\begin{abstract}
Using process simulation and AI search methods, we compare 
software reuse against other possible changes to a project.
such as  reducing functionality or improving the skills
of the programmer population. In one case, two generations of reuse were as good or better than any other
project change  (but a third and fourth generation of reuse was not useful).
In another case, applying reuse to a project was demonstrable worse than several other possible changes
to a project.

Our conclusion is that
the general claims regarding the benefits
of software reuse do not hold for specific projects.
We argue that the merits of software reuse need to be
evaluated in a project by project basis.
AI search over process models is useful for such an assessment, particularly when
there is not sufficient data for precisely tuning a simulation model.

{\bf Keywords:} Software Reuse, COCOMO, COQUALMO, AI search
\end{abstract}
