Offering a unifying theoretical perspective not readily available in any other text, this innovative guide to econometrics uses simple geometrical arguments to develop students' intuitive understanding of basic and advanced topics, emphasizing throughout the practical applications of modern theory and nonlinear techniques of estimation. One theme of the text is the use of artificial regressions for estimation, reference, and specification testing of nonlinear models, including diagnostic tests for parameter constancy, serial correlation, heteroscedasticity, and other types of mis-specification. Explaining how estimates can be obtained and tests can be carried out, the authors go beyond a mere algebraic description to one that can be easily translated into the commands of a standard econometric software package. Covering an unprecedented range of problems with a consistent emphasis on those that arise in applied work, this accessible and coherent guide to the most vital topics in econometrics today is indispensable for advanced students of econometrics and students of statistics interested in regression and related topics. It will also suit practising econometricians who want to update their skills. Flexibly designed to accommodate a variety of course levels, it offers both complete coverage of the basic material and separate chapters on areas of specialized interest.

Estimation and Inference in Econometrics

Accessibility evaluation of land-use and transport strategies: review and research directions

This article proposes contemporary best-practice recommendations for stated preference (SP) studies used to inform decision making, grounded in the accumulated body of peer-reviewed literature. These recommendations consider the use of SP methods to estimate both use and non-use (passive-use) values, and cover the broad SP domain, including contingent valuation and discrete choice experiments. We focus on applications to public goods in the context of the environment and human health but also consider ways in which the proposed recommendations might apply to other common areas of application. The recommendations recognize that SP results may be used and reused (benefit transfers) by governmental agencies and nongovernmental organizations, and that all such applications must be considered. The intended result is a set of guidelines for SP studies that is more comprehensive than that of the original National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Blue Ribbon Panel on contingent valuation, is more germane to contemporary applications, and reflects the two decades of research since that time. We also distinguish between practices for which accumulated research is sufficient to support recommendations and those for which greater uncertainty remains. The goal of this article is to raise the quality of SP studies used to support decision making and promote research that will further enhance the practice of these studies worldwide.

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Contemporary Guidance for Stated Preference Studies

1 Introduction 2 Travel Demand 3 Costs 4 Pricing 5 Investment 6 Industrial Organization of Transportation Providers 7 Conclusion

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The economics of urban transportation

This essay explores sustainable consumption and considers possible roles for marketing and consumer researchers and public policy makers in addressing the many sustainability challenges that pervade the planet. Future research approaches to this interdisciplinary topic must be comprehensive and systematic and would benefit from a variety of different perspectives. There are several opportunities for further research; the authors explore three areas in detail. First, they consider the inconsistency between the attitudes and behaviors of consumers with respect to sustainability. Second, they broaden the agenda to explore the role of individual citizens in society. Third, they propose a macroinstitutional approach to fostering sustainability. For each of these separate, but interrelated, opportunities, the authors examine the area in detail and consider possible research avenues and public policy initiatives.

Sustainable Consumption: Opportunities for Consumer Research and Public Policy:

Economic Valuation with Stated Preference Techniques: A Manual

The present study adapts the choice experiment (CE) method for an analysis of how Swedish farmers assess the relative value of the characteristics associated with growing energy crops. An additional goal was to find out the willingness of farmers to grow energy crops relative to different levels of income and subsidies based on predictions of acreage of energy crop cultivation. In the first CE, farmers were presented with two energy crops and six of their characteristics and asked to choose the alternative he or she preferred most. In the second CE the respondent was asked how many hectares for each crop he/she would be willing to grow on arable land with an energy crop subsidy and how many hectares he/she would be willing to grow on set-aside land without an energy crop subsidy. The results suggest that among the included characteristics in the first experiment, the visual impact on the landscape and the rotation period of the energy crop appear to have a significant impact on the utility derived from growing an energy crop. An increased utility of a crop increases the arable land used for that crop and the income associated with it. Farm characteristics such as leased land, rented land, share of set-aside land, and type of farming had an insignificant effect on the willingness to grow energy crops. Significant characteristics were age of the farmer, size of the farm, and the geographical area.

Farmers’ attitudes about growing energy crops: A choice experiment approach

In addition to its empirical results, this paper makes three distinct contributions to the literature on valuing fishing recreation by stated preference methods. In particular, the paper proposes a new approach to designing a choice experiment, called ‘approximate minimax design’. It employs the latest advances in optimal design theory and is much easier to compute than the ordinary minimax design. Second, the choice‐experiments are embedded in a trip frequency model, such that the changes in trip frequency can be predicted from improved fish management. Most importantly, the approach proposed in the paper provides a first step in developing dynamic fish management models, because the policies analysed may change the age‐structure of the stock. The paper also contributes with new results on anglers' valuations of angling site characteristics. They conform to traditionally obtained results but also show some unexpected results. In particular, the result does not indicate a difference in the valuation of th...

Valuation of management policies for sport‐fishing on Sweden's Kaitum river

A finite mixture of Tobit models is suggested for estimation of regression models with a censored response variable. A mixture of models is not primarily adapted due to a true component structure in the population; the flexibility of the mixture is suggested as a way of avoiding non-robust parametrically specified models. The new estimator has several interesting features. One is its potential to yield valid estimates in cases with a high degree of censoring. The estimator is in a Monte Carlo simulation compared with earlier suggestions of estimators based on semi-parametric censored regression models. Simulation results are partly in favor of the proposed estimator and indicate potentials for further improvements.

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Finite mixture modeling of censored regression models

(ProQuest-CSA LLC: ... denotes formulae omitted.)The Contingent Valuation Method (CVM) (e.g. Bateman, et al. 2002; Venkatachalam, 2004) is an established method for the valuation of recreational activities such as angling. A popular version of the method is the discrete choice CVM (Bishop & Heberlein, 1979) whereby the respondent accepts or rejects bids. Different approaches for modeling such data have been proposed by Hanemann (1984) and Cameron (1988). Also, Kristrom (1997) presented a "spike" model accounting for potential individuals with zero willingness to pay.The CVM has mainly been used for measuring values of the gross effects (use and/or non-use values) of environmental projects or damages (e.g. Carson, et al. 1992). However, it is a frequent interest to managers of wildlife areas to obtain information about angler's valuations of different angling site attributes. The CVM could be used for this purpose but several alternative stated preference methods are available. The use of choice experiments was proposed by Boxall, Adamowicz, Swait, Williams, and Louviere (1996) and Adamowicz, Boxall, Williams, and Louviere (1998). Another alternative is contingent ranking (e.g. Garrod & Willis, 1999). Also, Haefele and Loomis (2001) proposed a stated preference method based on ratings of alternatives. Among the alternatives to CVM, the choice experiment method has received most attention and is increasingly applied in research on environmental valuation.This paper focuses on a version of the CVM method in which the attributes in the scenario, in addition to the bid, is varied over respondents. CVM designs of this kind have earlier been employed (e.g. Boyle, Welsh, and Bishop, 1993). The name MACVM (Multiple Attribute Contingent Valuation Method) is here suggested and the method is proposed for valuation of angling site attributes. An alternative would be to consider the method as a special case of the choice experiment method. In a choice experiment the respondent considers a choice set with a number of hypothetical alternatives (usually two) and a base case alternative. The MACVM corresponds to a choice set containing only one hypothetical alternative apart from the base case scenario. However, while a choice experiment can for some purposes be designed without the base case alternative, the MACVM is built on the comparison between the base case and the hypothetical alternative. This is also the idea behind the CVM wherefore the interpretation of the method as an extension of the CVM is preferred.When choosing to accept or reject the suggested bid of a new angling site, the respondent needs to evaluate the new site in relation to the existing set of angling sites. The traditional approach to this problem is to collect data on the sites available and develop a model for site choice (e.g. McFadden, 1978). We suggest a new and simpler approach. A model of respondents' choice behavior is developed by treating the maximum utility over the set of available angling site as a random variable. In this way estimation of the utility function can be done without data on the existing set of alternatives. This is a considerable simplification allowing cost-effective analysis of preference.The MACVM is presented in the next section with a derivation of a statistical model within the random utility maximization framework. section 3 reports the results of an application of the MACVM and the CVM to the valuation of angling site attributes in the county of Jamtland in Sweden. A discussion of results and potential advantages of the MACVM is saved for the final section.MethodologyIn a discrete choice CVM, a hypothetical scenario is offered to the respondent at a cost (c) and the task of the respondent is to accept or reject this cost. By offering the scenario at different costs to different respondents, the population mean willingness-to-pay can be estimated using statistical analyses of responses (Hanemann, 1984; Kristrom, 1990). …

Thomas Laitila

Papers

Economic Valuation with Stated Preference Techniques: A Manual

Farmers’ attitudes about growing energy crops: A choice experiment approach

Valuation of management policies for sport‐fishing on Sweden's Kaitum river

Finite mixture modeling of censored regression models

A multi-attribute extension of discrete-choice contingent valuation for valuation of angling site characteristics.