An analysis of Timmermans’ critique of Prospect Theory

Abstract

In the European Journal of Transport and Infrastructure Research (EJTIR) Timmermans (2010) discussed the suitability of Prospect Theory for travel behaviour research. In that article appeared an assertion, about the explanatory performance of Prospect Theory with respect to choices in the TV game ‘Deal or no Deal’, which was not true. A thorough examination revealed more untruthful assertions and also inaccuracies in the references, fallacies and selective use of empirical evidence. This working paper offers an extensive documentation of the analysis. A summary was published in EJTIR [Van de Kaa, E.J. (2012) . Timmermans’ misleading critique of Prospect Theory actually supports its relevance for travel choice modelling. EJTIR 12 (4): 440-458]. The same issue of EJTIR contains Timmermans’ rejoinder. In the preface of this working paper I summarize the main findings while taking Timmermans' rejoinder into account. It shows that Timmermans’ criticism is unjust and that the references that underlie it, in connection with findings from other reviews, actually support the suitability of Prospect Theory for travel choice modelling. The "nabeschouwing" provides a summary in Dutch of the main findings.

Cite this work

No public copy is stored for this record, so only the metadata is cited.

Stored only when both papers are in the corpus — 0 citations exist upstream.

Papers that cite the same references — the relational fallback while embeddings are still backfilling.