Public Goods

Public Goods is a very important economic concept. We are very pleased to have here a contribution written by Raul Zambrano^?, UNDP, in early 2001 on what he calls Global Public Goods (GPGs):

'Public goods are those goods that are both non-depletable and non-excludable. In simple terms, the former means that my use/consumption of such a good does not diminish its availability (just the opposite of a nice chocolate cake where the bigger the piece I take the less is left for you). Non-excludable means that use of the good is open to all. Global means that these goods run across borders and apply to most if not all countries.

The ways these goods are provided is also special as in most cases they pertain to market failures (ie, market mechanisms per se cannot and do not provide these services). That is why, until recently, governments were the main providers of public goods. As of late, however, public goods are being provided by both private and public organizations.

One typical example of a GPG is "knowledge", in particular scientific knowledge (think of physics, math, even economics etc).

In this context, OS is a global public good. It is both non-depletable and non-excludable. The real value of OS for nations with little technological capacity is not that is is technically superior to other alternatives but rather that has "embedded knowledge" created on a global scale that can be used internally for building and strengthening national capacities and then contribute to this body of knowledge. And access to it is "free"...

Some people, including publications such as the Economist, have suggested that the Internet is yet another GPG.'

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Resources

gpgNet
"gpgNet intends to serve researchers, policymakers, business and civil society as a platform for information exchange and discussion, on issues concerning the theory, policy design and practice of providing global public goods."

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