Economics
Socioeconomic adjustments and choice experiment benefit function transfer: Evaluating the common wisdom
Document Type
Article
Abstract
It is often argued that attribute adjustments made possible within choice experiments have the potential to improve benefit transfer accuracy. These transfers, however, often omit socioeconomic adjustments; this reflects a limited presence of socioeconomic covariates in broader choice experiments. The lack of correspondence between common guidance that socioeconomic adjustments should be applied and simultaneous arguments for the advantages of choice experiment transfers leads to ambiguity for transfer practice. This paper contrasts the change in transfer performance resulting from an ability to adjust for policy attributes with that resulting from an ability to adjust for socioeconomic attributes. Results are illustrated for the case of agricultural land preservation. The goal is to provide evidence regarding the tradeoff faced by practitioners who seek to use choice experiments for benefit transfer but lack the ability to adjust for socioeconomic attributes. © 2009 Elsevier B.V.
Publication Title
Resource and Energy Economics
Publication Date
8-2010
Volume
32
Issue
3
First Page
421
Last Page
438
ISSN
0928-7655
DOI
10.1016/j.reseneeco.2009.11.003
Keywords
benefit transfer, choice modeling, farmland preservation, stated preference, willingness to pay
Repository Citation
Johnston, Robert J. and Duke, Joshua M., "Socioeconomic adjustments and choice experiment benefit function transfer: Evaluating the common wisdom" (2010). Economics. 196.
https://commons.clarku.edu/faculty_economics/196
