Knowledge as Global Public Good

Abstract

This chapter applies the framework of public goods to knowledge. It shows that knowledge has some characteristics of public good, such as being non-rival in consumption and in the long run non excludable. But it also argues that knowledge cannot be transferred from producers to users at low or negligible costs: to effectively use knowledge, prospective users should devote time and energy to its assimilation. Consequently, free-riding in knowledge is less likely to be successful than with other public goods. This has also important implications for national and global policies. Catching up countries need to implement policies of active learning if they really wish to get the benefit of knowledge. Intellectual property rights have the purpose of making knowledge institutionally excludable, and this contradicts the objective pursued by governments and international organization to disseminate science and technology. It is finally argued that the normative implication of the global public goods analysis in the case of knowledge requires greater public investment and international cooperation.

Keywords: Information, Non-Rivalry, Non-Excludability, Intellectual Property Rights, Cooperation