Public goods create a peculiar dilemma: everyone likes the benefits, but paying for them is another matter. Economists call this the free-rider problem—people can enjoy protection, clean air, or herd ...

Public economics examines how governments identify, finance and deliver resources that private markets undersupply. Publicly provided goods are those from which individuals cannot be feasibly excluded ...

Economic valuation of public goods seeks to assign monetary values to goods and services that are not traded in conventional markets, such as clean air, biodiversity, cultural heritage and climate ...