De qué hablamos cuando hablamos de bienes públicos

Abstract

Economic literture has reached no precise consensus on the nature of the public goods. This article studies their defining characteristics: non-excludability and non-rivality. The specific implication that each of these has on the status of goods (as public o private) is distinguished. To this end, some arguments are elaborated pertinent a theory of the shared use of goods. Consequently an unambiguous definition of public goods is offered wich elucidates some less clear and incomplete definitions, thus endowing the semantic distinction between public and private with a precise implication for the property regime issue.