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The Priced Survey Methodology: Theory

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  • Avner Seror

Abstract

In this paper, I introduce the Priced Survey Methodology (PSM), a tool designed to overcome the limitations of traditional survey methods in analyzing social preferences. The PSM's design draws inspiration from consumption choice experiments, as respondents fill out the same survey multiple times under different choice sets. I generalize Afriat's theorem and show that the Generalized Axiom of Revealed Preferences is necessary and sufficient for the existence of a concave, continuous, and single-peaked utility function rationalizing answers to the PSM. This result has two major implications. First, it is possible to measure a respondent's ideal answer to a survey using only ordinal relations between possible answers. Second, the PSM captures aspects of social preferences often overlooked in standard surveys, such as the relative importance that respondents attribute to different survey questions. I deploy a PSM measuring altruistic preferences in a sample of online participants, recover respondents' single-peaked preferences, and draw several implications.

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  • Avner Seror, 2024. "The Priced Survey Methodology: Theory," Papers 2401.03876, arXiv.org.
    • Handle: RePEc:arx:papers:2401.03876
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Forges, Françoise & Minelli, Enrico, 2009. "Afriat's theorem for general budget sets," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 144(1), pages 135-145, January.
    2. Hiroki Nishimura & Efe A. Ok & John K.-H. Quah, 2017. "A Comprehensive Approach to Revealed Preference Theory," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 107(4), pages 1239-1263, April.
    3. Cherchye, Laurens & De Rock, Bram & Vermeulen, Frederic, 2010. "An Afriat Theorem for the collective model of household consumption," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 145(3), pages 1142-1163, May.
    4. Laurens Cherchye & Bram De Rock & Frederic Vermeulen, 2011. "The Revealed Preference Approach to Collective Consumption Behaviour: Testing and Sharing Rule Recovery," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 78(1), pages 176-198.
    5. repec:dau:papers:123456789/4099 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. Laurens Cherchye & Bram De Rock & Frederic Vermeulen, 2011. "The Revealed Preference Approach to Collective Consumption Behaviour: Testing and Sharing Rule Recovery," Review of Economic Studies, Oxford University Press, vol. 78(1), pages 176-198.
    7. James Andreoni & John Miller, 2002. "Giving According to GARP: An Experimental Test of the Consistency of Preferences for Altruism," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 70(2), pages 737-753, March.
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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • C9 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments
    • D91 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics - - - Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making
    • C44 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods: Special Topics - - - Operations Research; Statistical Decision Theory

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