A unique discrete choice experiment (DCE) is used to estimate the relative importance ofquality attributes to Australian beef consumers. In the DCE, consumers choose theirpreferred beef steaks from options varying in a large number of intrinsic (marbling and fattrim) and extrinsic/credence...

Given the credence nature of functional food attributes labelling plays a key role inallowing consumers to make informed choices about foods with enhanced health attributes.The degree to which a particular jurisdiction permits health claims for food products and the type of allowable health...

Policy analysis of nonmarket goods requires accurate knowledge about the behavior of economic agents. This dissertation explores several facets of behavior models in recreational angling for three New England groundfish species.Stated preference methods are used frequently for nonmarket...

The thesis develops flexible Bayesian choice models and these models are often highly-parameterised. All inference is obtained from the posterior density and evaluated using computationally intensive Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) estimation. The models are applied to health economics studies...

Although an extensive literature has developed on modeling the loss reserve runoff triangle, the estimation of severity distributions applicable to claims settled in specific cells of the runoff triangle has received little attention in the literature. This paper proposes the use of a very...

We examine the impact of individual-specific information processing strategies (IPSs) on the inclusion/exclusion of attributes on the parameter estimates and behavioural outputs of models of discrete choice. Current practice assumes that individuals employ a homogenous IPS with regards to how...

In models with unobserved taste heterogeneity, distributional assumptions can be placed in two ways: (1) by specifying the distribution of coefficients in the utility function and deriving the distribution of willingness to pay (wtp), or (2) by specifying the distribution of wtp and deriving the...

Based on a large-scale survey conducted in 11 large and small eastern cities in 2002, this study employs ordered probit models to estimate the effects of demographic and socio-economic variables on the likelihood of biotech food acceptance in China. This study also employs a dichotomous choice...

In a static setting, willingness to pay for an environmental improvement is equal to compensating variation. However, in a dynamic setting characterized by uncertainty, irreversibility, and the potential for learning, willingness to pay may also contain an option value. In this paper, we...

A random utility approach is used to estimate logit equations which indicate what factors affect the likelihood of consumption of non-GM and GM foods, and, whether or not consumers are willing to pay a premium for non-GM/GM foods. Ceteris paribus as the price difference between non-GM and GM...