Monotone Stochastic Choice Models: The Case of Risk and Time Preferences

S-Tier
Journal: Journal of Political Economy
Year: 2018
Volume: 126
Issue: 1
Pages: 74 - 106

Authors (2)

Score contribution per author:

4.022 = (α=2.01 / 2 authors) × 4.0x S-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

Suppose that, when evaluating two alternatives x and y by means of a parametric utility function, low values of the parameter indicate a preference for x and high values indicate a preference for y. We say that a stochastic choice model is monotone whenever the probability of choosing x is decreasing in the preference parameter. We show that the standard use of random utility models in the context of risk and time preferences may sharply violate this monotonicity property and argue that their use in preference estimation may be problematic. They may pose identification problems and could yield biased estimations. We then establish that the alternative random parameter models are always monotone.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:ucp:jpolec:doi:10.1086/695504
Journal Field
General
Author Count
2
Added to Database
2026-01-24