GLOBAL PUBLIC GOODS THE CHANGING ROLE OF PUBLIC SECTOR IN THE CONTEXT OF GLOBALIZATION (original) (raw)
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Public Goods in the Global Economy
2010
Given the path that on which the economic life has irreversibly entered and the fact that economic business results have a direct impact on the environment overall, both theorists and directly involved subjects in the global economy, puts more emphasis on the concept of global public good. The concept of a global public good is in fact the global economy,
Introduction The concept of global public goods (GPGs) becomes indispensible to the study of a rapidly globalizing world witnessing large-scale cross-border spillovers of goods and services not just for which there exist markets, but also for which there exist none. Markets and states are two of society's mechanisms for coordinating economic activity where each plays a role in providing different kinds of goods (Kaul et al., 2003). However, there are some kinds of goods and services, for instance, transnational pollution, global warming, world peace, scientific knowledge, financial stability, the international trading system, development, health, inter alia, for which it is extremely difficult to conceive of a market. Since there is no efficient market for these kinds of goods and services, it is not easy to ensure that they are supplied in optimum quantities, i.e: they are neither oversupplied (as in the case of pollution and global warming) nor undersupplied (as in the case of world peace or knowledge or financial stability). In the absence of markets, it is usually the state that is responsible for the provision of these kinds of goods called public goods. However, the aforementioned goods have an additional international dimension to them which precludes them from being treated like national or local public goods and require them to be studies separately under the head of global public goods. Though global public goods bear some of the intrinsic characteristics of public goods in general, they contain a set of unique implications and challenges that cannot be addressed by looking simply at a theory of public goods. Simply put, the difference between the provision of public goods and global public goods is driven by the fact that at the international level there is no real equivalent to the national institution of the state (Kaul et al., 2003) or of government or any system of taxation or collection of user fees. Unlike public goods, the provision of global public goods cannot be ensured by the action of individual states, but usually requires the concerted action of more than one actor in the global community, which is also increasingly including a gamut of non-state, alongside state actors (Kaul, 2001). Challenging the erstwhile clear cut distinction that private goods are provided by markets and public goods by the state, a number of new actors are emerging and facilitating the provision of global public goods, like civil society, international NGOs, private businesses, and epistemic communities (Edwards and Zadek, 2003). Thus the concept of public goods has now been nuanced with a multi-layered, multi-level as well as multi-actor dimension. As Desai (2004) rightly states, the debate on global public goods cannot simply build on the existing theory of public goods and requires a major rethinking of several notions. Rethinking the concept of public goods along these lines has a number of implications for the theory of public goods and opens up an important new research agenda. There is also greater consensus that there should be some coordination mechanism in activities where markets are likely to undersupply these public goods. The problem of under-provision of global public goods makes it even more important for scholars of contemporary global politics to study alternative non-market mechanisms which can lead to their proper supply. Some of these proposed coordination mechanisms include enhancing international cooperation by building international institutions, regimes and organizations for furthering the provision of global public goods. Thus, as shall be discussed in detail, the idea of international cooperation in an anarchical society of states is as central to the concept of GPG as is the notion of globalization. However, the basic logic behind under-provision of GPG remains the same as that of public goods in general. Thus, before going on to study global public goods it is important to be familiar with the concept of public goods in general.
Financing the Provision of Global Public Goods
The World Economy, 2004
This paper examines the concept of global public goods (GPGs) and in that context explores the extent of aid (ODA) presently being diverted to GPG provision and whether such diversion skews aid-flows towards some recipients and whether diverting aid to GPG provision crowds out aid for conventional development activities. These are examined on the basis of OECD data for the late 1990s. The main argument of this paper is that ODA should not be used for financing GPG provision by developing countries. Instead, it is suggested that other sources of financing the provision of GPGs should be developed keeping in view the various technologies by which the GPGs can be produced and design principles for supra-national institutions. Various arguments from Sandler, Barrett and Kanbur are considered. In particular, Kanbur's suggestion of two tensions involving the principles of economies of scale, subsidiarity, economies of scope and specialization, is explored further. Some examples of issues where a GPG is produced as a joint product of actions by national governments are considered by looking at data on eight different indicators for 1995. Problems in using the joint product approach to GPG provision are also discussed.
Public goods, global public goods and the common good
International Journal of Social …, 2007
Public economics has recently introduced the concept of global public goods as a new category of public goods whose provision is central for promoting the well-being of individuals in today's globalized world. This paper examines the extent to which introducing this new concept in international development is helpful for understanding human well-being enhancement. It argues that the concept of global public goods could be more effective if the conception of well-being it assumes is broadened beyond the individual level. 'Living well' or the 'good life' does not dwell in individual lives only, but also in the lives of communities which human beings form. A successful provision of global public goods depends on this recognition that the 'good life' of the communities that people form is a constitutive component of the 'good life' of individual human beings. The paper considers some implications of the concept of the common good for international development, and suggests that the rediscovery of this concept, and identification of how to nurture the common good, constitute one of the major tasks for development theory and policy.