The public goods are goods, services or resources which profit with all, and are characterized by
- the not-competition: the consumption of the good by an individual does not prevent his consumption by another, and
- not-exclusion: nobody can be excluded from the consumption of this good).
One speaks about the world public goods (safeguarding of the biodiversity, climate warming,…).
Classification of the goods
According to whether the good is rival or not, excluable or not, it is classified differently:
If the two conditions (not-competition, non-excluability) are fully checked, the public goods are known as pure. When a condition only is met, they are known as impure:
- the condition of not-competition is not checked any more when one approaches saturation (ex: a swimming pool of 50m ² with more than 50 people inside): one then speaks about congestion
- the condition of not-exclusion depends especially on the technical possibilities (and policies) allowing (or not) setting-up on an access control (example: encrypted television): one speaks then about well with toll .
A public property, known as as well collective, is a good which is not divisible and whose production costs cannot be charged to an individual in particular, which makes difficult, even impossible, the fixing of the prices. The consumption of this good by an individual or several is identical: an additional consumer thus does not imply an additional cost for the operator.
A public property with free access can be the subject of Gaspillage S.
private Goods
Contrary to the public property, the private property is object of exchanges, during which its Propriété (or its use) changes hands. The private goods thus have, generally, the properties of exclusiveness and competition (everyone cannot benefit from it at the same time). Examples of private goods: housing, clothes, cars, toys, etc
public property and public service
A public property is not necessarily a Public service (example: broadcasting private), and conversely a public service is not necessarily a public property (example: the school, which can propose only one number of place limited thus being the subject of a competition, and which one can easily exclude a recipient).Nevertheless, the two concepts remain close, even brought closer intentionally (one can in particular try to make of all the public utilities of the community properties, and conversely to try to make pass the community properties in public service).
Price of the public property
Even if it is not possible to prevent somebody from using the service, it is sometimes possible to know that it used it, even which quantity was consumed: in this case, the public property can be the subject of a traditional invoicing, with the fixed price as soon as the use is noted, even with the really consumed unit.In the contrary case, the good does not have an identified request, which is economically equivalent at a null price. That does not pose a problem as long as it is about a natural good (and that he is not exhausted yet…), on the other hand, for a good which results from a work of production, that means that another funding source should be found:
- a royalty
- to bind the service to a constraint which profits with a third, which can then have interest to pay (example: financing of broadcasting by publicity)
- to use a resource which does not have a bond with the good (the taxes, a mining layer, patronage,…)
Whatever the financing, it is the price of production which is the determining factor. The way in which this price will be distributed between different the financing depends on ideological considerations macro-economic or, and not on irrefutable calculations. The French administrative doctrines, for example, as taught with the senior officials, were a long time to invoice all the recipients at the marginal cost (that of the last produced unit), which produces a deficit mechanically (average costs being higher than the marginal cost), and to fill this one by the tax. Within this framework, a service like public lighting or the defense, which does not cost anything more to provide to a person moreover, has a marginal cost no one, and will be financed by the taxes.
The goods clubs
Situation in which the advantage which a user withdraws from a network is all the more important as the number of users is important and that the services suggested are provided. The companies of networks are concerned with the " effects of club"Example: We are 5 neighbors, we buy a joint mower. There will not be obstruction/congestion (we arrange ourselves not to have to use it at the same time). Nevertheless this good is deprived, nobody other does not use it.
See too
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