Logit Models for Spatial Interaction: Background -- COST-MINIMIZING BEHAVIOR - CONSTANT LINK COSTS -- Logit Models for Discrete Choice -- Some Particular Logit Models -- Welfare, Benefit and Freedom of Choice -- Graphical Tests of Cost-Minimizing Behavior in Logit Models -- Empirical and Policy Relevance of the New Paradigm -- EQUILIBRIUM -- Equilibrium -- Behavioral Foundations of Spatial Interaction Models.

This book stems from a desire to understand the underlying assumptions and structure of the choice probability models most often used in transportation planning. The book investigates how far a new way of defining cost minimizing behavior can take us. All commonly used choice probability distributions of the logit type – log linear probability functions – follow from cost minimizing behavior defined in the new way; some new nested models also appear. The new approach provides a deeper understanding of what is at work in the models. The new way of defining cost minimizing behavior is as follows: cost minimizing behavior pertains if the likelihood (probability) of any independent sample of observations is a decreasing function of the average cost of the sample. Extreme value distributed random variables are not used in the derivation of models. A measure of freedom of choice related to the Shannon measure of how much "choice" is involved is used to obtain a welfare measure which is equal to composite cost.