Stated Choice Method Research Articles

Motivations and Trade-Offs for Sustainability in Family Forestry and Tourism Firms: A Cross-National Survey

Family firms are the foundation of economies across the world. Yet, little is understood about what motivates sustainability in these firms, particularly in developing economies. In this study, we examine family forestry and tourism firms in Chile and India and use a novel stated-choice method to understand preferences for sustainability and the trade-offs with profit maximization, law and regulation, and family relations (among others). There were heterogeneous preferences across the sample, with respondents favoring financial outcomes and viewing regulation negatively. Respondents preferred positive environmental impacts, and this was significantly favored by tourism firms. Forestry firms were particularly focused on maintaining satisfactory family relationships, where there was stronger family involvement in the firm’s management decisions. Indian respondents were more likely to prefer the expansion option in the choice study (financial outcomes), while Chileans preferred the eco-labeling choice (sustainability), suggesting more supportive sustainability norms in Chile. Chileans were more likely to exceed legal compliance in their choice selection and favored positive environmental impacts more. Overall, tourism firms were larger in terms of revenues and favored the eco-labeling choice with positive environmental impacts but with minimal regulations, while forestry favored expansion. These differences may be driven by the resources available to tourism firms for supporting sustainability measures and the importance of sustainability to their business models. Policies to support sustainability among family firms must account for their heterogeneity and must provide supports and incentives rather than regulations to facilitate sustainability.

What motivates environmental and social sustainability in family firms? A cross‐cultural survey

AbstractEvidence shows that positive family dynamics can motivate environmental and social strategies (ESS) in family firms. Using a stated choice method, we examine how family conflict, trust and socioemotional wealth (SEW) influence ESS choices and interact with other trade‐offs among family firms in two distinct cultural contexts: Chile and India. In Chile, we found that where there was more conflict, there were less ESS choices selected. However, in Chile, higher trust produced less relational conflict and more ESS preferences, suggesting supportive norms and group cohesion in these firms. Chilean respondents selected ESS choices more generally, which may be influenced by cultural dimensions that support sustainability, like uncertainty avoidance, indulgence and collectivism. Formal written sustainability visions in family firms created positive environmental norms in both countries and in Chile led to higher ESS preferences. Indian respondents with higher SEW were more likely to adopt ESS choices. Younger family firms in both countries were more likely to adopt ESS, suggesting generational dynamics and selectivity theory may be at play. Creating safeguards for maintaining positive emotional dynamics and tools for creating formal sustainability visions are important steps for enabling ESS among family firms.

Методика оценивания эффективности применения космических аппаратов связи по целевому назначению

There is an approach of the communication satellites comparison presents in the paper. It can be applied in situations when it is necessary to make the promptly and reasonably decision on the communication satellites choice in conditions of limited time for decision-making. The stated choice method differs from the known ones by taking into account the overall characteristics of the satellite, which significantly affect the quality of its intended tasks. The estimated characteristics in the work are the availability, bandwidth, noise immunity, reliability and controlability of the satellite. The paper also presents the approbation results of the propsed method to determine the most effective communication satellite in a geostationary orbital grouping belonging to the Russian Federation, involved in the organization of information exchange of mobile subscribers on the territory of the state.

On the cost of misperceived travel time variability

Because individuals may misperceive travel time distributions, using the implied reduced form of the scheduling model might fall short of capturing all costs of travel time variability. We reformulate a general scheduling model employing rank-dependent utility theory and derive two special cases as econometric specifications to study these uncaptured costs. It is found that reduced-form expected cost functions still have a mean–variance form when misperception is considered, but the value of travel time variability is higher. We estimate these two models with stated-preference data and calculate the empirical cost of misperception. We find that: (i) travelers are mostly pessimistic and thus tend to choose departure times too early to achieve a minimum cost, (ii) scheduling preferences elicited using a stated-choice method can be relatively biased if probability weighting is not considered, and (iii) the extra cost of misperceiving the travel time distribution might be nontrivial when time is valued differently over the time of day and is substantial for some people.

Perbandingan Nilai Kesediaan Membayar Menggunakan Pendekatan Stated Preference Contingent Valuation Dan Stated Preference Stated Choice

Stated Preference method is a flexible non-market valuation method, which is widely used in the cost-benefit analysis. In this study, the willingness to pay for passenger cars is estimated and compared using two different Stated Preference methods, namely the Contingent Valuation and Stated Choice methods. These models are applied to estimate the non-market value of road safety in the City of Bandung. Interviews were conducted with more than 500 residents of the City of Bandung. The results showed that the willingness to pay using contingent valuation method is Rp 180.32/km and willingness to pay using stated choice method is Rp 333.7/km. The main concern for these models is the reliability and validity of the assessment results, because there is a hypothetical question and a big gap between the two models. Therefore the reliability examination for both models is the most significant problem.

Travelers’ preferences in multimodal networks: Design and results of a comprehensive series of choice experiments

The modeling of individuals’ choice behavior in integrated multimodal transport networks requires the estimation of preference parameters related to the trade-off between uni-modal trips and multimodal combinations of private and public modes as well as relevant attributes of access, main and access stages of the trip. The stated choice method is a well-established method to estimate travel choice models empirically. However, including all relevant elements in a single experiment will not only result in choice tasks that are too complex for respondents but will also lead to choice-sets that include options that are not feasible for a given trip distance. To overcome this problem, this paper develops an approach that involves the use of a series of SP experiments to estimate a single comprehensive multimodal travel choice model. In total, four experiments are designed focusing on particular multimodal (including Park-and-Ride options) and public-transport choices for trips of varying distance. A representative national sample (N=2746) of individuals from the Netherlands participated in the experiments through an online questionnaire. The data pooled across experiments are used to estimate the model in a scaled error-component-mixed multinomial logit framework. In this way, valuations of time, costs and service-quality attributes could be estimated on a relatively high level of detail concerning modes and trip stages. Comparisons with previous research indicate that the parameter estimates have reasonable values. The estimation results offer rich information on how travelers tradeoff between travel-time, travel-costs and service-quality attributes in travel choice in multimodal networks.

The Value of Statistical Life in Road Traffic Based on Logit Model

The value of a statistical life (VOSL) in road traffic is an important index for economic evaluation on road safety programs. The VOSL model is established based on the binary Logit model. Then the route-choice questionnaire is designed based on the stated choice method (SCM) and the orthogonal experiment method. The survey is implemented regarding Dalian private drivers as respondents. Finally, the model is estimated based on the SCM data by Gauss. The result indicates that the VOSL in road traffic for Dalian private drivers is about 360,000 RMB, and the model has a high accuracy. Moreover, the VOSL in road traffic is significantly influenced by four individual characteristics such as one's monthly income, traffic experience, car insurance and education background.

Estimation of indirect economic loss caused by house destruction in a natural disaster

Designing appropriate post-disaster emergency and recovery housing policies requires accurate estimation of the indirect or “flow” loss generated by the involuntary displacement of households to housing other than their own destroyed homes. We employed the stated choice method to measure residence choice following a hypothetical disaster in a procedure developed to estimate flow loss due to house destruction. This method was applied to households in the city of Nagaoka in Niigata Prefecture to estimate flow loss for a range of residence types and residence attributes following relocation. The results revealed that the relocation residence type itself (such as a shelter, temporary dwelling, rental housing, or one’s own home) had a substantial effect on residence choice. Regarding residence attributes, residential expenses such as rent, housing loans, and spaciousness had a significant effect on residence choice. Moreover, we found that respondents placed a very high value on living in their own home compared with other residence types, indicating that subsidizing the prompt repair and rebuilding of private homes is likely to be an effective recovery support policy. In addition, a cost–benefit analysis of our results revealed that rent subsidies are more efficient than the construction of public housing as a means of financially assisting economically constrained households after a disaster.

Transport and Regional Dispersal of Tourists: Is Travel Modal Substitution a Source of Conflict between Low-Fare Air Services and Regional Dispersal?

This article explores the relationship between low-cost carrier (LCC) service proliferation and regional dispersal of tourists by examining the mode choice decision of leisure tourists. This research applies a stated choice method controlling for travel mode attributes as well as trip context (whether a trip is single- or multidestination). The results suggest that leisure traveler mode choice is influenced by the trip context; however, low airfares more than offset this effect on travel mode choice. On the basis of data collected in the Northern New South Wales travel corridor in Australia, this article shows that a study of travel mode choice can reveal potential conflicts and synergies in the marketing and management of destinations. The results have implications for destinations worldwide.

Is Alternative Development Undersupplied?

Previous studies suggest that there is an unmet demand for pedestrian-and transit-oriented development. However, most of these studies used the stated-choice method, which has many inherent disadvantages. Further, combining conflicting residential attributes into hypothetical situations may distort consumer choices. By using data of Northern California movers, a new study adopted an alternative approach to exploring this issue, namely, examining the priority of transportation and land-use preferences in residential choice and the discrepancy between preferences for and perceptions of these attributes. It was found that preferences for accessibility to transportation systems and different land uses are secondary in residential choice, movers’ perceptions of accessibility attributes on average exceed their preference for corresponding attributes, and a small share of movers experienced dissonances of all accessibility characteristics but proximity to workplace. Therefore, the study fails to support the argument of the undersupply of alternative development.

Value of Traffic Externalities from Attribute-Based Stated Choice

The increasing rate of motorization in major urban centers in Asia is having severe impacts on local social and physical environments. Sustainability principles call for consideration of these traffic impacts, which include congestion, air and noise pollution, road safety, and urban decay, in the evaluation of urban development programs and projects. This study aims to contribute to the scarce literature on valuing nonmonetary external costs of traffic in developing countries through the attribute-based stated choice method measuring willingness to pay for route environment improvements. A web-based stated preference route choice survey was conducted regarding private work trips in metro Manila, Philippines, to value the welfare derived from changes in the quality of road and roadside environments. The authors estimated and compared values from specifications of fixed and random parameter logit. This study shows that estimates are sensitive to model specification, particularly if the attributes have significant preference heterogeneity and covariance. The values of significant attributes affecting utility, which include the value of percentage improvement in air quality, the value of percentage reduction in noise, and the risk value from a traffic fatality, are presented and compared.

Value of Traffic Externalities from Attribute-Based Stated Choice: Route Choice Experiment

The increasing rate of motorization in major urban centers in Asia is having severe impacts on local social and physical environments. Sustainability principles call for consideration of these traffic impacts, which include congestion, air and noise pollution, road safety, and urban decay, in the evaluation of urban development programs and projects. This study aims to contribute to the scarce literature on valuing nonmonetary external costs of traffic in developing countries through the attribute-based stated choice method measuring willingness to pay for route environment improvements. A web-based stated preference route choice survey was conducted regarding private work trips in metro Manila, Philippines, to value the welfare derived from changes in the quality of road and roadside environments. The authors estimated and compared values from specifications of fixed and random parameter logit. This study shows that estimates are sensitive to model specification, particularly if the attributes have signi...

Evaluating water policy scenarios against the priorities of the rural poor

Summary A stated choice method evaluates how well water policy responds to the preferences of the rural poor in South Africa. Household priorities to experimental scenarios of water resource and water services attributes are investigated in two communities with poor water access in a semi-arid zone. Results identify improved water accessibility as the most important intervention for social welfare gains, particularly benefiting female water collectors. A latent class specification reveals two sub-groups with different weighted preferences; this specification reinforces the primacy of domestic water access and also identifies a smaller but significant group with preferences for water availability for kitchen garden irrigation.

Stated choice valuations of traffic related noise

This paper reports a novel application of the stated choice method to the valuation of road traffic noise. The innovative context used is that of choice between apartments with different levels of traffic noise, view, sunlight and cost with which respondents would be familiar. Stated choice models were developed on both perceived and objective measures of traffic noise, with the former statistically superior, and an extensive econometric analysis has been conducted to assess the nature and extent of householders’ heterogeneity of preferences for noise. This found that random taste variation is appreciable but also identified considerable systematic variation in valuations according to income level, household composition and exposure to noise. Self-selectivity is apparent, whereby those with higher marginal values of noise tend to live in quieter apartments. Sign and reference effects were apparent in the relationship between ratings and objective noise measures, presumably reflecting the non-linear nature of the latter. However, there was no strong support for sign, size or reference effects in the valuations of perceived noise levels.