The status quo option in choice experiment: Evidence from forest management

Choice experiment provides a smart approach to deal with multidimensional changes since attributes are easily valued using a random utility model. Otherwise, there is empirical evidence that some respondents opt for the status quo regardless their preferences are, Such behaviour, well-known in the literature on referent-dependent preferences, has been quoted in the context of choice experiment but is often ignored in empirical research, A series of specifications derived from the random utility model are proposed to identify and estimate a possible status quo bias. All are estimated on two samples, one sample of visitors of a Mediterranean forest located in Corsica Island and one sample of the local population. Econometric results emphasise the significance of the status quo effect, which has an impact on the reliability of the estimation of attribute effects. The use of latent classes has been relevant to discriminate individuals' behaviours in order to categorise interviewees according to their preferences.