PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Cunha-e-Sá, Maria A.
AU  - Nunes, Luis C.
AU  - Otrachshenko, Vladimir
TI  - Accounting for Response Biases in Latent-Class Models for Choices and Attitudes
AID  - 10.3368/le.91.3.586
DP  - 2015 Aug 01
TA  - Land Economics
PG  - 586--603
VI  - 91
IP  - 3
4099  - http://le.uwpress.org/content/91/3/586.short
4100  - http://le.uwpress.org/content/91/3/586.full
SO  - Land Econ2015 Aug 01; 91
AB  - We propose a latent-class model (LCM) to analyze contingent-valuation surveys incorporating attitudinal questions capturing protest reasons to identify classes of respondents with similar preferences and attitudes. In contrast to a standard LCM, our model ensures that classes are not contaminated by different types of response biases. Using data regarding the preservation of a world-heritage recreation site, low- and high-protester classes are identified. The difference in estimated willingness to pay (WTP) in these classes is €26, reflecting protest issues. If response biases were ignored, different classes would be identified and the corresponding difference in WTPs would be inflated by 130%. (JEL C35, Q51)