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Homework answers / question archive / Compare and contrast a public good versus a private good
Compare and contrast a public good versus a private good.
(a) What are the principal characteristics of each?
(b) Is there a free rider problem when it comes to public goods? Why?
(c) Do you consider your local police force a public good or a private good? Why?
(d) How about your local (over the air) TV service? Explain.
A public good is that type of good that cannot be provided in a free market for if it is provided the market will fail. While a private good is that type of good which can be provided in a market at a price.
Principle characteristics of public goods include the following:
Principle characteristics of a private good include the following:
So yes, there is a free rider problem in public good. A 'free rider problem' is a condition where people take advantage of using a common resource and thus no one is willing to pay for the usage of the good. The reason why there is a problem of a free rider is that it's not possible to set a price on public goods. For example, it's not possible to set a price on people who drive on a road.
A local police force service is an example of a public good because it doesn't have a price tag and my consumption of police force services don't exclude other consumers from consuming the same services.
A local TV service is an example of a private good because though it is accessible by many people, there is a price tag for accessing the same meaning that if you don't pay the subscription, then you won't watch any channels that is the concept of excludability.