Modelling Heterogeneity in Response Behaviour Towards a Sequence of Discrete Choice Questions: A Probabilistic Decision Process Model

There is a growing body of evidence in the non-market valuation literature suggesting that responses to a sequence of discrete choice questions tend to violate the assumptions typically made by analysts regarding independence of responses and stability of preferences. Decision processes (or heuristics) such as value learning and strategic misrepresentation have been offered as explanations for these results. While a few studies have tested these heuristics as competing hypotheses, none has investigated the possibility that each explains the response behaviour of a subgroup of the population. In this paper, we make a contribution towards addressing this research gap by presenting a probabilistic decision process model designed to estimate the proportion of respondents employing defined heuristics. We demonstrate the model on binary and multinomial choice data sources and find three distinct types of response behaviour. The results suggest that accounting for heterogeneity in response behaviour may be a better way forward than attempting to identify a single heuristic to explain the behaviour of all respondents.     

Planning under market socialism when iteration is incomplete

If an iterative planning procedure is cut short due to time shortage, the plan must be set subject to information gaps. But the nature of these gaps depends on which iterative procedure was used. For the case of Lange's model, Weitzman's “prices versus quantities” framework is redeveloped for the particular information gaps then found. With one good, the optimal quantity signal comes from the expected supply-demand intersection, but an optimal price signal lies between this intersection and the price from the last stage of iteration. When there are many goods, however, we cannot be so specific.     

On the non-null distribution ofWilcoxon's signed rank test

Summary The properties of theWilcoxon signed rank sum testW ⁺ [Wilcoxon, 1945] for the hypothesis of symmetryH _o are discussed for alternativesH toH _o. The probability generating function and cumulant generating function ofW ⁺ are derived and a limiting form of the distribution is determined.     

Regional environmental and economic impact evaluation: An input-output approach

This article develops a regional input-output model which deals with both the environmental sector and the traditional treatment of the economy. The model differs from previous work in that environmental interactions are treated non-linearly and explicit account is taken of environmental feedback to the economic sector. Estimation of non-linear environmental feedback makes it possible to more accurately assess the sensitivity of the regional economic-environmental structure to shifts in final demand over time.     

On macroeconomic instability from a monetarist policy rule

In macroeconomic models that include government budget restraints, following a monetarist policy rule will often result in instability. Here, that result is shown to be crucially dependent upon the assumption that government bonds represent private wealth.     

Gender implications of current social security reforms

This paper examines some current reforms to social security benefits / tax credits and changes to employment provisions from a gender perspective. It analyses tensions between the trend towards ‘individualisation’ and growing emphasis on the couple/household as a policy focus. New tax credits change the distribution of resources within many couples. Incentives to work for some second earners should improve; but extending in‐work subsidies to childless couples raises questions. Payment of child tax credit to the ‘main carer’ has been welcomed, though the implications of joint ownership of tax credits are unclear, and joint assessment will be extended. Many claimants' partners can now access employment services. However, this is aimed at reducing the number of workless households rather than expanding individuals' opportunities. Joint claims for jobseeker's allowance, and work‐focused interviews, involve increased responsibilities for partners but no right of access to individual income. A more consistent critical analysis of reform from a gender perspective is required.     

The impact of the composition of government spending on private consumption and investment: some impirical evidence

Government spending is disaggregated into investment and consumption components to investigate both theoretically and empirically whether public sector consumption and investment spending crowd out private sector expenditures in the same categories. The hypothesis is that the composition of public sector expenditures may also be important in influencing the composition of private expenditures, rather than just the total level of public expenditure. The empirical results do not indicate that public expenditures in these two categories significantly influence their private sector counterparts.