Pricing government information

The vast improvements in information technology over the past 20 years have greatly increased the social and economic value of government information. This increase in economic value, combined with changes in the formats in which government information is stored and the costs associated with supporting dissemination systems, has contributed to a great deal of controversy over how government information should be disseminated and priced. This article provides a discussion of several important economic concepts. It describes pricing rules and algorithms used by federal agencies and private vendors of government information, as well as a discussion of the consequences of and rationales for existing pricing policies.