[ISP Commission VI, Invited Paper] 1 
The Establishment of Cost Models in Photogrammetry 
H.G. Jerie 
1 Introduction 
Modern man has been called “homo economicus”. The truth of this can, 
from a philosophical point of view, be seen in the fact that man’s innovatory 
activities are directed mainly towards the goal of achieving objectives in the 
most efficient or the cheapest way. Photogrammetrists and other members of 
the engineering profession are certainly no exception to this. However, as 
contributions on this seemingly extremely important aspect do not appear 
regularly in photogrammetric literature, one might conclude that we, though 
not the economists of course, are hesitant to accept the full consequences of 
the reality. 
What then is the situation in this respect? 
In our professional field, cost calculations will and should be attempted 
with a number of different objectives in mind, namely: 
— Cost calculations by commercial and semi-commercial organisations with 
the aim of determining the price of the execution of projects. Hereby, 
a number of less technical aspects will also play a part, examples being 
specific market policies, incidental competitive situations, the existing or 
anticipated work load of the organisation, the desired profit, compensation 
for element of risk, etc. 
— Cost calculations as a criterion in the design of, and decision on, optimal 
procedures for the achievement of given product specifications. 
— Cost calculations as a basis for decisions concerning the purchase of equip- 
ment and other capital investments (e.g. computer software) and for the 
evaluation of new methods and procedures. 
— Cost calculations in the form of sensititivity studies of processes, with the 
aim of enabling equipment manufacturerers, or organisations contributing 
to the development of new methods and procedures, to make better de- 
cisions concerning the most promising objectives of new developments. 
— Cost calculations in the form of sensitivity studies of the economic conse- 
quences of different product specifications, with the aim of enabling users 
of photogrammetric products to make better decisions concerning the most 
efficient product specifications (i.e. those yielding the best cost-benefit ratio). 
UDC No. 528.7.003.1