Public goods are defined as those goods and services essential for survival and should be available for people without charge. Air is the only truly public good that fits this definition. Global Public Goods is a more recent concept and is still in the developing stage by academics, researchers and policy analysts. Public goods are considered global when they have universal benefits, covering multiple groups of countries and all populations. GPGs are almost inevitably undersupplied. Because there is no exclusivity, private sector will not provide sufficient amount. Furthermore, countries typically cannot agree on which GPGs should be provided, or on how to share the burden of financing them. Even those GPGs whose inclusion on the list is widely accepted often fall prey to incentive and funding difficulties. For example, scientific and technological research, key to addressing many other global issues, is itself a global public good in many cases, yet is widely underfunded. At the same time there is overproduction of global public “bads,” such as communicable diseases, transnational drug smuggling, climate change, and human rights abuses. This seminar will discuss the concepts underlying GPGs and the controversies surrounding them, as well as the global programs currently addressing their provision . Background material: PublicGoods.pdf and GPGPresentation.ppt Watch the video on BSpan (Fall 2005) Speakers: Margret Thalwitz, Director for Global Programs & Partnerhisps at the World Bank and Scott Barrett, Director, International Policy Program, Professor of Environmental Economics & International Political Economy at Johns Hopkins University Reading List: Providing Global Public Goods (2003), Managing Globalization, Edited by Inge Kaul, Pedro Conceicao, Katell le Goulven and Ronald U. Mendoza, Oxford University Press - Advancing the Concept of Global Public Goods, pages 78-112 - Scott Barrett. “Global Commons.” International Task Force on Global public Goods, January 2005.
- Critical Choices – The United Nations, Networks, and the Future of Global Governance (2000), Wolfgang H. Reinicke and Francis Deng, International Development Research Centre - Chapter 3. What do networks do?, pages 27-6
- Global Public Policies and Programs (2001), Implications for Financing and Evaluations, World Bank Operations Evaluation Department - Financing Global and International Public Goods (Todd Sandler), pages 183-19
- OED Reach, January 7, 2005, Global Programs: Addressing the Challenges of Globalization
- Addressing the Challenges of Globalization: An Independent Evaluation of the World Bank’s Approach to Global Programs. Executive Summary. World Bank Operations Evaluation Department, 2004.
- Vinay Bhargava. “An Introduction to Global Issues”. Paper for Global Issues Seminar Series-Fall 2005/Session # 1.
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