This paper (i) formalizes conditions under which a population distribution of categorical responses to attitudinal questions (ѩtemsҩ has a scale representation; (ii) develops tests for whether a particular sample of item responses is consistent with a scale representation; (iii) develops methods for nonparametrically estimating the relation between an outcome and a scale value; and (iv) generalizes the foregoing to the multi-scale case. An implication of these results is that the effect of multiple latent attitudes on behaviour can be identified, even though the attitudes of an individual can never be precisely observed. We illustrate our methods using survey data from the 1992 U.S. Presidential election, where the ѯutcome' is an individual's vote and the ѩtems' are expressions of social and policy preferences.
Authors
International Research Fellow Johns Hopkins
Richard's research has been primarily in theoretical econometrics, but has included topics in empirical industrial organization, labor economics, statistical theory, and government regulation of industry.
Working Paper details
- DOI
- 10.1920/wp.cem.2006.1206
- Publisher
- IFS
Suggested citation
Spady, R. (2006). Identification and estimation of latent attitudes and their behavioral implications. London: IFS. Available at: https://ifs.org.uk/publications/identification-and-estimation-latent-attitudes-and-their-behavioral-implications (accessed: 1 July 2024).
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