Demand for improved food safety and quality: a cross-regional comparison

This paper explores the demand for improved safety and quality for meat products among consumers in two regions using a discrete choice experiment methodology. The study takes account of preferences from consumers across Great Britain and the Republic of Ireland. The features explored in the choice experiment include food safety, traceability, animal health and welfare, region of origin and price. The results suggest a large difference between willingness to pay and implicit ranking of attributes across regions. Meat products that come from ‘Ireland’ are most highly demanded among the features for Irish consumers, whereas consumers based in Great Britain value enhanced testing and animal health and welfare standards highest. Furthermore, a high correlation exists, in both regions, between respondents perception of the risk associated with consuming the meat products and the price premium they are willing to pay for the enhanced featuresFood Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

Choosing ‘buy none’ in food choice analysis: the role of utility balance

Stated choice analysis is now a widely used and accepted methodology for exploring food choice. In stated choice experiments respondents are asked to make a choice between two or more alternatives, one of which typically takes the form of a ‘buy none’ option. It is widely recognised that respondents often perceive this option differently from the other alternatives and various reasons for this have been offered. Nevertheless, the role that utility balance among the experimentally designed options plays on the propensity of respondent’s choosing ‘buy none’ has largely been overlooked. Using a non-linear representation of utility we show that the ‘buy none’ choices are sensitive to utility balance. We further show how accommodating this provides an additional insight into choice behaviour and has a bearing on welfare calculationsdiscrete choice experiments, utility balance, status-quo bias, food choice, Consumer/Household Economics,

The effect of using labelled alternatives in stated choice experiments: an exploration focusing on farmland walking trails in Ireland

Discrete choice experiment data aimed at eliciting the demand for recreational walking trails on farmland in Ireland is used to explore whether some respondents reach their choices solely on the basis of the alternative’s label. To investigate this type of processing strategy, the paper exploits a discrete mixtures approach which encompasses random parameters for the attributes. We find evidence that respondents employ different processing strategies for different alternatives and differences in processing emerge between rural and urban based respondents. Results highlight that model fit and policy conclusions are sensitive to assumptions related to processing strategies among respondentsDiscrete choice experiments, processing strategies, discrete mixtures, rural and urban comparison, outdoor recreation, welfare estimates, Land Economics/Use,

Combining discrete and continuous mixing approaches to accommodate heterogeneity in price sensitivities in environmental choice analysis

Data from a discrete choice experiment aimed at eliciting the demand for recreational walking trails on farmland in the Republic of Ireland is used to explore the consequences of misspecifying the cost coefficient. To enable straightforward calculation of WTP from the distributions of the non-price coefficients, the price coefficient is typically held constant in mixed logit models. This implies that all respondents are equally price sensitive. In this paper we test the validity of this assumption. Our approach is based on a comparison and combination of discrete and continuous mixing approaches (i.e., a mixture of distributions) to uncover the unobserved heterogeneity in price sensitivities. Results from the analysis highlight that model fit and willingness to pay are sensitive to the distributional assumptions used to represent the price coefficient.discrete choice experiments, discrete mixtures, continuous mixtures, mixtures of distributions, price sensitivities, farmland recreation, willing to pay space, Environmental Economics and Policy,

Choosing 'buy none' in food choice analysis: the role of utility balance

Stated choice analysis is now a widely used and accepted methodology for exploring food choice. In stated choice experiments respondents are asked to make a choice between two or more alternatives, one of which typically takes the form of a 'buy none' option. It is widely recognised that respondents often perceive this option differently from the other alternatives and various reasons for this have been offered. Nevertheless, the role that utility balance among the experimentally designed options plays on the propensity of respondent's choosing 'buy none' has largely been overlooked. Using a non-linear representation of utility we show that the 'buy none' choices are sensitive to utility balance. We further show how accommodating this provides an additional insight into choice behaviour and has a bearing on welfare calculations

Public access to the countryside: An exploration of the costs and benefits of farmland walking trails

To date, estimates of individuals’ willingness to pay (WTP) for access to the countryside have typically been on sites of special interest such as developed walking routes, public rights of way in specific areas, national parks and forests (see Lockwood and Tracy, 1995; Bennett and Tranter, 1997; Crabtree and MacDonald, 1997; Liston-Heyes and Heyes, 1999; Garrod et al., 1998; Bennett et al., 2003; Buckley et al., 2009; Morris et al., 2009). There has been little if any attempt to derive estimates of individuals’ WTP for the provision of walking trails in the wider countryside at a national level. The present study aims to build on previous work by examining the demand for particular types of walking trails through a nationally representative survey of the Irish population. One further advantage of this research is that apart from valuing walking activities in a generic sense this paper investigates what types of investment in facilities associated with walking trails generate the greatest welfare gains. Furthermore, using a nationally representative survey of the farming population this paper examines farmers’ willingness to participate in a hypothetical walking scheme whereby the general public will be allowed access to specific trails. First by way of background this paper will discuss the situation in relation to access rights to the countryside across a number of countries. Second this paper will outline the research approach which is followed with a discussion of the empirical results. Finally this paper will conclude with a discussion of the papers main findings and their implications for the provision of public access to the countryside.This work was funded by the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food under the Stimulus Funding

Accommodating for taste and variance heterogeneity in discrete choice

Understanding and accommodating heterogeneity in variance (also referred to as heteroscedasticity) and taste has become a major area of research within discrete choice analysis. Both scale and taste heterogeneity can be specified as continuous or discrete, the latter can be associated with socio economic characteristics (i.e. observed heterogeneity) or it can be derived probabilistically (i.e. unobserved heterogeneity). Within the context of the Mixed Logit models, unobserved heterogeneity can be represented by a continuous function, a discrete mixture or using a combination of both. This paper uses data from two recreational site choice studies (one elicited through stated preference methods and one through revealed preference methods) to compare various model specifications for accommodating both scale and preference heterogeneity. Results show that model fit, welfare estimates and choice predictions are sensitive to the manner in which both types of heterogeneity are accommodated

What's in a name? Identifying and accommodating labelling effects withindiscrete choice experiments

Discrete choice experiment data aimed at eliciting the demand for recreational walking trails on farmland in Ireland is used to explore whether some respondents reach their choices solely on the basis of the alternatives label. To investigate this type of processing strategy, the paper exploits a discrete mixtures approach which encompasses random parameters for the attributes. We find evidence that respondents employ different processing strategies for different alternatives and differences in processing emerge between rural and urban based respondents. Results highlight that model fit and policy conclusions are sensitive to assumptions related to processing strategies among respondents

The effect of using labelled alternatives in stated choice experiments: an exploration focusing on farmland walking trails in Ireland

Discrete choice experiment data aimed at eliciting the demand for recreational walking trails on farmland in Ireland is used to explore whether some respondents reach their choices solely on the basis of the alternative's label. To investigate this type of processing strategy, the paper exploits a discrete mixtures approach which encompasses random parameters for the attributes. We find evidence that respondents employ dierent processing strategies for dierent alternatives and dierences in processing emerge between rural and urban based respondents. Results highlight that model fit and policy conclusions are sensitive to assumptions related to processing strategies among respondents