Heterogeneous anchoring and the shift effect in iterative valuation questions

Stephane Luchini (1, 2) , Frédéric Aprahamian (1, 3) , Olivier Chanel (1, 2)

1 GREQAM - Groupement de Recherche en Économie Quantitative d'Aix-Marseille
2 IDEP - Institut d'Économie Publique
3 UTLN UFR SEG - Université de Toulon - UFR Sciences économiques et de gestion

In this article, we consider starting point bias as a heterogeneous phenomenon, that is, respondents in CV surveys do not anchor in the sameway. We study the consequences of a mistaken assumption of homogeneous anchoring for the analysis of the shift effect in multiple-bounded dichotomous choice format, when respondents really have heterogeneous anchoring. We show that the shift effect, generally interpreted as incentive incompatibility or “yea”-saying, can be the spurious outcome of disregarded heterogeneous anchoring.

Mots clés: Contingent Valuation; Heterogeneous Anchoring; Starting Point Bias; Incentive Incompatibility; Yea-Saying

Domaines: Economies et finances

Stephane Luchini, Frédéric Aprahamian, Olivier Chanel. Heterogeneous anchoring and the shift effect in iterative valuation questions. 2006. ⟨halshs-00409676⟩