Sociodynamic Discrete Choice on Networks in Space: Impacts of Agent Heterogeneity on Emergent Outcomes

Abstract

The reported research treats interactions between households and generated feedback dynamics in the adoption of various transportation mode alternatives. We consider a model in which an agent's choice is directly influenced by the percentages of the agent's neighbors and socioeconomic peers that make each choice. The model also accounts for shared unobserved attributes of the choice alternatives in the error structure. We address nonglobal interactions explicitly within different social and spatial network structures, combining advanced econometric estimation with computational techniques from multiagent-based simulation, and we present an empirical application of the model using pseudo-panel microdata collected by the Amsterdam Agency for Traffic, Transport and Infrastructure. Additional heterogeneity is introduced in the model through different mechanisms, such as individual-specific sociodemographic characteristics of the agents, individual-specific attributes of the choice alternatives, and the availability of alternatives. We conclude by highlighting limitations of our present study and recommendations for future work.