The person tradeoff (PTO) is commonly used in health economic applications. However, to date it has no theoretical basis. The purpose of this paper is to provide this basis from a set of assumptions that together justify the most common applications of the PTO method. Our analysis identifies the central assumptions in PTO measurements. We test these assumptions in an experiment, but find only limited support for the validity of the PTO.

, , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
doi.org/10.1016/j.jhealeco.2009.06.010, hdl.handle.net/1765/17855
Journal of Health Economics
Erasmus Research Institute of Management

Doctor, J., Miyamoto, J., & Bleichrodt, H. (2009). When are person tradeoffs valid?. Journal of Health Economics, 28(5), 1018–1027. doi:10.1016/j.jhealeco.2009.06.010