Private Good

A Private Good is an Economics that is an excludable good (its owners cam prevent others from its benefits) and is a rivalrous good (consumption by one necessarily prevents that of another).

• Example(s):
  • a Pair of Prescription Glasses.
  • …
• Counter-Example(s):
  • a Public Good (i.e. a non-excludable good that is a non-rivalrous good)
• See: Private Property Rights, Scarcity, Free Rider Problem, Excludability, Rivalry And Excludability in Goods.

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References

2014

• (Wikipedia, 2014) ⇒ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Private_good Retrieved:2014-5-3.
  • A private good is defined in economics as "an item that yields positive benefits to people" that is excludable, i.e. its owners can exercise private property rights, preventing those who have not paid for it from using the good or consuming its benefits; and rivalrous, i.e. consumption by one necessarily prevents that of another. A private good, as an economic resource is scarce, which can cause competition for it. The market demand curve for a private good is a horizontal summation of individual demand curves. Unlike public goods, private goods are less likely to have the free rider problem. Assuming a private good is valued positively by everyone, the efficiency of obtaining the good is obstructed by its rivalry, that is simultaneous consumption of a rivalrous good is theoretically impossible; the feasibility of obtaining the good is made difficult by its excludability, that is people have to pay for it to enjoy its benefits. One of the most common ways of looking at goods in the economy, illustrated in the table below, is by examining the level of competition in obtaining a given good, and the possibility of excluding its consumption; one cannot, for example, prevent another from enjoying a beautiful view, or clean air.

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