A State-of-the-Art Review: Developments in Utility Theory, Prospect Theory and Regret Theory to Investigate Travellers' Behaviour in Situations Involving Travel Time Uncertainty

Despite the wide use of utility theory to model travelers' behavior, the interest in non-expected utility theories has increased due to their potential to capture more realistic behaviour. A main question raised is whether travelers are better described as utility maximizers or should be qualified differently. This paper presents a literature review on the use of expected utility theory (EUT), prospect theory (PT) and regret theory (RT) to model travelers' behavior. Gaps in the literature are identified and a discussion about advantages and disadvantages of each theory is presented. A case study illustrates the differences between the theories. Under certain conditions, PT and RT restrict themselves to EUT. Their added value, however, is the possibility of capturing loss aversion, risk aversion and risk-seeking (PT) and regret aversion (RT). On the practical level, the use of EUT is well established, while contributions of PT and RT are marginal. On the theoretical level, however, RT seems to be (marginally) more suitable to model travelers' behavior, while EUT and PT are equally suitable. This suggests that the large use of EUT is highly influenced by its very tractable framework. The authors do not claim the superiority of any theory, but propose to compare them through a systematic review.

• Record URL:
  • https://doi.org/10.1080/01441647.2013.856356
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/oclc/7802200
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Abstract reprinted with permission of Taylor & Francis
• Authors:
  • Ramos, Giselle Moraes
  • Daamen, Winnie
  • Hoogendoorn, Serge
• Publication Date: 2014-1

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Print
• Features: References; Tables;
• Pagination: pp 46-67
• Serial:
  • Transport Reviews
  • Volume: 34
  • Issue Number: 1
  • Publisher: Routledge
  • ISSN: 0144-1647
  • EISSN: 1464-5327
  • Serial URL: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/ttrv20

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Literature reviews; State of the art; Travel behavior; Travel time; Uncertainty; Utility theory
• Subject Areas: Economics; Planning and Forecasting; Transportation (General); I72: Traffic and Transport Planning;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01522944
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Apr 24 2014 11:45AM