Global public good

A global public good is a good that has the three following properties :

• It is non-rivalrous. Consumption of this good by anyone does not reduce the quantity available to other agents.
• It is non-excludable. It is impossible to prevent anyone from consuming that good.
• It is available worldwide.

This concept is an extension of Samuelson's notion of public goods to the economics of globalisation.

The theoretical concept of public goods does not distinguish with regard to the geographical region in which a good may be produced or consumed. However some theorists (such as Inge Kaul) use the term global public good to mean a public good which is non-rival and non-excludable throughout the whole world, as opposed to a public good which exists in just one national area. Knowledge is a canonical example of a global public good.^[1] In some academic literature it has become associated with the concept of a common heritage of mankind.^[2]

The stability of the UK's financial system has been described as a global public good by the IMF due to the systems's 'size and role ... in global intermediation [which] puts it in a position to originate and transmit shocks to the global financial system, but also to dampen them'. ^[3]

References

1. ^ Joseph E. Stiglitz, Knowledge as a Global Public Good in Global Public Goods, ISBN 978-0-19-513052-2
2. ^ Kemal Baslar. The Concept of the Common Heritage of Mankind in International Law. Martinus Nijhoff. 1998 ISBN 978 90 411 0505 9
3. ^ "United Kingdom—2011 Article IV Consultation Concluding Statement of the Mission". International Monetary Fund. http://www.imf.org/external/np/ms/2011/060611.htm. Retrieved 6 June 2011. 

See also

• François-Xavier Verschave

External links

• Global Public Goods - analysis from Global Policy Forum
• Global Public Goods (OUP Book)
• Global Public Goods Network (UNDP)