildings. Researchers have made many recommendations to enhance willingness to pay, recurrent amongst which is benefit sensitisation. However, the impact of benefit sensitisation, especially in the Ghanaian market, remained unproven and unquantified. This study provides clarity to the issue by investigating and quantifying the impact of an undertaken green building benefit sensitisation on the willingness to pay of 630 participants who were unaware of the individual-level benefits of green buildings. The study confirmed a significant impact of benefit sensitisation on willingness to pay for green buildings. After benefit sensitisation, respondents who were initially only willing to pay up to a 5% premium became willing to pay an average of 6 - 10% premium; with only 14.8% of respondents maintaining an unwillingness to pay extra for green buildings.
    Keywords: sustainability; Benefit Sensitization; Ghana; Green building; Willingness to Pay
    JEL: R3
    Date: 2022–01–01
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:afr:wpaper:2022-032&r=dcm
  8. By: Carlos Alós-Ferrer; Michele Garagnani
    Abstract: Surveys and opinion polls are essential instruments to elicit societal preferences and uncover differences between socioeconomic or demographic groups. However, survey data is noisy, and survey bias is ubiquitous, limiting the reliability and usefulness of standard analyses. We provide a new method that uncovers group preferences and unambiguously ranks the relative strength of preference between groups of agents, leveraging the information contained in response times. The method delivers a nonparametric criterion to determine whether a group (defined, e.g., by gender, age cohort, socioeconomic status, political orientation, etc.) prefers an option over its alternative, and whether it does so more strongly than another group, without any assumptions on the underlying noise. We demonstrate the practical value of this method by studying preferences over important socioeconomic topics in a representative sample of the U.K. population. We find that the new method often provides results when tests based on choice frequencies are inconclusive, and also identifies cases where tests are significant but inferences on preferences are unwarranted.
    Keywords: Survey data, revealed preference, response times, stochastic choice
    JEL: C83 D11 D87 D91
    Date: 2022–12
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zur:econwp:422&r=dcm
  9. By: Alain Hecq; Daniel Velasquez-Gaviria
    Abstract: This paper investigates new ways of estimating and identifying causal, noncausal, and mixed causal-noncausal autoregressive models driven by a non-Gaussian error sequence. We do not assume any parametric distribution function for the innovations. Instead, we use the information of higher-order cumulants, combining the spectrum and the bispectrum in a minimum distance estimation. We show how to circumvent the nonlinearity of the parameters and the multimodality in the noncausal and mixed models by selecting the appropriate initial values in the estimation. In addition, we propose a method of identification using a simple comparison criterion based on the global minimum of the estimation function. By means of a Monte Carlo study, we find unbiased estimated parameters and a correct identification as the data depart from normality. We propose an empirical application on eight monthly commodity prices, finding noncausal and mixed causal-noncausal dynamics.
    Date: 2022–11
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2211.13830&r=dcm

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