Are You Willing to Wait? An SMS Platform to Measure the Value of Time in the Field
In this paper we develop an SMS platform to measure the value of time for commuters in settings without widespread smartphone adoption. This is an important input for transit planning and policy. We deployed this platform in Lagos, Nigeria in 2023 to measure the value of time for 640 commuters at 18 bus stops. We found that the average value of time was 2.9 times the average wage, substantially higher than common benchmarks used in lower and middle income countries.
Use of Clinical Trial Characteristics to Estimate Costs of New Drug Development
The socially optimal level of research and development investment in novel pharmaceutical drugs is important. This trade-off balances corporate profits for firms, which incentivize additional R&D investment, with high costs, which are a financial burden for patients and governments. We use publicly available financial filing to estimate the cost of new drug development. We found that the median cost per new drug was around $150 million, which is near the lower end of existing estimates.