Public goods, global public goods and the common good

摘要

Purpose - Public economics has recently introduced the concept of global public goods as a newrncategory of public goods whose provision is central for promoting the well-being of individuals inrntoday's globalized world. The purpose of this paper is to examine the extent to which introducing thisrnnew concept in international development is helpful for understanding human well-beingrnenhancement.rnDesign/methodology/approach - The paper considers some implications of the concept of therncommon good for international development.rnFindings - The concept of global public goods could be more effective if the conception of well-beingrnit assumes is broadened beyond the individual level. "Living well" or the "good life" does not dwell inrnindividual lives only, but also in the lives of the communities which human beings form. A successfulrnprovision of global public goods depends on this recognition that the "good life" of the communitiesrnthat people form is a constitutive component of the "good life" of individual human beings.rnOriginality/value - The paper suggests that the rediscovery of the concept of the common good, andrnidentification of how to nurture it, constitute one of the major tasks for development theory and policy.