Global public good

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In traditional usage, a global public good (or global good) is a public good available on a more-or-less worldwide basis.[1] There are many challenges to the traditional definition, which have far-reaching implications in the age of globalization.

Definition

In traditional usage, a pure global public good is a good that has the three following properties:[2]

This concept is an extension of American economist

public goods[3] to the economics of globalization
.

The traditional theoretical concept of public goods does not distinguish with regard to the geographical region in which a good may be produced or consumed. However, the term "global public good" has been used to mean a public good which is non-rivalrous and non-excludable throughout the whole world, as opposed to a public good which exists in just one national area.

common heritage of mankind.[5]

Challenges to the traditional definition

Significant challenges exist to the classical definition of "public goods", in general, that are also relevant to the definition of "global public goods". Kaul et al. (2003), suggest that there are actually three types of public goods.[6] First, there are public goods that cannot be made excludable, either because they are inherently indivisible or because the cost of division would be prohibitive. A simple example would be sunlight. Second, there are goods that are inherently public by design. Examples include a nation's judiciary system or basic education system. A third type, they argue, are goods that are public by default, either due to lack of foresight or knowledge in the design. An example of this type would be the ozone layer and damage done to the environment by chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) emissions before anyone understood the potential for damage.

Many of the challenges to traditional definitions have to do with how to handle

free rider, driving up the cost of the "public goods" of clean air and water, which are often transnational
resources.

The transnational nature of such resources points to another problem with a traditional definition of global public goods. Remedies to problems such as air and water pollution are typically legal remedies, and such laws often exist only in the context of geographically-bounded governmental systems.

intergovernmental organizations
(IGOs), such as has been the case in the recent past.

Thus, society can modify the non-rivalry and non-excludability of a good's benefits such that goods often become private or public as a result of deliberate policy choices. New consideration in the face of these challenges can expand the definition to recognize that, in many cases, goods exist not in their original forms but as social constructs, largely determined by policies and other collective human actions.[6]

Implications

At a time when processes of

goods
.

Although not the only example, no better example can be found than the issue of

water management authorities over such global common-pool resources will play a large part in possible solutions to peak water
problems.

Moreover, there are a number of global public goods—or global-level common-pool resources—that are necessary conditions for continuing global trade and transactions.[17] Even if one takes a position that globalization has more negative impacts than positive, the economic interdependence of national-level economies has reached a kind of point of no return in terms of continued global economic stability. Thus, continuing global trade and transactions require global public goods such as widespread peace, international economic stability, functioning supranational trade authorities, stable financial and monetary systems, effective law enforcement, relatively healthy populations of consumers and laborers, etc.[17]

See also

References

  1. S2CID 236374846
    .
  2. ISBN 019-5130529 (PDF available.) Archived 2013-11-07 at the Wayback Machine
  3. JSTOR 1925849
    .
  4. ISBN 019-5130529
  5. ISBN 978-90-411-0505-9
  6. ^
    ISBN 978-0195157413
  7. ^ Helbling, Thomas (2010). "What Are Externalities?" Finance & Development, 47(4). Archived 2013-06-24 at archive.today
  8. doi:10.1093/ejil/chs035
    .
  9. ^
    doi:10.1093/ejil/chs036
    .
  10. ISBN 978-0262516983
  11. ^ WHO and UNICEF Progress on Drinking-water and Sanitation: 2012 Update Archived 2012-03-28 at the Wayback Machine, WHO, Geneva and UNICEF, New York.
  12. S2CID 145440602
    .
  13. S2CID 154896073
    .
  14. S2CID 155045698
    .
  15. ^ Terry, Matt (2007)."Ecuador's Water Crisis: Damming the Water Capital of the World." International Rivers.
  16. ^ Hitz, Julia Apland (2010). "The Water Conflict in Ecuador." State of the planet: blogs from the Earth Institute, Columbia University.
  17. ^
    ISBN 978-0199230938

Further reading

External links
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