ISBN: | 978-5-5126-4523-9 |
High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! In economics, discrete choice problems involve choices between two or more discrete alternatives, such as entering or not entering the labor market, or choosing between modes of transport. Such choices contrast with standard consumption models in which the quantity of each good consumed is assumed to be a continuous variable. In the continuous case, calculus methods (e.g. first-order conditions) can be used to determine the optimum, and demand can be modeled using regression analysis. On the other hand, discrete choice analysis examines situations in which the potential outcomes are discrete, such that the optimum is not characterized by standard first-order conditions. Loosely, regression analysis examines “how much” while discrete choice analysis examines “which.” However, discrete choice analysis can be and has been used to examine the chosen quantity in particular situations, such as the number of vehicles a household chooses to own and the number of minutes of telecommunications service a customer decides to use.