Ever since 1927, when Al Jolson spoke in the first “talkie” film The Jazz Singer, there had been little doubt that sound added a valuable perceptual dimension to visual media. However, despite the advances of over 80 years, and the complete integration of sound and vision that has occurred...

Economic theory provides little guidance for selecting a numeraire in estimating dual function profit functions. In this study, we examine the choice of numeraire price (equation) for profit function models of Iowa agriculture. The choice of numeraire is evaluated by forecasting accuracy and...

Should econometricians always incorporate economic theory in their models or only when unrestricted estimators are found to violate an inviolable theory? Using Monte Carlo experiments, we find that econometricians should use economic theory to the fullest extent possible. To paraphrase Leamer's...

The following paper outlines a new econometric model designed to capture both the temporal and spatial dynamics of housing prices. The paper combines existing spatial econometric techniques with a model that allows parameters to evolve over time. In addition, we provide an empirical application...

The objective of this study is to determine if there is a dominant free riding activity which can be identified and used as the basis for measuring free riding, or if multiple free riding actions and/or behaviors coexist within large collective action organizations. The study uses a confirmatory...

We compare the ability of three preference elicitation methods (hypothetical choices, non-hypothetical choices, and non-hypothetical rankings) and three discrete-choice econometric models (the multinomial logit, the independent availability logit, and the random parameter logit) to predict...

Using a series of hurdle choice models, this study considers both nay-saying and yeah-saying to alternatives offered in a conjoint experiment. These behaviors are characterized by respondents persistently choosing the no-choice alternative or choosing at least one of the non-empty options...

This paper explores the economics of input decision by a firm facing production uncertainty. It relies on a state-contingent approach to production uncertainty. First, the paper develops a methodology to specify and estimate cost-minimizing input decisions under a state-contingent technology....

The study evaluates the gains of avoiding data-dependent specification search on an estimation sample in an application to discrete choice models. We incorporate data splitting, the process by which the total available sample is randomly split in two or more sub-samples with the first...

Economic theory is replete with causal hypotheses that are scarcely tested because economists are generally constrained to work with observational data. This article describes the use of causal inference methods for testing a hypothesis that one random variable causes another. Contingent on a...