in
economics is narrow. In economic theory, "a public good" has two
characteristics:The difficulties in providing efficient incentives for the production of information products through property rights lead some people to say that information is a public good. But this is inexact.
The definition of of a public good in
economics is narrow. In economic theory, "a public good" has two
characteristics:
1) The cost of providing the good does not depend on the number of consumers who benefit from it.
2) It is not feasible to exclude those who do not pay from the benefit of the good.
Economists have traditionally argued that, because of these characteristics,
public goods will not be supplied by a profit oriented market economy. If they
are to be supplied at all, government must
supply them.
We may use Adam Smith's example of the lighthouse to illustrate this concept. The lighthouse
exists to warn passing ships of a dangerous shoal or coast. All ships that come
within sight of it benefit from it. The cost of maintaining the lighthouse is a
fixed cost, and does not depend on the number of ships that benefit from it. It
would, at best, be difficult to intercept ships as they come within range of
the lighthouse and demand that they pay a toll for using it -- but even if it
were done, it would do no good. The ships would know their position simply
because they were asked to pay, and would correct their course to avoid the
danger -- getting the benefit without paying! So the lighthouse fulfills the
definition of a public good.
Is it an information product? Yes. A light per se may not be considered a symbol, but in the context of a map (which is symbolic) and a route plan, the light takes on a (symbolic) meaning it would not have out of context. Moreover, some lighthouses flash in specific on-and-off patterns, to make it easier to identify them. This is symbolic in the strictest sense, and the light is the medium, not the information product.
Well, then: are information products, in general, public goods? The answer is no. They are not public goods because an information good cannot be transfered without at the same time transferring the medium. In the case of the lighthouse, the medium -- light -- is itself a public good. But in other cases, such as books, the medium (paper) is not a public good. And publishers are to some extent able to collect from those who benefit from the book. At the very least the publishers can collect from the first purchaser of the book. Since the information product can only be sold in conjunction with some medium, the information product is a public good only if the medium is a public good.
Quasi-public Goods
Copyright