Counting combinatorial choice rules

I count the number of combinatorial choice rules that satisfy certain properties: Kelso–Crawford substitutability, and independence of irrelevant alternatives. The results are important for two-sided matching theory, where agents are modeled by combinatorial choice rules with these properties. The rules are a small, and asymptotically vanishing, fraction of all choice rules. But they are still exponentially more than the preference relations over individual agents—which has positive implications for the Gale–Shapley algorithm of matching theory.     

Estimating non-market environmental benefits of the Conversion of Cropland to Forest and Grassland Program: A choice modeling approach

The non-market values of the environmental benefits derived from the Conversion of Cropland to Forest and Grassland Program (also known as the Grain for Green Program and the Sloped Land Conversion Program) in the Loess Plateau region of North West China were estimated using choice modeling both on-site in Xi'an and Ansai and off-site in Beijing. Separate choice models were estimated for the three sites and the results compared. Significant differences were found between the implicit price estimates derived from the multinomial logit (MNL) model and the random parameter logit (RPL) model for some environmental attributes. Based on the results from the RPL models, the average willingness to pay per respondent household in Beijing was CNY882.56 (USD109.44) each year for the environmental improvements on the Loess Plateau provided by the Program, a payment level significantly higher than the comparable estimates of CNY342.56 (USD42.48) in Xi'an and CNY388.08 (USD48.12) in Ansai.     

Revealed stochastic preference: a synthesis

Summary. The problem of revealed stochastic preference is whether probability distributions of observed choices in a population for various choice situations are consistent with a hypothesis of maximization of preference preorders by members of the population. This is a population analog of the classical revealed preference problem in economic consumer theory. This paper synthesizes the solutions to this problem that have been obtained by Marcel K. Richter and the author, and by J. C. Falmagne, in the case of finite sets of alternatives, and utilizes unpublished research of Richter and the author to give results for the non-finite choice sets encountered in economic consumer theory.Received: 13 March 2003, Revised: 11 February 2004, JEL Classification Numbers: D1, C6.The preparation of this paper was supported by the E. Morris Cox endowment at the University of California, Berkeley. I am indebted to Robert Anderson, Salvador Barbara, Werner Hildenbrand, Rosa L. Matzkin, and Aviv Nevo for useful suggestions and comments. I am especially indebted to Marcel K. Richter, who was the source of many of the ideas and arguments contained in this paper.     

Quantifying public preferences for agri-environmental policy in Scotland: A comparison of methods

This paper compares two methods for determining policy priorities for reform of Scottish agricultural support. Multifunctional agriculture attempts to establish a new balance between traditional commodity support and payment for the production of non-market goods and services that are increasingly demanded by the public. Supplying non-market goods presents particular problems for optimal policy design, not least the elicitation of consumer demand for those goods. From public focus groups, a range of attributes was derived as central to the Scottish public’s preferences for future agri-environmental reform. This information was then combined in two separate survey methods using the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) and choice experiments (CE). Both applications suggest that the public has defined preferences and a willingness to pay (using general income taxation) to affect changes beyond the status quo, and that policy payments should be targeted towards both environmental and social benefits. The divergent preference orderings derived from the alternative methods can be considered in the light of previous methodological debates on question framing, bounded rationality and respondent uncertainty. We speculate about the validity of alternative methodologies for informing particular policy questions.     

投资选择的交易成本——一个从宏观调控层面的分析

本文基于现有的关于交易成本的研究通常集中在以产权为核心的交换过程 ,而对宏观调控层面可能会引起交易成本的分析没有受到应有关注的事实 ,认为新制度分析包含着政策层面上的交易成本思想 ,政府的宏观调控会导致投资选择的交易成本。文章根据投资者在投资选择过程中是否承担以及在多大程度上承担由政策引致的交易成本 ,将投资者在某时期的最终定位划分为三大集群 ,在给出相应的基本平衡式的基础上 ,运用交易成本范畴对投资者的投资选择作出了一种间接博弈的解释。本文的分析在一定程度上说明了现实投资容易偏离宏观调控的原因。     

Choice experiments,site similarity and benefits transfer

Choice experiments are designed to account for variations in environmental resources and site characteristics, as well as potential implications of these variations for willingness to pay. As a result, choice experiment results may be well suited for benefits transfer. It is unclear, however, whether the flexibility of choice experiments renders the similarity of study and transfer sites less critical for transfer validity. Drawing from identical choice experiments conducted in different Rhode Island communities, this model assesses the extent to which error in function-based benefits transfer is related to the similarity of communities across a variety of observable dimensions. Results suggest that site similarity, at least across some dimensions, influences the validity of choice experiment benefits transfers. However, the use of some measures of similarity as indicators of transfer error may provide misleading results.     

工业园区的产业选择——以上海市北工业区产业选择为例

一些工业园区在进行企业化改造后,将面临一些与原先作为政府“招商引资”政策所不同的对入驻企业的选择,本文以市北工业新区为例,从企业经营方向的角度对该园区在入驻企业的产业选择上进行策略建议。     

审计师行为选择与其独立性偏好关系分析

现行关于审计师行为实证研究中,大都基于审计意见类型推断审计师独立性,没有对审计意见类型为什么能代表审计师独立性进行分析和讨论,本文采用偏好、选择与效用经济学基础理论来进行分析和证明。通过逻辑分析、模型构建和推导发现,对审计意见类型的选择结构能够推断审计师对独立性的偏好关系,这种关系是基于审计师效用最大化做出的。     

发展中国家汇率制度选择的影响因素分析

任何汇率制度都不能适合所有的时期,也没有一种汇率制度可以适用于任何国家,发展中国家汇率制度的选择更是理论界讨论的热门话题。本文在回顾不同国际货币体系时期汇率制度选择理论的基础上,尝试探讨以36个发展中国家为样本,对汇率制度选择的影响因素进行分析。     

"投资-储蓄缺口"假说与中国经常账户失衡的持续性

本文梳理了解释美国经常账户失衡的各类假说,并以美国的情况为借鉴,提出了对中国经常账户失衡的几种解释思路.文章发现经常账户的实际水平与理论均衡水平的差值为稳定序列,但并不收敛于零,表明经常账户的失衡具有一定的持续性.然后通过设计两元选择模型对导致失衡的机制进行实证分析;结论发现"投资-储蓄缺口"假说得到了中国数据的支持,同时发现国民收入也是决定经常账户盈余或者赤字的关键变量.这说明我国经常账户的变化更多地内生于其特有的经济增长模式,对经常账户失衡状态的矫正需要内部经济结构的改革和理顺经济运行机制措施的配合.