On dichotomous choice contingent valuation data analysisSemiparametric methods and genetic programming

  1. Marcos Álvarez Díaz 1
  2. Manuel González Gómez 2
  3. Ángeles Saavedra González 3
  4. Jacobo de Uña Álvarez 3
  1. 1 Department of Applied Economics, University of Balearic Islands, Spain
  2. 2 Department of Applied Economics. University of Vigo. Spain.
  3. 3 Department of Statistics and Operations Research. University of Vigo. Spain
Libro:
Economía Agroalimentaria, medio ambiente y medio rural: nuevos enfoques, nuevos desafíos
  1. Manuel Sánchez Pérez (coord.)

Editorial: Editorial Universidad de Almería (edual) ; Universidad de Almería

Ano de publicación: 2010

Congreso: Congreso de Economía Agraria (7. 2010. Almería)

Tipo: Achega congreso

Resumo

The aim of this paper is twofold. Firstly, we introduce a novel semiparemetric technique called Genetic Programming to estimate and explain the willingness to pay to maintain environmental conditions of a specific natural park in Spain. To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first time in which Genetic Programming is employed in Contingent Valuation. Secondly, we investigate the existence of bias due to the functional rigidity of the traditional parametric techniques commonly employed in a Contingent Valuation problem. We applied standard parametric methods (Logit and Probit) and compared with results obtained using semiparametric methods (a Proportional Hazard model and a genetic program). The parametric and semiparametric methods give similar results in terms of the variables finally chosen in the model. Therefore, the results confirm the internal validity of our Contingent Valuation exercise.