As far as we know, the idea and name for value equations was invented by Sensorica, a pioneering Open Value Network. They are now calling them "Benefit Redistribution Algorithms".
The idea is to have a published formula for distributing income to contributors to creating some deliverable that brings in some money.
This is a (simplified) very specific example taken from Sensorica:
Contributing to creating the output:
sensorica flow 1, showing flows into making a 3-d printed part
Distributing income according to the value equation:
