Prizes are receiving increasing attention in policy and entrepreneurial communities as means to promote innovation, but their distinguishing features remain inadequately understood. Models of patents treat winning a patent as winning a prize; other models distinguish prizes primarily as public...

We extend the theory of quality-adjusted expenditure indices to estimate benefits from public investment. In particular, we model the selection of new instruments (in the form of remote-sensing devices) to enhance the longest-operating U.S. satellite-based land-observing program, Landsat. We...

We demonstrate the diffusion in use of Earth observations data in social science research. Our study is motivated by the continuing debate among policymakers over the value of the nation’s investment in Earth observations. We also consider the role of related factors including the spread of...

Using rockets to launch communications satellites and other spacecraft poses risks to the uninvolved public, including persons and property under the flight path of the launch vehicle. The federal government plays a pivotal technical role during the actual launch by carrying out certain...

Market innovations would greatly benefit America's space policy. As American commercial exploitation of space - with communications, weather, and earth-observing satellites - has expanded, so has government regulation of commercial space. Just like markets for other goods and services, some of...

Introduction -- 1. The Value of Information in Index Insurance for Farmers in Africa -- Commentary -- 2. The Value of Information in a Risk Management Approach to Climate Change -- Commentary -- 3. Understanding the Value of Business Information -- Commentary -- 4. Valuing the Potential Impacts...

We examine the problem of the intertemporal allocation of the solid waste of cities within the United States to spatially distributed landfills and incinerators, taking into account that capacity at existing and potential landfills is scarce. Amendments to the Solid Waste Disposal Act have been...

The Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in April 2010 led to the deaths of 11 workers, a six-month moratorium on deepwater drilling in the Gulf, and nearly three months of massive engineering and logistics efforts to stop the spill. The series of failures before the well was...