The Lightship in Economics

43 Pages Posted: 24 Apr 2018 Last revised: 6 Nov 2018

See all articles by Rosolino Candela

Rosolino Candela

George Mason University - Mercatus Center; University Francisco Marroquín

Vincent Geloso

George Mason University - Department of Economics

Date Written: December 1, 2017

Abstract

What role does government play in the provision of public goods? Economists have used the lighthouse as an empirical example to illustrate the extent to which the private provision of public goods is possible. This inquiry, however, has neglected the private provision of lightships. We investigate the private operation of the world’s first modern lightship, established in 1731 on the banks of the Thames estuary going in and out of London. First, we show that the Nore lightship was able to operate profitably and without government enforcement in the collection of payments for lighting services. Second, we show how private efforts to build lightships were crowded out by Trinity House, the public authority responsible for establishing and maintaining lighthouses in England and Wales. By including lightships into the broader lighthouse market, we argue that the provision of lighting services exemplifies not a market failure, but a government failure.

Keywords: government failure; lighthouse; lightship; market failure; public goods

JEL Classification: D72, H40, P48

Suggested Citation

Candela, Rosolino and Geloso, Vincent, The Lightship in Economics (December 1, 2017). Public Choice vol. 176, no. 3 (2018): 479-506. , Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3157100 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3157100

Rosolino Candela

George Mason University - Mercatus Center ( email )

3434 Washington Blvd., 4th Floor
Arlington, VA 22201
United States

University Francisco Marroquín ( email )

Street Manuel F. Ayau (6 Final Street), Zone 10
01010
Guatemala

Vincent Geloso (Contact Author)

George Mason University - Department of Economics ( email )

4400 University Drive
Fairfax, VA 22030
United States

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