IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/eejocm/v34y2020ics175553451930106x.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

On the ecological fallacy in discrete-choice models

Author

Listed:
  • Herger, Nils

Abstract

In linear regressions, the ecological fallacy—the erroneous belief that aggregate-level coefficients coincide with individual-level coefficients—arises when individual outcomes depend on the group environment. This paper suggest that such “group effects” determine also the circumstances under which the ecological fallacy vanishes from basic discrete-choice models. In particular, when controlling for group effects, it is shown that the same coefficients arise from a conditional logit model, which is a popular framework to analyse individual choices, and a Poisson regression, which provides a framework to analyse the aggregate number (or count) of such choices across groups.

Suggested Citation

  • Herger, Nils, 2020. "On the ecological fallacy in discrete-choice models," Journal of choice modelling, Elsevier, vol. 34(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:eejocm:v:34:y:2020:i:c:s175553451930106x
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jocm.2019.100201
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S175553451930106X
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jocm.2019.100201?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Paulo Guimarães & Octávio Figueirdo & Douglas Woodward, 2003. "A Tractable Approach to the Firm Location Decision Problem," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 85(1), pages 201-204, February.
    2. Nils Herger & Christos Kotsogiannis & Steve McCorriston, 2016. "Multiple taxes and alternative forms of FDI: evidence from cross-border acquisitions," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 23(1), pages 82-113, February.
    3. Barrios, Salvador & Huizinga, Harry & Laeven, Luc & Nicodème, Gaëtan, 2012. "International taxation and multinational firm location decisions," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(11), pages 946-958.
    4. Michela Gnaldi & Venera Tomaselli & Antonio Forcina, 2018. "Ecological Fallacy and Covariates: New Insights based on Multilevel Modelling of Individual Data," International Statistical Review, International Statistical Institute, vol. 86(1), pages 119-135, April.
    5. Rainer Winkelmann, 2008. "Econometric Analysis of Count Data," Springer Books, Springer, edition 0, number 978-3-540-78389-3, September.
    6. Train,Kenneth E., 2009. "Discrete Choice Methods with Simulation," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521766555.
    7. Herger, Nils & McCorriston, Steve, 2013. "On discrete location choice models," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 120(2), pages 288-291.
    8. Nils Herger, 2013. "On Discrete Location Choice Models," Working Papers 13.02, Swiss National Bank, Study Center Gerzensee.
    9. Kramer, Gerald H., 1983. "The Ecological Fallacy Revisited: Aggregate- versus Individual-level Findings on Economics and Elections, and Sociotropic Voting," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 77(1), pages 92-111, March.
    10. Kelejian, Harry H., 1995. "Aggregated heterogeneous dependent data and the logit model: A suggested approach," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 47(3-4), pages 243-248, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Luis Miguel Martín-delosReyes & Pablo Lardelli-Claret & Laura García-Cuerva & Mario Rivera-Izquierdo & Eladio Jiménez-Mejías & Virginia Martínez-Ruiz, 2021. "Effect of Periodic Vehicle Inspection on Road Crashes and Injuries: A Systematic Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(12), pages 1-9, June.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Arulampalam, Wiji & Devereux, Michael P. & Liberini, Federica, 2019. "Taxes and the location of targets," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 176(C), pages 161-178.
    2. Roberto Crotti, 2021. "Does Intangible Asset Intensity Increase Profit-Shifting Opportunities of Multinationals?," IHEID Working Papers 02-2021, Economics Section, The Graduate Institute of International Studies.
    3. Feld, Lars P. & Ruf, Martin & Scheuering, Uwe & Schreiber, Ulrich & Voget, Johannes, 2016. "Repatriation taxes and outbound M&As," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 13-27.
    4. Johannes Buggle & Thierry Mayer & Seyhun Orcan Sakalli & Mathias Thoenig, 2023. "The Refugee’s Dilemma: Evidence from Jewish Migration out of Nazi Germany," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 138(2), pages 1273-1345.
    5. Asmae AQZZOUZ & Nathalie PICARD, 2024. "Residential Mobility And Life Cycle: Examination Of The Influence Of Local Taxes," Working Papers of BETA 2024-12, Bureau d'Economie Théorique et Appliquée, UDS, Strasbourg.
    6. David Audretsch & Oliver Falck & Stephan Heblich, 2011. "Who’s got the aces up his sleeve? Functional specialization of cities and entrepreneurship," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 46(3), pages 621-636, June.
    7. Burda, Martin & Harding, Matthew & Hausman, Jerry, 2012. "A Poisson mixture model of discrete choice," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 166(2), pages 184-203.
    8. Martina Lawless & Daire McCoy & Edgar L. W. Morgenroth & Conor M. O”Toole, 2018. "Corporate tax and location choice for multinational firms," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 50(26), pages 2920-2931, June.
    9. Trinh, Giang & Wright, Malcolm J., 2022. "Predicting future consumer purchases in grocery retailing with the condensed Poisson lognormal model," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    10. Simone Bertoli & Jesus Fernández-Huertas Moraga, 2012. "Visa Policies, Networks and the Cliff at the Border," Working Papers 2012-12, FEDEA.
    11. Fabrice Defever, 2006. "Functional fragmentation and the location of multinational firms in the enlarged Europe," Post-Print halshs-00118808, HAL.
    12. Simone Bertoli & Ilse Ruyssen, 2018. "Networks and migrants’ intended destination," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 18(4), pages 705-728.
    13. Bredtmann, Julia & Nowotny, Klaus & Otten, Sebastian, 2020. "Linguistic distance, networks and migrants’ regional location choice," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    14. Ciriaci, Daria & Grassano, Nicola & Vezzani, Antonio, 2019. "Regulations and location choices of top R&D investors worldwide," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 29-42.
    15. Massimiliano Bratti & Alfonso Miranda, 2011. "Endogenous treatment effects for count data models with endogenous participation or sample selection," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 20(9), pages 1090-1109, September.
    16. Hoppe, Thomas & Schanz, Deborah & Sturm, Susann & Sureth, Caren & Voget, Johannes, 2020. "The relation between tax complexity and foreign direct investment: Evidence across countries," arqus Discussion Papers in Quantitative Tax Research 250, arqus - Arbeitskreis Quantitative Steuerlehre.
    17. Lars P. Feld & Martin Ruf & Uwe Scheuering & Ulrich Schreiber & Johannes Voget, 2013. "Effects of Territorial and Worldwide Corporation Tax Systems on Outbound M&As," CESifo Working Paper Series 4455, CESifo.
    18. Overesch Michael, 2016. "Steuervermeidung multinationaler Unternehmen," Perspektiven der Wirtschaftspolitik, De Gruyter, vol. 17(2), pages 129-143, July.
    19. Eduardo Fé & Richard Hofler, 2013. "Count data stochastic frontier models, with an application to the patents–R&D relationship," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 39(3), pages 271-284, June.
    20. Julia Bredtmann & Klaus Nowotny & Sebastian Otten, 2017. "Linguistic Distance, Networks and Migrants’ Regional Location Choice," RF Berlin - CReAM Discussion Paper Series 1712, Rockwool Foundation Berlin (RF Berlin) - Centre for Research and Analysis of Migration (CReAM).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:eejocm:v:34:y:2020:i:c:s175553451930106x. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/journal-of-choice-modelling .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.