In a recent paper in this journal, Andrew Lloyd reviewed some potential threats to the estimation of health care benefits in monetary terms. Particular emphasis was placed on the extent to which the use of non-compensatory heuristics may distort the results. Although it is useful to be reminded...

Stated preference methods assume respondents' preferences are consistent with utility theory, but many empirical studies report evidence of preferences that violate utility theory. This evidence is often derived from quantitative tests that occur naturally within, or are added to, stated...

Conjoint analysis is a technique relatively new to the evaluation of health care services in the UK. The technique uses data generated from questionnaires. This paper addresses the issue of response-ordering effects that may result from the ordering of dimensions of benefit within a question....

This paper presents a comparison of willingness to pay (WTP) estimates generated from a dichotomous choice (DC) contingent valuation experiment and a choice experiment (CE). The study was conducted with subjects undergoing assisted reproductive techniques in the Grampian area of Scotland....

Experiments concerned with modelling individual preferences are based on the assumption of completeness i.e. it is assumed that individuals have well-defined preferences for any choice they are presented with. However, this may not be the case for goods such as health care, where individuals are...

This paper adds to an increasing literature on methodological questions addressed in the application of conjoint analysis (CA) in health care. Three issues are addressed: ordering effects; internal validity; and internal consistency. The results of an application of CA in a primary care setting...

This study presents the first comparison of willingness to pay estimates derived from the payment card (PC) contingent valuation and discrete choice experiment (DCE) methods. A within-sample experiment was used to elicit women's preferences for Chlamydia screening. The willingness to pay...

In the recent past, considerable effort in health economics has been made on applying stated preference methods such as contingent valuation and choice experiments. Despite this increased use, there is still considerable scepticism concerning the value of these approaches. The application of...