This paper studies various aspects of the optimal design of economic organizations in the context of a project selection model, where decisions are made by fallible managers regarding the adoption or rejection of investment projects. I analyze the role of marginal decision costs, and establish that the sequentia l decision architecture is a pair of probability thresholds, and a corresponding pa...

This paper generalizes optimal collective dichotomous choices by including constraints which limit combinations of acceptance and rejection decisions for m projects under consideration. Two types of constraints are examined. The first type occurs when acceptance of some projects requires acceptance of others. This type reduces the choice problem to the tractable (solvable in polynomial time) pr...

This paper uses a meta-analysis to explore the relationship between hypothetical bias and the price respondents are asked to pay. For public goods, the results clearly indicate a difference in the price elasticity between hypothetical and actual payment conditions. Since the bias increases for larger dollar amounts, any simple guidelines, such as NOAA’s “divide by two” rule of thumb, could be m...

Although the double-bound (DB) fonnat for the discrete choice contingent valuation method (CVM) has the benefit of higher efficiency in welfare benefit estimates than the single-bound (SB) discrete choice CVM, it has been subject to criticism due to evidence that some of the responses to the second bid may be inconsistent with the responses to the first bid. As a means to reduce the potential f...

In this note we conduct construct validity tests for dichotomous choice (DC) and polychotomous choice (PC) contingent valuation questions. Contrary to previous results, we find that DC and PC estimates of willingness to pay are theoretically valid, convergent valid, and similar in terms of statistical precision. Similar to previous results, PC respondents are less sensitive to information than ...

This paper introduces model specifications that can be used to explain response incentive effects that might occur with discrete response contingent valuation data when follow-up responses are collected. The models allowfor possible random response shocks, structural ships in willingness to pay betweenpayment questionsand heteroskedasticity between and within responses. Three well-known conting...

Contingent Valuation studies, in which respondents are presented with a hypothetical choice, can be prone to hypothetical bias as respondents could overstate their willingness to pay. The purpose of this paper is to present a method to detect hypothetical bias in the single bound dichotomous choice model. The method borrows the tools from the stochastic frontier model, as in the case of Hofler ...

Mate choice is fundamental to sexual selection, yet little is known about underlying physiological mechanisms that influence female mating decisions. We investigated the endocrine underpinnings of female mate choice in the African cichlid Astatotilapia burtoni, a non-seasonal breeder. In addition to profiling behavioral and hormonal changes across the female reproductive cycle, we tested two hy...