Abstract
The paper presents the results of the first test–retest study on choice experiments in environmental valuation. In a survey concerning landscape externalities of onshore wind power in central Germany, respondents answered the same five choice sets at two different points in time. Each choice set comprised three alternatives described by five attributes, and the time interval between the test and the retest was eleven months. The analysis takes place at three different levels, investigating choice consistency at the choice task level and repeatability of the latent construct utility at the level of parametric models as well as at the level of willingness-to-pay estimates. At the choice task level we observed 59 % identical choices. The parametric analysis shows that the test and retest estimates are not equal, even when we control for scale, that is, differences in the error variance. However, comparing the marginal willingness-to-pay estimates among test and retest reveals only a statistically significant difference for one of the attributes. Overall, this indicates a moderate test–retest reliability taking into account that consistency at the choice task level overlooks the stochastic nature of the process underlying discrete choice experiments.
Highlights
Choice experiments, used as an alternative to the contingent valuation method in environmental valuation, are undergoing comprehensive scrutiny
This paper presents the first study on test–retest reliability of choice experiments in environmental valuation in which respondents completed five identical choice tasks at two different points in time
Based on a cumulative analysis our findings indicate a fair to moderate test–retest reliability at the level of choice sets, congruent choices per individual, parametric analysis and willingness-to-pay values
Summary
Choice experiments, used as an alternative to the contingent valuation method in environmental valuation, are undergoing comprehensive scrutiny. At the level of willingness to pay we investigate whether the repeated choice experiment would give statistically not significantly different estimates Using these three criteria for analysing test–retest reliability one has to keep in mind that investigating choice consistency at the choice task level overlooks the stochastic nature of the choice process as it is assumed by discrete choice models based on random utility theory. 2 introduces the method of test–retest reliability in general and with respect to choice experiments in particular It briefly presents findings from previous contingent valuation studies in environmental economics and from three choice experiments in the field of health economics.
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