Equilibrium-Constrained Estimation of Recursive Logit Choice Models

Fuente: arXiv
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Autori principali: Tran, Hung, Mai, Tien, Ha, Minh Hoang
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2025
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author Tran, Hung
Mai, Tien
Ha, Minh Hoang
author_facet Tran, Hung
Mai, Tien
Ha, Minh Hoang
contents The recursive logit (RL) model provides a flexible framework for modeling sequential decision-making in transportation and choice networks, with important applications in route choice analysis, multiple discrete choice problems, and activity-based travel demand modeling. Despite its versatility, estimation of the RL model typically relies on nested fixed-point (NFXP) algorithms that are computationally expensive and prone to numerical instability. We propose a new approach that reformulates the maximum likelihood estimation problem as an optimization problem with equilibrium constraints, where both the structural parameters and the value functions are treated as decision variables. We further show that this formulation can be equivalently transformed into a conic optimization problem with exponential cones, enabling efficient solution using modern conic solvers such as MOSEK. Experiments on synthetic and real-world datasets demonstrate that our convex reformulation achieves accuracy comparable to traditional methods while offering significant improvements in computational stability and efficiency, thereby providing a practical and scalable alternative for recursive logit model estimation.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2510_16886
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Equilibrium-Constrained Estimation of Recursive Logit Choice Models
Tran, Hung
Mai, Tien
Ha, Minh Hoang
Econometrics
Computation
The recursive logit (RL) model provides a flexible framework for modeling sequential decision-making in transportation and choice networks, with important applications in route choice analysis, multiple discrete choice problems, and activity-based travel demand modeling. Despite its versatility, estimation of the RL model typically relies on nested fixed-point (NFXP) algorithms that are computationally expensive and prone to numerical instability. We propose a new approach that reformulates the maximum likelihood estimation problem as an optimization problem with equilibrium constraints, where both the structural parameters and the value functions are treated as decision variables. We further show that this formulation can be equivalently transformed into a conic optimization problem with exponential cones, enabling efficient solution using modern conic solvers such as MOSEK. Experiments on synthetic and real-world datasets demonstrate that our convex reformulation achieves accuracy comparable to traditional methods while offering significant improvements in computational stability and efficiency, thereby providing a practical and scalable alternative for recursive logit model estimation.
title Equilibrium-Constrained Estimation of Recursive Logit Choice Models
topic Econometrics
Computation
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2510.16886