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Estimating and Explaining the Cost of High-Technology Systems

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Abstract

The purpose of this study is twofold: to demonstrate the use of technology measurement methodology in developing cost estimating relationships for high-technology systems and to identify environmental factors that impact the production cost of those systems. Both judgmental weighing and time regressions approaches are used to create measures of the state-of-the-art of technology and advances in technology at the time of system production. Those measures then are used to estimate system cost. Additionally, several political, economic and program factors are hypothesized to explain differences between actual and estimated costs. Tests of the hypotheses are conducted. Findings indicate that technology measurement provides a useful tool in developing cost estimates for high-technology systems and that environmental factors have a predictable impact on the actual cost of these systems. The analysis is conducted using a sample of U.S. military aircraft.

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© 1990 Springer Science+Business Media New York

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Moses, O.D. (1990). Estimating and Explaining the Cost of High-Technology Systems. In: Greer, W.R., Nussbaum, D.A. (eds) Cost Analysis and Estimating. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-0995-9_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-0995-9_2

  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4612-6976-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4612-0995-9

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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