Assessing the spatial dependence of welfare estimates obtained from discrete choice experiments

Citation

Campbell D, Scarpa R & Hutchinson WG (2008) Assessing the spatial dependence of welfare estimates obtained from discrete choice experiments. Letters in Spatial and Resource Sciences, 1 (2-3), pp. 117-126. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12076-008-0012-6

Abstract
We report results from a discrete choice experiment designed to assess the general public's preferences regarding rural landscape improvements. Using a random parameters logit model to account for unobserved taste heterogeneity, we exploit the panel nature of the dataset to retrieve partworths, or willingness to pay (WTP) values, for every individual in the sample. We subsequently use the Moran's I test statistic to gauge the spatial dependence of these estimates for a range of spatial extents. We find that WTP estimates are positively spatially autocorrelated, but the degree of homogeneity diminishes as the spatial extent becomes larger before it eventually becomes relatively stable.

Keywords
Discrete choice experiments; Moran’s I;; Random parameters logit; Spatial dependence; Willingness to pay

Journal
Letters in Spatial and Resource Sciences: Volume 1, Issue 2-3