Conjoint Analysis: A Comparative Analysis of Specification Tests for the Utility Function
比较了联合分析中基于公理检验与经验拟合两种方法对效用函数组合规则（如加法和分配规则）的选择效果，发现公理检验能有效排除不合适的函数形式，应作为经验拟合的补充。
The focus of this paper is on determining appropriate combination rules for idiosyncratic ordinal utility functions in conjoint measurement. An axiomatic diagnosis is used which is based on explanatory criteria rather than goodness-of-fit or predictive criteria. Experimental results are presented comparing the selection of combination rules based on axiomatic tests and empirical fitting procedures for additive (x + y + z) and distributive (x(y + z)) combinations of three factors. A number of conflicting diagnoses result from the simultaneous applications of axiomatic tests and goodness-of-fit criteria, suggesting the importance of testing certain necessary conditions for simple polynomial combination rules, such as additive and distributive rules. Because the axiomatic approach is effective in rejecting inappropriate functional forms, we argue that it should complement rather than replace the empirical fitting diagnostic approaches.