Economists participated in the promotion of time-of-use (TOU) pricing during the 1970s, but analysis and evaluation of the role they played indicate that their contribution fell short of their potential influence. The study examines how economists compiled, analyzed, and evaluated electric-utility rate structures to determine how effectively they presented arguments supporting the idea that TOU pricing would alter energy-use patterns and would have a desirable cost-benefit effect. While TOU now permeates US utility rate structures, the author feels that professional economists could have presented more-forceful arguments, and should now be preparing to participate in the next step of rate decisions. 14 references. (DCK)

Nonmonetary factors are expected to assume an increasingly important role in determining the demand for medical care as the out-of-pocket money price falls (due to spreading health insurance coverage or the enactment of the federal health insurance legislation). A utility maximization model is used to develop predictions for the demand for "free" and nonfree care. A simultaneous-equation system is estimated on a survey of users of New York City's "free" outpatient departments and municipal hospitals. The empirical results support the major predictions that nonmonetary factors such as travel distance will function as prices in discouraging demand and that earned and nonearned income have different impacts. A number of implications for public policy are suggested, including the possibility of substituting income maintenance for the direct provision or insurance of medical care.