Heterogeneity in general multinomial choice models

Mauerer, Ingrid und Tutz, Gerhard (2023): Heterogeneity in general multinomial choice models. In: Statistical Methods & Applications, Vol. 32, No. 1: pp. 129-148

Abstract

Different voters behave differently at the polls, different students make different university choices, or different countries choose different health care systems. Many research questions important to social scientists concern choice behavior, which involves dealing with nominal dependent variables. Drawing on the principle of maximum random utility, we propose applying a flexible and general heterogeneous multinomial logit model to study differences in choice behavior. The model systematically accounts for heterogeneity that classical models do not capture, indicates the strength of heterogeneity, and permits examining which explanatory variables cause heterogeneity. As the proposed approach allows incorporating theoretical expectations about heterogeneity into the analysis of nominal dependent variables, it can be applied to a wide range of research problems. Our empirical example uses individual-level survey data to demonstrate the benefits of the model in studying heterogeneity in electoral decisions.

• Item Type: Journal article
• Keywords: Categorical dependent variable; Heterogeneity; Multinomial logit model; Discrete choice analysis; Random utility maximization; Electoral decisions
• Faculties: Mathematics, Computer Science and Statistics > Statistics > Chairs/Working Groups > Seminar for Applied Stochastic
• Subjects: 300 Social sciences > 300 Social sciences, sociology and anthropology; 300 Social sciences > 310 Statistics; 300 Social sciences > 320 Political science; 300 Social sciences > 330 Economics
• JEL Classification: B4, C1, C4, C6, C8
• ISSN: 1618-2510 ; 1613-981X
• Annotation: Published: 25 May 2022
• Language: English