Revisiting kernel logistic regression under the random utility models perspective. An interpretable machine-learning approach

The success of machine-learning methods is spreading their use to many different fields. This paper analyses one of these methods, the Kernel Logistic Regression (KLR), from the point of view of Random Utility Model (RUM) and proposes the use of the KLR to specify the utilities in RUM, freeing the m...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Martín Baos, José Ángel, García Ródenas, Ricardo, Rodríguez Benitez, Luis
Format: article
Publication Date:2021
Country:España
Institution:Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha
Repository:RUIdeRA. Repositorio Institucional de la UCLM
OAI Identifier:oai:ruidera.uclm.es:10578/30123
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10578/30123
Access Level:Open access
Keyword:Modelos de Utilidad Aleatorios
Aprendizaje autom´ático
Valor del tiempo
Description
Summary:The success of machine-learning methods is spreading their use to many different fields. This paper analyses one of these methods, the Kernel Logistic Regression (KLR), from the point of view of Random Utility Model (RUM) and proposes the use of the KLR to specify the utilities in RUM, freeing the modeller from the need to postulate a functional relation between the features. A Monte Carlo simulation study is conducted to empirically compare KLR with the Multinomial Logit (MNL) method, the Support Vector Machine (SVM) and the Random Forests (RF). We have shown that, using simulated data, KLR is the only method that achieves maximum accuracy and leads to an unbiased willingness-to-pay estimator for non-linear phenomena. In a real travel mode choice problem, RF achieved the highest predictive accuracy, followed by KLR. However, KLR allows for the calculation of indicators such as the value of time, which is of great importance in the context of transportation.