Multinomial Probit

Many problems in the social sciences are amenable to analysis using the analytical tools of logit and probit models. This book explains what ordered and multinomial models are and also shows how to apply them to analysing issues in the social sciences.

What is the probability that something will occur, and how is that probability altered by a change in an independent variable? To answer these questions, Tim Futing Liao introduces a systematic way of interpreting commonly used probability models. Since much of what social scientists study is measured in noncontinuous ways and, therefore, cannot be analyzed using a classical regression model, it becomes necessary to model the likelihood that an event will occur. This book explores these models first by reviewing each probability model and then by presenting a systematic way for interpreting the results from each.

After showing why ordinary regression analysis is not appropriate for investigating dichotomous or otherwise 'limited' dependent variables, this volume examines three techniques which are well suited for such data. It reviews the linear probability model and discusses alternative specifications of non-linear models.

This book describes the new generation of discrete choice methods, focusing on the many advances that are made possible by simulation. Researchers use these statistical methods to examine the choices that consumers, households, firms, and other agents make. Each of the major models is covered: logit, generalized extreme value, or GEV (including nested and cross-nested logits), probit, and mixed logit, plus a variety of specifications that build on these basics. Simulation-assisted estimation procedures are investigated and compared, including maximum stimulated likelihood, method of simulated moments, and method of simulated scores. Procedures for drawing from densities are described, including variance reduction techniques such as anithetics and Halton draws. Recent advances in Bayesian procedures are explored, including the use of the Metropolis-Hastings algorithm and its variant Gibbs sampling. The second edition adds chapters on endogeneity and expectation-maximization (EM) algorithms. No other book incorporates all these fields, which have arisen in the past 25 years. The procedures are applicable in many fields, including energy, transportation, environmental studies, health, labor, and marketing.

Table of contents

Although interest in spatial regression models has surged in recent years, a comprehensive, up-to-date text on these approaches does not exist. Filling this void, Introduction to Spatial Econometrics presents a variety of regression methods used to analyze spatial data samples that violate the traditional assumption of independence between observat