Suchergebnisse

This paper addresses a methodological problem of choice experiments, namely the problem that respondents sometimes avoid the intellectual effort of thoroughly considering the trade-offs between different alternatives that are the essence of every choice experiment, and tick instead the next best alternative without the necessary deliberation. This kind of behaviour which is called "nontrading" in the respective literature calls into question the validity of choice experiments. In this paper, which is based on an online choice experiment concerned with consumer's tastes for table grapes with 1,000 participants, we suggest possibilities to identify potential non-traders not only by their answering behaviour but also by some general characteristics we found to be typical of this kind of respondent.

In umfragebasierten Choice-Experimenten wählen Befragte aus verschiedenen (Handlungs-)Alternativen die von ihnen am meisten präferierte aus. Indem Merkmale dieser Alternativen gezielt variiert werden, lässt sich ihr Einfluss auf die abgefragten Auswahlentscheidungen bestimmen und eine weitaus direktere Prüfung kausaler Zusammenhänge erreichen als mit "herkömmlichen" Befragungsdaten. Im Gegensatz zu den verwandten Faktoriellen Surveys ist die Methodik direkter auf Handlungs- und Entscheidungstheorien zugeschnitten und bereits eine hohe externe Validität belegt. Im vorliegenden Beitrag werden Choice-Experimente in ihren Grundzügen dargestellt (theoretische Fundierung, Ausgestaltung, Datenerhebung und -auswertung) und vergleichend zu Faktoriellen Surveys diskutiert. Ziel ist es, praktische Handreichungen zu geben und zu vermehrten soziologischen Anwendungen zu motivieren.

Die vorliegende Dissertation untersucht, inwiefern Discrete Choice Experimente (DCE) in der landwirtschaftlichen Produktionsökonomie eingesetzt werden können, um das Entscheidungsverhalten von Landwirten zu prognostizieren. Um diese Fragestellung zu beantworten, werden mehrere DCE mit Landwirten in den Bereichen des Angebotsverhaltens, des Adoptionsverhaltens, sowie des Entscheidungsverhaltens bei der Inputwahl durchgeführt. Die Analyseergebnisse der einzelnen Fallstudien geben Aufschluss darüber, dass es gegebenenfalls notwendig ist, die Methode in Bezug auf den Einsatz bei bestimmten Fragestellungen in der landwirtschaftlichen Produktionsökonomie zu erweitern.

Summary
As in most industrialized countries, the inequality regarding the distribution of household incomes in Germany has steadily increased. By collecting taxes and granting monetary transfers, the government tries to affect the personal distribution of incomes. Whereas the supply of redistribution is relatively easy to determine, it is rather difficult to identify the determinants of the citizens′ demand for redistribution. Most of the literature concerning the individuals′ preferences for redistribution relies on survey based analysis. A shortcoming of these studies is the failure of imposing a budget constraint. Discrete-Choice-Experiments (DCE) solve this problem by forcing individuals to take the consequences of their decisions with respect to their own income into account. This study aims at developing a theory based approach to elicit individuals′ preferences for redistribution using DCEs. For the specific case of Germany, we show how to design and implement such a DCE. In particular, we discuss how the price attribute in a DCE should be specified and which levels adequately define the price an individual is willing to pay for redistribution. We are able to demonstrate that even for a highly complex topic such as redistribution a correctly applied DCE can provide authoritative results. This allows deriving policy implications on how to design redistributive policies which are in line with citizens' preferences.

AbstractExperimental and behavioral economists, as well as psychologists, commonly assume conditional independence of choices when constructing likelihood functions for structural estimation of choice functions. I test this assumption using data from a new experiment designed for this purpose. Within the limits of the experiment's identifying restriction and designed power to detect deviations from conditional independence, conditional independence is not rejected. In naturally occurring data, concerns about violations of conditional independence are certainly proper and well-taken (for well-known reasons). However, when an experimenter employs the particular experimental mechanisms and designs used here, the findings suggest that conditional independence is an acceptable assumption for analyzing data so generated.

Klimaschutz und Klimaanpassung ; Adaptation to climate change is becoming increasingly crucial for coastal areas. This paper adds to the limited evidence on the trade-offs people are willing to make to support decision-making on adaptation strategies for coastal protection. The trade-off between alternative protection modes is conceptualized in a choice experiment in terms of six attributes: the extent of beach nourishment, dyke heightening, cliff protection, access to dunes, realignment of dykes and dunes, and cost in terms of a coastal protection levy. These attributes were selected and designed in, among others, close cooperation with governmental decision makers. When accounting for preference heterogeneity, three latent classes were identified among the more than 1800 participants of a nationwide online survey in Germany. Respondents who prefer extensive changes, respondents who are willing to pay for an increase in dyke height but are not ready to give up money for a change in any other attribute, and respondents who are not willing to cover any additional expenses for coastal adaptation to climate change. The results allow to assess a broad range of future adaptation strategies and thus provide not only to policy makers and the administration in the case study region important insights into peoples' preferences.