Deriving time discounting correction factors for TTO tariffs

The Time Tradeoff (TTO) method is a popular method for valuing health state utilities and is frequently used in economic evaluations. However, this method produces utilities that are distorted by several biases. One important bias entails the failure to incorporate time discounting. This paper aims to measure time discounting for health outcomes in a sample representative for the general population. In particular, we estimate TTO scores alongside time discounting in order to derive a set of correction factors that can be employed to correct raw TTO scores for the downward bias caused by time discounting. We find substantial positive correction factors, which are increasing with the severity of the health state. Furthermore, higher discounting is found when using more severe health states in the discounting elicitation task. More research is needed to further develop discount rate elicitation procedures and test their validity, especially in general public samples. Moreover, future research should investigate the correction of TTO score for other biases as well, such as loss aversion, and to develop a criterion to test the external validity of TTO scores.Discounting; QALY model; Time Tradeoff; Utility Measurement

In search of a preferred preference elicitation method: A test of the internal consistency of choice and matching tasks

The numerous reports on preference reversals in preference elicitations pose a great challenge to empirical economics. Many studies have found that different procedures may generate substantially different preferences. However, little is known about whether one procedure is more susceptible to preference reversals than another. Therefore, taking the preference reversals as a robust behavioral pattern, guidelines are called for to provide directions regarding a preferred preference elicitation task. This paper puts forward a new test of the internal consistency of choice and matching tasks, based on “internal preference reversals”. We replicate the preference reversal phenomenon and find a significant higher consistency within choice tasks than within matching tasks.preference reversal; internal consistency; scale compatibility; loss aversion; choice; matching

“We are a family that works with our hands” or uterus: An exploration of first-generation female university students’ academic journey

Working-class children are not as likely to obtain higher education, and the preeminent factor is their parents’ level of education. Thirty percent of all Canadian students are first-generation and are defined as students whose parents did not complete a four-year university degree. First-generation students (FGSs) who are female tend to be researched separately but with little focus on the intersections of class and gender, making this topic ripe for research. There is a gap in the literature regarding FGS’s narratives from a class-based perspective that examines the connection between family history and academic decision-making. The barriers first-generation female students (FGFSs) face are unique, intersecting with low socioeconomic status, race and gender. To address these barriers is to alleviate economic inequality and interrupt intergenerational poverty. This qualitative study explored the academic journey of six FGFSs using focus groups and photo-elicitation interviews combined with an autoethnographic voice. This research addresses the following question: How do FGFSs experience their journey to and through higher education? Using critical feminist theory and Bourdieu’s concept of habitus, I analyze the challenges, intersecting complexities, and achievements of FGFSs. This study aims to describe FGFS’s academic journeys, generates and recounts their lived experiences and expand understanding and interpretation of this intersectional and heterogeneous population. This knowledge is valuable for childhood educators, teachers, guidance counsellors, professors, parents, and FGS programs to ensure equitable support and opportunities for all children. Unaddressed, girls from working-class homes can be set up for a future of precarious work, limiting personal potential and repeating a generational cycle of low socioeconomic status

De meting van maatschappelijke voorkeuren voor gezondheid(szorg) vanuit een gedragseconomisch perspectief

Het is wenselijk om de voorkeuren van mensen met betrekking tot de afruil tussen efficiëntie en rechtvaardigheid van gezondheidszorg (in termen van het gebruik van zorg) op een zuivere manier te meten. De beleidsmaker krijgt hierdoor de mogelijkheid om beslissingen te nemen die in het belang van de maatschappij zijn. Dit artikel demonstreert hoe inzichten uit de gedragseconomie kunnen worden gebruikt om maatschappelijke voorkeuren voor de verdeling van zorgmiddelen beter te kunnen meten. Een praktisch voorbeeld toont de relevantie van deze nieuwe inzichten voor de allocatie van schaarse middelen in de gezondheidszorg aan

Using Eddy Covariance and Over-Lake Measurements from Two Prairie Reservoirs to Inform Future Evaporation Measurements

Improved evaporation estimates are required to aid water management decisions. Current estimates are limited by the availability of driving meteorological data; estimates are routinely made using land-based data to model over-lake conditions. Collecting evaporation measurements and over-lake meteorological data to validate models in existing use is the first step toward improving future evaporation estimates. This study presents the first direct open-water evaporation measurements for the southern Prairie Provinces using the eddy covariance technique. Instrumentation for evaporation and meteorological measurements were mounted on moored buoys near the centre of Val Marie and Shellmouth Reservoirs during the 2016 and 2017 open-water seasons (May to October). Relationships between the measured evaporation and potential controls were examined. In addition, four common estimation approaches were evaluated using a combination of land-based and over-lake inputs at various time steps. Daily evaporation at Val Marie Reservoir averaged 3.0 mm/d during the spring and fall of 2016 and 4.0 mm/d during the full 2017 open water season. Conditions at Shellmouth suggest fluxes of similar magnitude, but evaporation data could not be confidently presented due to technical errors with equipment. Short-term evaporation at Val Marie Reservoir was aerodynamically driven with a minor seasonal influence from heat storage. Bulk Transfer methods using over-lake data performed best of four methods evaluated at Val Marie and were used to estimate missing evaporation at Shellmouth. More work is required to improve models of land-lake relationships and determine the best procedure for future data limited situations. It is hoped that the dataset created during this study will provide ample opportunity for future work toward improving evaporation estimates

De TTO-methode en correctie voor tijdsvoorkeur

Inleiding: De time tradeoff (TTO-) methode is een veelgebruikte methode voor het waarderen van gezondheidstoestanden (Dolan, 1997; Dolan e.a., 1996). In een TTO dienen individuen een afweging te maken tussen kwaliteit van leven en levensduur. Een typische TTO-procedure omvat een afweging tussen het leven in een bepaalde imperfecte gezondheidstoestand gedurende tien jaar en het leven in perfecte gezondheid gedurende een periode van minder dan tien jaar, waarna in beide gevallen dood volgt

SPOT: Open Source framework for scientific data repository and interactive visualization

SPOT is an open source and free visual data analytics tool for multi-dimensional data-sets. Its web-based interface allows a quick analysis of complex data interactively. The operations on data such as aggregation and filtering are implemented. The generated charts are responsive and OpenGL supported. It follows FAIR principles to allow reuse and comparison of the published data-sets. The software also support PostgreSQL database for scalability