10.2190/KRKE-HN4M-GEG3-TTJH KRKEHN4MGEG3TTJH 5 Sampling For Group Utility 299 314 20020509 20020509 20020509 20020509 KRKEHN4MGEG3TTJH.pdf http://baywood.metapress.com/link.asp?target=contribution&id=KRKEHN4MGEG3TTJH 4 Gregory B. Baecher Department of Civil Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts A sampling theory approach is developed for estimating group utility functions for inclusion in decision-analytic approaches to public plan evaluation. This approach is based on Bayesian sampling theory and leads to estimates of group utility accounting for sampling and measurement error. The results of the estimation may be directly incorporated in decision analysis. The strength of this approach is that it leads to more rigorously based estimates of interest group utility functions than commonly used surrogates, and can be analytically balanced with other forms of preference information such as market data. J. W. Pratt, H. Raiffa and R. Schlaifer, <i>Introduction to Statistical Decision Theory</i>, McGraw-Hill, New York, 1965. R. deNeufville and R. L. Keeney, "Use of Decision Analysis in Airport Development for Mexico City," in <i>Analysis of Public Systems</i>, A. W. Drake, R. L. Keeney and P. M. Morse, (eds.), MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass., 1972. K. Nair, G. E. Brogan, L. S. Cluff, I. M. Idriss and K. T. Mao, An Approach to Siting Nuclear Power Plant: The Relevance of Earthquakes, Faults, and Decision-Analysis, in <i>Siting of Nuclear Facilities</i>, IAEA, Vienna, 1974. J. G. Gros, <i>A Paretian Environmental Approach to Power Plant Siting</i>, Ph.D. Dissertation, Harvard University, 1974. R. L. Keeney and C. W. Kirkwood, Group Decision Making Using Cardinal Social Welfare Functions, University of Michigan, Dept. of Ind. and Operations Engr. Tech. Rept. 74-6, 1974. A. Zellner, <i>An Introduction to Bayesian Inference in Econometrics</i>, Wiley, New York, 1971. J. Collins, <i>How Much Environment Should Energy Cost</i>, IIASA Internal Paper, 1974. G. E. P. Box and G. C. Tiao, <i>Bayesian Inference in Statistical Analysis</i>, Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA, 1973.