Multinomial logit (MNL) models are widely used in marketing research to analyze choice data, but it is not generally recognized that the unit of the utility scale in a MNL model is inversely relate...

The Role of the Scale Parameter in the Estimation and Comparison of Multinomial Logit Models

In this paper, we examine some popular ‘choice modelling’ approaches to environmental valuation, which can be considered as alternatives to more familiar valuation techniques based on stated preferences such as the contingent valuation method. A number of choice modelling methods are consistent with consumer theory, and its focus on an attribute-based theory of value permits a superior representation of many environmental management contexts. However, choice modelling surveys can place a severe cognitive burden upon respondents and induce satisficing rather than maximising behavioural patterns. In this framework, we seek to identify the best available choice modelling alternative and investigate its potential to ‘solve’ some of the major biases associated with standard contingent valuation. We then discuss its use in the light of policy appraisal needs within the EU. An application to the demand for rock climbing in Scotland is provided as an illustration.

Choice modelling approaches: a superior alternative for environmental valuation?

Choice designs traditionally have been built under the assumption that all coefficients are zero. The authors show that if there are reasonable nonzero priors for expected coefficients, then these ...

The Importance of Utility Balance in Efficient Choice Designs

Best--worst scaling: What it can do for health care research and how to do it.

Stated preference (SP) methods are widely used in travel behaviour research and practice to identify behavioural responses to choice situations which are not revealed in the market, and where the attribute levels offered by existing choices are modified to such an extent that the reliability of revealed preference models as predictors of response is brought into question. This paper reviews recent developments in the application of SP models which add to their growing relevance in demand modelling and prediction. The main themes addressed include a comparative assessment of choice models and preference models, the importance of scaling when pooling different types of data, especially the appeal of SP data as an enriching strategy in the context of revealed preference models, hierarchical designs when the number of attributes make single experiments too complex for the respondent, and ways of accommodating dynamics (i.e. serial correlation and state dependence) in SP modelling.

/pdf/stated-preference-analysis-of-travel-choices-the-state-of-3apzif4ytc.pdf

Fumiaki Shiroishi

Papers

Analysis of the reliability of preference ranking data