Inference on mode preferences, vehicle purchases, and the energy paradox using a Bayesian structural choice model

Discrete choice modeling is experiencing a reemergence of research interest in the inclusion of latent variables as explanatory variables of consumer behavior. There are several reasons that motivate the integration of latent attributes, including better-informed modeling of random consumer heterogeneity and treatment of endogeneity. However, current work still is at an early stage and multiple simplifying assumptions are usually imposed. For instance, most previous applications assume all of the following: independence of taste shocks and of latent attributes, exclusion restrictions, linearity of the effect of the latent attributes on the utility function, continuous manifest variables, and an a priori bound for the number of latent constructs. The authors derive and apply a structural choice model with a multinomial probit kernel and discrete effect indicators to analyze continuous latent segments of travel behavior, including inference on the energy paradox. The authors' estimator allows for interaction and simultaneity among the latent attributes, residual correlation, nonlinear effects on the utility function, flexible substitution patterns, and temporal correlation within responses of the same individual. Statistical properties of the Bayes estimator that the authors propose are exact and are not affected by the number of latent attributes.

• Record URL:
  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trb.2015.02.012
• Record URL:
  http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0191261515000405
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/01912615
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Abstract reprinted with permission of Elsevier.
• Authors:
  • Daziano, Ricardo A
• Publication Date: 2015-6

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Web
• Features: Appendices; References; Tables;
• Pagination: pp 1-26
• Serial:
  • Transportation Research Part B: Methodological
  • Volume: 76
  • Issue Number: 0
  • Publisher: Elsevier
  • ISSN: 0191-2615
  • Serial URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/01912615

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Automobile ownership; Bayes' theorem; Choice models; Commuting; Energy consumption; Mode choice; Multinomial probits; Structural equation modeling; Travel behavior
• Subject Areas: Energy; Highways; Planning and Forecasting; Vehicles and Equipment; I15: Environment; I72: Traffic and Transport Planning; I90: Vehicles;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01563272
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: May 18 2015 11:01AM