Abstract
Bryan and Dolan have offered a critique of the use of discrete choice experiments in health economics. Their call for more open debate on “the relative strengths and limitations of the DCE method, particularly when applied in health settings” is warranted. However, their paper has only added to part of this debate in that it focuses on the application of choice experiments in the health sector but says little on the strengths and limitations of the DCE method in general. We argue that while the criticisms posed by Bryan and Dolan rightly challenge the manner in which DCEs have been applied in health economics, such criticism does not challenge the theoretical/methodological basis of DCEs per se.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bryan S, Dolan P (2004) Discrete choice experiments in health economics. For better or for worse? Eur J Health Econ 5:199–202
Viney R, Lancsar E, Louviere J (2002) Discrete choice experiments to measure consumer preferences for health and healthcare. Expert Rev Pharmacoecon Outcomes Res 2:319–326
Lancsar E, Savage E (2004) Deriving welfare measures from discrete choice experiments: inconsistency between current methods and random utility and welfare theory. Health Econ Lett 13:901–907
Lancsar E, Savage E (2004) Deriving welfare measures from discrete choice experiments: a response to Ryan and Santos Silva. Health Econ Lett 13:919–924
Olsen JA, Donaldson C (1998) Helicopters, hearts and hips: using willingness to pay to set priorities for public sector health care programmes. Soc Sci Med 46:1–12
Gyrd-Hansen D (2004) Investigating the social value of health changes. J Health Econ 23:1101–1116
Viney R, Savage E, Louviere J (2005) Empirical investigation of experimental design properties of discrete choice experiments in health care. Health Econ (in press)
Hall J, Kenny P, King M, Louviere J, Viney R, Yeoh A (2002) Using stated preference discrete choice modelling to evaluate the introduction of varicella vaccination. Health Econ 11:457–465
Lancsar E (2002) Deriving welfare measures from stated preference discrete choice modelling experiments. CHERE discussion paper no 48. Centre for Health Economics Research and Evaluation, University of Technology: Sydney
Scott A, Watson MS, Ross S (2003) Eliciting preferences of the community for out of hours care provided by general practitioners: a stated preference discrete choice experiment. Soc Sci Med 56:803–814
Jan S, Mooney G, Ryan M, Bruggemann K, Alexander K (2000) The use of conjoint analysis to elicit community preferences in public health research: a case study of hospital services in South Australia. Aust NZ J Public Health 24:64–70
Ryan M, McIntosh E, Dean T, Old P (2000) Trade-offs between location and waiting times in the provision of health care: the case of elective surgery on the Isle of Wight. J Public Health Med 22:202–210
Lancsar E, Hall J, King M, Kenny P, Louviere J, Fiebig D et al (2003) Repeated discrete choice experiments nested within a randomised cross-over trial: investigating patient preferences for preventive asthma medication. Presented at the 4th World Congress of the International Health Economics Association. San Francisco
De Abreu Lourenco R, Hall J, Viney R, Haas M, King M, Kenny P (2000) Economic evaluation of genetic screening using choice modelling. In: Bridges J (ed) Health and economics: 2001. Proceedings of the 22rd Australian Conference of Health Economists. ASHSA: Brisbane
Louviere J, Burgess l, Street D, Marley A (2004) Modeling the choices of single individuals by combining efficient choice experiment designs with extra preference information. Centre for the Study of Choice (CenSoc) Working Paper No. 04-005, University of Technology, Sydney
Burgess L, Street DJ (2005) Optimal designs for choice experiments with asymmetric attributes. J Stat Planning Inference (in press)
Swait J (2001) A non-compensatory choice model incorporating attribute cutoffs. Transportation Res B Methodolog 35:903–928
Louviere J, Street D, Carson R, Ainslie A, Deshazo JR, Cameron T et al (2002) Dissecting the random component of utility. Marketing Lett 13:177–193
Mooney G (1994) Key issues in health economics. Harvester Wheatsheaf: London
Donaldson C, Shackley P (1997) Does “process utility” exist? A case study of willingness to pay for laparoscopic cholecystectomy. Soc Sci Med 44:699–707
McFadden D (1973) Conditional logit analysis of qualitative choice behavior. In: Zarembka P (ed) Frontiers of econometrics. Academic: New York, pp 105–142
Lancaster K (1966) A new approach to consumer theory. J Political Econ 74:132–157
Interessenkonflikt:
Keine Angaben
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Lancsar, E., Donaldson, C. Discrete choice experiments in health economics. Eur J Health Econ 6, 314–316 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10198-005-0304-3
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10198-005-0304-3