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The information content of a stated choice experiment: A new method and its application to the value of a statistical life

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  • Rouwendal, Jan
  • de Blaeij, Arianne
  • Rietveld, Piet
  • Verhoef, Erik

Abstract

This paper presents a new method to assess the distribution of values of time, and values of statistical life, over participants to a stated choice experiment. The method does not require the researcher to make an a priori assumption on the type of distribution, as is required for example for mixed logit models. It requires a few assumptions to hold true, namely that the valuations to be determined are constant for each individual, and that respondents make choices according to their preferences. These assumptions allow the derivation of lower and upper bounds on the (cumulative) distribution of the values of interest over respondents, by deriving for each choice set the value(s) for which the respondent would be indifferent between the alternatives offered, and next deriving from the choice actually made the respondent's implied minimum or maximum value(s). We also provide an extension of the method that incorporates the possibility that errors are made. The method is illustrated using data from an experiment investigating the value of time and the value of statistical life. We discuss the possibility to improve the information content of stated choice experiments by optimizing the attribute levels shown to respondents, which is especially relevant because it would help in selecting the appropriate distribution for mixed logit estimates for the same data.

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  • Rouwendal, Jan & de Blaeij, Arianne & Rietveld, Piet & Verhoef, Erik, 2010. "The information content of a stated choice experiment: A new method and its application to the value of a statistical life," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 44(1), pages 136-151, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:transb:v:44:y:2010:i:1:p:136-151
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    Cited by:

    1. Yuan, Yuan & You, Wen & Boyle, Kevin J., 2015. "A guide to heterogeneity features captured by parametric and nonparametric mixing distributions for the mixed logit model," 2015 AAEA & WAEA Joint Annual Meeting, July 26-28, San Francisco, California 205733, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    2. Mouter, Niek & Chorus, Caspar, 2016. "Value of time – A citizen perspective," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 317-329.
    3. Danaf, Mazen & Guevara, Angelo & Atasoy, Bilge & Ben-Akiva, Moshe, 2020. "Endogeneity in adaptive choice contexts: Choice-based recommender systems and adaptive stated preferences surveys," Journal of choice modelling, Elsevier, vol. 34(C).
    4. Mouter, Niek & van Cranenburgh, Sander & van Wee, Bert, 2017. "Do individuals have different preferences as consumer and citizen? The trade-off between travel time and safety," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 333-349.
    5. Börjesson, Maria & Eliasson, Jonas, 2014. "Experiences from the Swedish Value of Time study," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 144-158.
    6. Hernández, José Ignacio & van Cranenburgh, Sander, 2023. "NP4VTT: A new software for estimating the value of travel time with nonparametric models," Journal of choice modelling, Elsevier, vol. 48(C).
    7. Bliemer, Michiel C.J. & Rose, John M., 2011. "Experimental design influences on stated choice outputs: An empirical study in air travel choice," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 45(1), pages 63-79, January.
    8. Stephane Hess & Andrew Daly & Maria Börjesson, 2020. "A critical appraisal of the use of simple time-money trade-offs for appraisal value of travel time measures," Transportation, Springer, vol. 47(3), pages 1541-1570, June.
    9. Sander Cranenburgh & Marco Kouwenhoven, 2021. "An artificial neural network based method to uncover the value-of-travel-time distribution," Transportation, Springer, vol. 48(5), pages 2545-2583, October.

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