A computationally fast estimator for random coefficients logit demand models using aggregate data

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Lee, Jinhyuk; Seo, Kyoungwon
• 署名单位: Ulsan National Institute of Science & Technology (UNIST); Korea Advanced Institute of Science & Technology (KAIST)
• 刊物名称: RAND JOURNAL OF ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0741-6261
• DOI: 10.1111/1756-2171.12078
• 发表日期: 2015
• 页码: 86-102
• 关键词: sequential estimation; maximum-likelihood

摘要

This article proposes a computationally fast estimator for random coefficients logit demand models using aggregate data that Berry, Levinsohn, and Pakes (; hereinafter, BLP) suggest. Our method, which we call approximate BLP (ABLP), is based on a linear approximation of market share functions. The computational advantages of ABLP include (i) the linear approximation enables us to adopt an analytic inversion of the market share equations instead of a numerical inversion that BLP propose, (ii) ABLP solves the market share equations only at the optimum, and (iii) it minimizes over a typically small dimensional parameter space. We show that the ABLP estimator is equivalent to the BLP estimator in large data sets. Our Monte Carlo experiments illustrate that ABLP is faster than other approaches, especially for large data sets.