Concept and classification of economic goods. Economic good - what is it? Production of economic goods

All people have different needs. They can be divided into two parts: spiritual and material needs. Although the division is conditional (so, it is difficult to say whether a person’s need for knowledge belongs to spiritual or material needs), for the most part it is possible.

The concept of economic needs and benefits

Material needs can be called economic needs. It is worth noting that they are expressed in the fact that we want different economic benefits. Wherein, economic benefits -϶ᴛᴏ material and intangible objects, more precisely, the properties of these objects that can satisfy economic needs. Economic needs are one of the fundamental categories in economic theory.

At the dawn of mankind, people satisfied their economic needs using the ready-made benefits of nature. Subsequently, the absolute majority of needs began to be satisfied through the production of goods. In a market economy, where economic goods are bought and sold, they are called goods and services (often simply goods, products, products)

Humanity is structured in such a way that its economic needs usually exceed the ability to produce goods. They even talk about the law (principle) of increasing needs, which means that needs grow faster than the production of goods. In many ways, this happens because as we satisfy some needs, others immediately arise.

Thus, in a traditional society, the majority of its members have needs primarily for essential products. These are needs mainly for food, clothing, housing, and basic services. Moreover, back in the 19th century. Prussian statistician Ernest Engel proved that there is a direct connection between the type of goods and services purchased and the income level of consumers. According to his statements, confirmed by practice, with an increase in the absolute amount of income, the share spent on essential goods and services decreases, and the share of expenses on less necessary products increases. The very first need, and a daily one at that, is the need for food. Because Engel's law finds expression in the fact that as income grows, the share of income spent on food purchases decreases, and the portion of income that is spent on the purchase of other goods (especially services) increases. non-essential products. The totality of all products produced to satisfy material wealth is called products.

Ultimately, we come to the conclusion that if the growth of economic needs constantly outstrips the production of economic goods, then these needs are ultimately insatiable and limitless.

Another conclusion is that economic benefits are limited (rare, in the terminology of economic theory), i.e. there is less need for them. This limitation is due to the fact that the production of economic goods faces limited supplies of many natural resources, frequent shortage work force(especially qualified), lack of production capacity and finance, cases of poor organization of production, lack of technology and other knowledge for the production of a particular good. In other words, the production of economic goods lags behind economic needs due to limited economic resources.

Economic benefits and their classification

Good serves to satisfy people's needs. Good— ϶ᴛᴏ a means of satisfying human needs. It is for the sake of satisfying the specific needs of people for benefits that economic activity in any country. The classification of goods is very diverse. Let us note the most important of them from the perspective of various classification criteria.

Economic and non-economic benefits

From the position of limited goods in relation to our needs, we talk about economic goods.

Economic benefits— ϶ᴛᴏ results economic activity, which can be obtained in limited quantities compared to needs.

Economic benefits include two categories: goods and services.

But there are also goods that, compared to needs, are available in unlimited quantities (for example, air, water, sunlight) It is worth noting that they are provided by nature without human effort. It must be remembered that such benefits exist in nature “freely”, in unlimited quantities and are called non-economic or free.

And yet, the main range of people’s needs is satisfied not by free benefits, but by economic benefits, i.e. those benefits, the volume of which:

insufficient to meet people's needs fully;
can be increased solely by additional costs;
have to be distributed in one way or another.

Consumer and production goods

From the point of view of consumption of goods, they are divided into consumer And production Sometimes they are called commodities and means of production. Consumer goods are designed to directly satisfy human needs. These are the very final goods and services that people need. Production goods - resources used in the production process (machines, mechanisms, machinery, equipment, buildings, land, professional skills (qualifications)

Material and intangible benefits

From the point of view of material content, economic benefits are divided into material and intangible. Material goods you can touch it. These are things that can be accumulated and stored for a long time.

Based on the period of use, material goods of long-term, current and one-time use are distinguished.

Intangible benefits represented by services, as well as such living conditions as health, human abilities, business qualities, and professional skills. Unlike material goods, services are a specific product of labor, which generally does not acquire real form and the value of which lies in the beneficial effect of living labor.

It is worth saying that the beneficial effect of services does not exist separately from its production, which determines fundamental difference services from a material product. Services cannot be accumulated, and the process of their production and consumption coincides in time. At the same time, the results from the consumption of the services provided can be material.

There are many types of services, which are divided into:

Communication - transport, communication services.
Distribution - trade, sales, warehousing.
Business - financial, insurance services, auditing, leasing, marketing services.
Social - education, healthcare, art, culture, social security.
Public - services of bodies state power(ensuring stability in society) and others.

Private and public goods

Taking into account the dependence on the nature of consumption, economic benefits are divided into private and public.

Private good provided to the consumer taking into account his individual demand. Such a good is divisible, it belongs to the individual as private property, and can be inherited and exchanged. A private good is given to the one who paid for it.

Public goods are indivisible and belong to society.

First of all, national defense, security environment, lawmaking, public transport and order, i.e. those benefits that are enjoyed by all citizens of the country without exception.

Interchangeable and complementary goods

Among the goods, there are also interchangeable and complementary goods.

Fungible goods are called substitutes. These goods satisfy the same need and replace each other in the process of consumption (white and black bread, meat and fish, etc.)

Complementary benefits or complements complement each other during consumption (car, gasoline)

With all this, economic benefits are divided into normal and inferior.

Towards normal benefits These are those goods whose consumption increases with the growth of the welfare (income) of consumers.

Inferior goods have the opposite pattern. As income increases, consumption decreases, and as income decreases, consumption increases (potatoes and bread)

Public goods: types and features

1.1 Concept and classification of economic goods

Let us first consider the concept of good.

Different authors define it differently. The most widespread is the opinion that defines good as any positive meaning, object, phenomenon, product of labor that satisfies a certain human need and meets the interests, goals, and aspirations of people. There are other definitions of good in the economic literature. A. Marshall, for example, understood the good as “all things that satisfy human needs.” In this definition, goods are limited only to things, objects. Sometimes goods are considered as embodied utility, which can be not only the products of labor, but also the fruits of nature.1 So A. Storch emphasizes that “the verdict pronounced by our judgment about the usefulness of objects makes them goods.” The property of an object that allows one to satisfy a certain human need does not yet make it a good. The ability of an object to satisfy any need must be recognized by a person.

Economic benefits are material and intangible objects, or more precisely, the properties of these objects that can satisfy economic needs. At the dawn of mankind, people satisfied their economic needs using the ready-made benefits of nature. Subsequently, the absolute majority of needs began to be satisfied through the production of goods. In a market economy, where economic goods are bought and sold, they are called goods and services (often simply goods, products, products). Humanity is structured in such a way that its economic needs usually exceed the ability to produce goods. They even talk about the law (principle) of increasing needs, which means that needs grow faster than the production of goods. This is largely because as we satisfy some needs, others immediately arise.

In the economic literature there is a complex system classification of goods. Depending on the criteria underlying it, benefits are divided into different groups.

1. Tangible and intangible.

Material goods are divided into two types, having different functional purpose. The first type of things are consumer goods necessary for human life (natural gifts of nature - earth, water, air; food, clothing, housing). The second type is the means of production used to make consumer goods. Sometimes relations involving the appropriation of material goods (patents, copyrights, mortgages) are also considered material benefits.

Intangible benefits are benefits that affect the development of human abilities. Such benefits are created in the non-productive sphere, in healthcare, education, art, cinema, theater, museums, etc. Intangible benefits are divided into two groups: internal and external benefits. Internal benefits are given to man by nature, which he develops of his own free will (an ear for music - playing music, a voice - singing). External goods are what gives external world to satisfy needs (reputation, business connections, patronage, etc.).

2. Economic and non-economic.

This distinction is related to the concept of rarity. Non-economic goods are available in unlimited quantities. Non-economic (free) benefits are provided by nature without human effort (water, air, etc.). These goods exist in nature “freely”, in quantities sufficient to fully and permanently satisfy human needs. An economic good (this term belongs to the subjectivist school of economics; its representative is the famous Italian economist A. Pesenti) is a rare good. These benefits are the object or result of economic activity, i.e. they can be obtained in quantities limited in comparison with the needs being satisfied.

Thus, it is the relationship between need (or in the terminology of K. Menger, a prominent representative of the Austrian school, need) and the amount of goods available for disposal that makes them economic or non-economic. So, if a person lives in the taiga, tree trunks for building a home are not economic benefits for you. After all, their number is a huge number of times greater than your need for this building material. And drinking water, if you live on the shores of a pristine lake, is not an economic good. It will become such for you only in the desert, where a person’s need for drinking turns out to be higher than the amount of water available to satisfy this need.

The transformation of the concept of “good” and “economic good” is associated with value. If simply good means the presence of utility, then value reflects the combination of two characteristics - utility and rarity. The usefulness of any good is manifested only in the process of its consumption or use. An economic good can be produced and used: a) for its intended purpose - to satisfy needs (in subsistence farming); b) as a product that is produced not for one’s own consumption, but for sale; c) as a source of income (for example, the owner of capital acquires other factors of production and produces products, the sale of which generates income). Economic goods, being products of economic activity, are characterized by a cyclical existence.

It has two aspects: a) according to the phases economic cycles volumes of production of economic goods, their exchange, distribution and consumption increase or decrease; b) economic benefits that are tangible asset, have their own period of existence, called the life cycle.

3. Long-term and short-term (short-term) benefits.

This division depends on the period of use of the benefit. There are benefits that serve us for a long time, and we can use them more than once for our needs. For example, if we buy a house, we will live in it for more than one year, which means we will enjoy this benefit for a long time. If we buy a book, then after reading (using or consuming this good) we put it on the shelf - and it will not go anywhere. Both a book and a house are lasting goods. Other goods may disappear in the process of consumption itself, the use of this good. For example, food. Every day we consume food that disappears in the process of consumption, in the process of satisfying a person’s need for food. If we make a fire and light it with matches, then we will not be able to use the burned matches again. Food and matches are short-term benefits. We equally need both long-term and short-term benefits, depending on our current needs and the purposes for using these benefits. We acquire short-term benefits more often. So, long-term benefits require repeated use, and short-term benefits disappear after (or in the process of) one-time use (consumption).3

4. Direct and indirect benefits.

Direct goods are created goods that are ready for sale and consumption. Resources are called indirect benefits. Because only thanks to resources can direct, ready-made goods be produced. For example, bread is a finished product. And flour, water and yeast are the components for the production (baking) of bread. These components are only future bread, not a finished product, which means they are indirect benefits. If the purpose of direct benefits is practically impossible to change, then indirect benefits can be intended for the production of several goods. For example, we can use the same flour and yeast to bake both bread and buns or cakes. Direct benefits are intended for direct consumption, which is why they are also called consumer goods. Indirect goods are used in the production of consumer goods, so they are also called production or resources.

5. Complementary and interchangeable goods.

Complementary goods are goods whose demand is so interconnected that an increase in the price of one good or service leads to a decrease in demand for another good. Two goods are complementary, or complementary to each other in consumption, if an increase in the price of one of them shifts the demand curve for the other to the left. The cross price elasticity of demand for such goods is negative. Example: cars and gasoline, tennis rackets and balls. The consumer cannot use complementary goods or services separately. Complementarity can be absolute (hard) and relative. Strict complementarity is characterized by the fact that one of the goods - complements - corresponds to a very certain amount of the other. For example, a pair of skis requires a pair of bindings. With relative complementarity, there is no clear set quantity. For example, a driver can pour either one or three liters into the tank of a car - the car will start moving in both cases.

Fungible goods (substitutes) are those goods or services that are considered by consumers as economically replacing each other. Substitutes include not only many consumer goods and production resources, but also transport services (train - plane - car). A measure of the interchangeability of two goods is the cross elasticity of demand for them. Benefits from high degree Substitutions are characterized by high cross-elasticity of demand, and products with weak substitutability have low cross-elasticity of demand. However, it should be noted that it is quite difficult to calculate the cross elasticity of demand due to the lack of necessary statistical information and the use of special calculation skills. Therefore, in applied economic sciences Such calculations, as a rule, are almost never used, and the interchangeability of goods is determined on the basis of expert assessments using qualitative methods of analysis. By analogy with complementarity, interchangeability can be absolute (perfect) or relative. Perfect interchangeability is characterized by a situation in which one of the substitute goods can completely replace the other. With relative substitutability, one good can only be partially replaced by another. It is very important for producers (firms) to keep in mind and use the properties of complementarity and interchangeability of goods, because they influence consumer behavior when purchasing and consuming goods, and consumer choice.

6. Present and future benefits.

The former are at the direct disposal of the economic entity. He will be able to have the latter only in the future. An individual prefers present goods to future ones.

7. Competitive and non-competitive benefits.

The criterion in this distinction is the rivalry of various compared goods in consumption. A good will be competitive (rival) in consumption when the receipt of benefits from the consumption of a given good by one economic entity makes it impossible for any other economic entity to obtain these benefits in the same respect from the same good. That is, the use of a good prevents others from using this good. Non-competitive in consumption are those goods, the receipt of benefits from the consumption of which by a given economic entity contains the opportunity for other economic entities to receive the same benefits from a similar good in the same respect. That is, anyone can use the benefit without disturbing others. Consider the use of an expressway. During times of light traffic, where there are no traffic jams, the highway is a non-rival good. An example of a competitive good is a congested highway with too many cars.

8. Excluded and non-excluded goods from consumption.

Excluded from consumption are such goods, the possession of the right to use which by a given economic entity simultaneously means for him the opportunity to prevent all other economic entities from consuming such a good. A good is non-excludable if people cannot be excluded from consuming it. As a consequence of this, it is difficult or impossible to charge a fee for the use of non-excludable goods - they can be used without direct payment. One example of a non-excludable good is national defense. If a nation has provided a defense system, all citizens enjoy its benefits. Non-excludable goods are not necessarily national in character. If a city implements a pest control program, all businesses and all consumers benefit. In essence, it would be impossible to deprive any individual farmer of the benefits that this program would provide.

9. Public and private goods.

Most of the goods offered by producers and in demand among consumers are goods intended for personal consumption, or private goods. A good is private if, having been consumed by one person, it cannot simultaneously be consumed by another.

Experience post-industrial society shows that the market is able to identify and satisfy demand only for private goods. The creation and implementation of public goods is the task of the state. However, public goods are not homogeneous. They act as purely and partially public goods. The production of purely public goods rests entirely with the state (protection of public order, for example). At the same time, the creation of partially public goods (education, healthcare, social insurance) can be carried out both by the state and the private sector of the economy. At the same time, the state guarantees only such a level of reproduction of partially public goods, which in this moment can be provided with resources state budget, determined in turn by the development of production.

Analysis of the economic reserves of the enterprise

Violation macroeconomic equilibrium and cyclical development market economy

The development of social production, which depends on many factors, is not uniform and continuous. In some periods, the growth of total production occurs very quickly, in other years it is slower, and sometimes there is even a decline...

Public goods

IN modern economy In each country, most products are distributed in markets, with buyers paying for what they receive and sellers accepting money for what they provide. In these cases, food prices serve as signals...

Public goods

In the most general sense, goods are a certain set of means that make it possible to satisfy the needs of both a specific person and the majority of the population...

Public goods and their properties

Every society...

Public goods as economic category

The classification of goods is based on two criteria - the degree of accessibility of the good for consumption and the nature of the distribution of the utility of the good among consumers in the process of its consumption...

Domestic experience in the creation and operation of the Nyandoma free economic zone municipal district"

Neither domestic nor foreign literature has yet established a single interpretation, or even a generally accepted definition of the concept of “free economic zone"(hereinafter - SEZ)...

Needs and benefits. Economic conclusion

benefit need labor economic resource All people have different needs. They can be divided into two parts: spiritual and material needs. Although this division is arbitrary (it’s hard to say...

The market as a manifestation of democratization in the economy

The division of labor, as we know, can exist without exchange, but exchange relations would not have arisen without a significant division of labor and specialization of all types of resources, ensuring the evolution of the system as a whole...

Consumer choice theory

Fig. 1 This figure shows lever scales reflecting the duality of goods. At the same time, the figure shows the case when the same type of good (1-4) on the left side of the lever scales...

Economic theory and practice

A benefit is a means of satisfying a need. Neoclassical theory divides goods into economic and non-economic. The division is associated with the concept of scarcity of goods: non-economic goods are available in unlimited quantities...

Economic benefits and their classification

It is assumed that goods differ in the following characteristics: o by physical characteristics, types of goods (for example, paper of different quality); o the time they become available (watching a movie today is not the same...

Economic goods: economic value and opportunity cost

Economic goods (goods and services) are created in the production process using economic resources. Economic resources are the elements used to produce economic goods. There are natural (natural), material...

Economic systems

One of the basic categories of economic theory are the concepts of free and economic benefits. Before moving on to revealing the meaning of these terms, you need to get acquainted with the concept of “good”. This word is often found in everyday life, but within the framework of economic theory it has a clearer definition.

So, any utility is called good. It could be a product, service, result of labor, some object or even a phenomenon. Its main task is to satisfy a certain human need. Criteria for classification this concept there are many, but according to the main characteristics, all benefits are divided into material and intangible, future and present, short-term and long-term, economic and non-economic (which are called “free”), direct and indirect.

The concept of free goods in economic theory

Non-economic benefits are understood as such phenomena and objects that are provided to a person without any effort. They exist in nature on their own and do not require outside intervention for the process of their reproduction and production. As a rule, the volume and quantity of such benefits is unlimited, and they are distributed freely. That is why they are called “free”, that is, received free of charge.

From an economic point of view, the cost of such goods is zero, since society does not have to spend any resources or time to recreate them. In addition, people can spend them in any quantity, and their total amount will not decrease.

Examples of free (non-economic) benefits

The most simple examples non-economic goods can be considered water, air, sunlight. That is, any phenomenon or object that a person can receive free of charge in any amount can be considered free.

Not all natural resources fall into this category. For example, salt or oil would not be examples of free goods, although they are reproduced without human intervention. The main indicator of non-economic benefits will be “free receipt in any required volume.” To extract salt and oil will be spent economic resources, which will determine their future cost. To receive them, a person will need to pay.

Also, free benefits include the power of wind, seas and oceans, rain, snow in the winter season. A person cannot live without these phenomena, but to satisfy most of his basic needs, non-free goods are needed.

The concept of economic benefits

This term is the opposite of what was mentioned above. An economic good is a phenomenon or object that is the result of the economic activity of an individual or society as a whole, and resources are always expended to create it. The number of such phenomena is limited, and sometimes it can be significantly lower than the demand and need for a given type of economic good.

For example, living space in a new building in the city center may be an example of such a benefit. Demand from city residents may be higher than the available number of apartments in the building. In addition, to obtain this living space, a person will need to pay, that is, he will not receive it for free. Even if a person receives an apartment for free (as a prize in a lottery), it will still not be considered a free benefit, since materials, time and efforts of workers were spent on its reproduction.

In addition, economic benefits include various services and services, public institutions and any other resources that can be considered rare.

The difference between free benefits and economic ones

So what are the main differences between these two concepts? Firstly, gratuitous goods are provided free of charge, but economic goods must be paid for. How possible variant- a person can receive them for free, but they still have a cost. Secondly, to reproduce free benefits there is no need to expend any resources. At the same time, they will always be needed to obtain economic benefits. And thirdly, non-economic benefits are presented in unlimited quantities and their distribution is subject to any rules, while economic benefits, on the contrary, are always limited.

Now that we know what distinguishes free benefits from economic ones, it will be much easier to understand economic theory and all the processes associated with it that occur around us every day.

Good is a means to satisfy needs. Some of them are available on an almost unlimited scale (for example, air), others - on a limited scale. The latter are called economic benefits. They consist of things and services. A. Marshall defines good as “a desirable thing that satisfies a human need.” J.-B. Say defines goods “as the means that we have to satisfy our needs.” A. Storch emphasizes that “the verdict pronounced by our judgment about the usefulness of objects makes them good.” The property of an object, which allows one to satisfy a certain human need, does not yet make it good. One of the most prominent representatives of the Austrian school, K. Menger, draws special attention to this fact. Thus, ginseng root can improve a person’s vitality. But until people put a cause-and-effect relationship between the need for healing the body and the healing power of ginseng, this plant did not have the character of a benefit. In other words, the ability of an object to satisfy any need must be realized by a person.

Main types of economic benefits.

It is assumed that goods differ in the following characteristics:

by physical characteristics, types of goods (for example, paper of different quality);

the time when they become available (watching a movie today is not the same as watching the same movie tomorrow);

their locations (peaches sold in Tashkent and the same peaches sold in Novosibirsk are considered different goods);

states of nature (an umbrella tomorrow, if it rains tomorrow, is different from an umbrella tomorrow, if the weather is sunny), etc.

Classification of economic goods.

1. Long-term benefits - those with the ability to be renewed

2. Non-durable goods – goods that are completely consumed

3. Interchangeable (substitutes)

4. Complementary (complementary)

5. Real - those at the direct disposal of the economic entity.

6. Futures – the creation of which is expected.

7. Direct – directly satisfying some need.

8. Indirect or productive - satisfying any need as a means (buildings, production facilities, equipment, etc.)

Long-term and short-term (short-term) benefits . This division depends on the period of use of the benefit. There are benefits that serve us for a long time, and we can use them more than once for our needs. For example, if we buy a house, we will live in it for more than one year, which means we will enjoy this benefit for a long time. If we buy a book, then after reading (using or consuming this good) we put it on the shelf - and it will not go anywhere. Both a book and a house are lasting goods. Other goods may disappear in the process of consumption itself, the use of this good. For example, food. Every day we consume food that disappears in the process of consumption, in the process of satisfying a person’s need for food. If we make a fire and light it with matches, then we will not be able to use the burned matches again. Food and matches are short-term benefits. We equally need both long-term and short-term benefits, depending on our current needs and the purposes for using these benefits. We acquire short-term benefits more often. So, long-term benefits require repeated use, and short-term benefits disappear after (or in the process of) one-time use (consumption). /21/

Direct and indirect (present and future) benefits. Benefits can be direct and indirect. What does this mean? Direct goods (or real) are already created goods that are ready for sale and consumption. Indirect (or future) benefits are resources. Because thanks to resources only direct (real), ready-made goods can be produced. For example, bread is a finished product. And flour, water and yeast are the components for the production (baking) of bread. These components are only future bread, not a finished product, which means they are indirect benefits. If the purpose of direct benefits is practically impossible to change, then indirect benefits can be intended for the production of several goods. For example, we can use the same flour and yeast to bake both bread and buns or cakes. Direct benefits are intended for direct consumption, which is why they are also called consumer goods. Indirect goods are used in the production of consumer goods, so they are also called production or resources. /21/

Complementary benefits . Complementary goods are goods whose demand is so interconnected that an increase in the price of one good or service leads to a decrease in demand for another good. Two goods are complementary, or complementary to each other in consumption, if an increase in the price of one of them shifts the demand curve for the other to the left. The cross price elasticity of demand for such goods is negative. Example: cars and gasoline, tennis rackets and balls. The consumer cannot use complementary goods or services separately. Complementarity can be absolute (hard) and relative. Strict complementarity is characterized by the fact that one of the goods - complements - corresponds to a very certain amount of the other. For example, a pair of skis requires a pair of bindings. With relative complementarity, there is no clear set quantity. For example, a driver can pour one or three liters into a car tank - the car will start moving in both cases.

Fungible goods . Fungible goods (substitutes) are those goods or services that are considered by consumers as economically replacing each other. Substitutes include not only many consumer goods and production resources, but also transport services (train - plane - car). A measure of the interchangeability of two goods is the cross elasticity of demand for them. Goods with a high degree of substitution have a high cross-elasticity of demand, and products with a weak substitutability have a low cross-elasticity of demand. However, it should be noted that it is quite difficult to calculate the cross elasticity of demand due to the lack of necessary statistical information and the use of special calculation skills. Therefore, in applied economic sciences, such calculations, as a rule, are almost never used, and the interchangeability of goods is determined on the basis of expert assessments using qualitative methods of analysis. By analogy with complementarity, interchangeability can be absolute (perfect) or relative. Perfect interchangeability is characterized by a situation in which one of the substitute goods can completely replace the other. With relative substitutability, one good can only be partially replaced by another. It is very important for producers (firms) to keep in mind and use the properties of complementarity and interchangeability of goods, because they influence consumer behavior when purchasing and consuming goods, and consumer choice.

Rival and non-rival goods . The criterion in this distinction is the rivalry of various compared goods in consumption. A good will be competitive (rival) in consumption when the receipt of benefits from the consumption of a given good by one economic entity makes it impossible for any other economic entity to obtain these benefits in the same respect from the same good. That is, the use of a good prevents others from using this good. Non-competitive in consumption are those goods, the receipt of benefits from the consumption of which by a given economic entity contains the opportunity for other economic entities to receive the same benefits from a similar good in the same respect. That is, anyone can use the benefit without disturbing others. Consider the use of an expressway. During times of light traffic, where there are no traffic jams, the highway is a non-rival good. An example of a competitive good is a congested highway with too many cars.

Goods excluded and not excluded from consumption . Excluded from consumption are such goods, the possession of the right to use which by a given economic entity simultaneously means for him the opportunity to prevent all other economic entities from consuming such a good. A good is non-excludable if people cannot be excluded from consuming it. As a consequence of this, it is difficult or impossible to assign a fee for the use of non-excludable goods - they can be used without direct payment. One example of a non-excludable good is national defense. If a nation has provided a defense system, all citizens enjoy its benefits. Non-excludable goods are not necessarily national in character. If a city implements a pest control program, all businesses and all consumers benefit. In fact, it would be impossible to deprive any individual farmer of the benefits that this program would provide.

Public and private goods . Most of the goods offered by producers and in demand among consumers are goods intended for personal consumption, or private goods. A good is private if, having been consumed by one person, it cannot simultaneously be consumed by another. Ice cream is a private good. When you eat your cone of ice cream, your friend can't eat his. Your clothes are also a private good. When you wear it, everyone else can't wear it at the same time.

But there are goods that are socially necessary and, moreover, perform important social functions. A large-scale example of public goods would be goods intended to meet the needs of national defense, and a “local” example would be navigational signs (such as buoys or beacons). These goods are called public goods due to two distinctive characteristics. Firstly, the consumer of public goods, as a rule, does not pay for them himself, which means that the marginal cost of consumption is zero. For example, the costs of constructing and operating a lighthouse do not depend on the number of ships passing by it. Secondly, there is no practical possibility to limit the number of consumers or exclude someone from this number. The lighthouse ensures safe navigation to all ships within the range of its signals. Most public goods require very significant costs to produce and distribute. Thus, there is a certain special group of goods, the production and distribution of which, based on their very nature, is subject to state control. They could be called “purely public goods.” For example, approval of the rates of “lighthouse dues”, which ship owners pay for each cubic meter of the vessel’s nominal volume at each entrance to the port or transit passage. In theory, "pure economic goods" are those that are collectively consumed by all citizens regardless of whether people pay for them or not; we are talking about the fact that the consumption of a public good by some individuals does not reduce its availability for others, that no person can be excluded from using this good, even if he refuses to pay for it. The fact that most public goods are not provided by private markets is no coincidence. Because of the free-riding problem (i.e., the free-riding problem), private markets have little guarantee that the public good will be adequately produced. A “free rider” is someone who manages to enjoy some good that requires the cost of its production without paying anything for it. This problem applies in particular to public goods, since if someone acquired such a good, then it would be available for consumption by everyone else. Suppose, for example, that a market were formed for the organization of national defense. Even if each of us felt that we needed defense, we would not have the proper incentives to acquire our share of defense capabilities. Since the amount of national defense capability I will receive will be the same as everyone else's, I have every intention of waiting for someone else to acquire it rather than contribute my fair share. I will use someone else's purchases for free. But, of course, if everyone waits for someone else to pay for national defense, then there will be no national defense at all. To solve the free ride problem, the country must find some way to jointly decide how much to spend on defense. State structures are created to make this kind of collective decisions. Many goods provided by the government are in fact public goods. National parks are a mixed bag, as nature in the parks is a public good, at least until the park becomes too crowded, but the services of cafes, restaurants, etc. are not public goods.

Some goods, depending on the circumstances, can be both public and private (mixed goods). For example, fireworks are a public good if they are produced in a city with a large number of inhabitants. But if you're watching fireballs at a private amusement park (Disneyland), the fireworks are more of a private benefit because visitors have paid for admission. In order to determine a public good, it is necessary to estimate the number of consumers benefiting from the use of the good and the opportunity to prevent them. The problem of free use arises when the number of users is large and it is impossible to exclude even one of them. If a lighthouse benefits the captains of many ships, it is a public good; if it is primarily the port owner who benefits, it is more of a private good. The experience of post-industrial society shows that the market is able to identify and satisfy demand only for private goods. The creation and implementation of public goods is the task of the state. However, public goods are not homogeneous. They act as purely and partially public goods. The production of purely public goods rests entirely with the state (protection of public order, for example). At the same time, the creation of partially public goods (education, healthcare, social insurance) can be carried out both by the state and the private sector of the economy. At the same time, the state guarantees only such a level of reproduction of partial public goods, which at the moment can be provided by the resources of the state budget, which in turn is determined by the development of production.

Club benefits . One of the interesting ways to connect the market mechanism to the production of conditional and excludable public goods is to unite consumers of such goods into organizations specially created for this purpose - clubs. They act in the external, completely “market” world as ordinary buyers of such goods, and in the internal sphere they limit the access of potential consumers to such goods, conditioning it on the need to join the ranks of club members, while simultaneously reducing the individual costs of such members to obtain such club goods.

An inferior good. Low-order goods are goods such as cheap cigarettes and low-quality alcoholic beverages, the consumption of which decreases as income increases (other things being equal). As income increases, the demand curve for such a good shifts to the left, for which the income elasticity of demand is negative. /4/

Goods that differ in the ability of consumers to control their value. Goods of obvious quality - before choosing a good (product), you can check its quality. Goods of latent utility - the qualities of a good are determined after its purchase. When choosing, the buyer can be guided by his own experience or the advice of friends (for example, buying household chemicals). Benefits of trust – the buyer is left in the dark about the quality of the product even after purchasing it. In this case, a third disinterested party is required to report on the quality of the good. This category includes: a) benefits with an imperceptible long-term effect (vitamins, medical care); b) complex services for which it is difficult to say about the quality of their execution (some medical services, car service); c) goods for which one of the most important signs of quality is the absence of catastrophic failures (plumbing, automobiles). Approved and disapproved goods are goods whose value is determined by society. An example of an approved good is ballet. Drugs are a disapproved good in society as a whole and an approved good in some subcultures.

Essential Goods – these are goods that provide a worthy existence. These are goods that society believes people should consume or receive regardless of their income. Essential goods include health, education, shelter and food. So, we - as a society - can understand that everyone should have adequate housing, and take steps to provide it.

Luxury and consumer goods. We write in notebooks with a fountain pen or pencil, many have a mobile phone or personal computer, we wear clothes, etc. We are all surrounded by objects that we need every day and satisfy our daily needs. These products are mass produced: we have similar pens and notebooks. You can meet a person on the street wearing a similar jacket, because these goods are produced by companies in large quantities and are relatively inexpensive. How many of you write with a Parker fountain pen? How many of you wear clothes from famous designers? I think no. These are very expensive products that not every consumer can afford. Such goods are called luxury goods. From the point of view of consumer qualities, nothing may change, because consumer qualities are not the only or key feature of luxury goods. The main function that such products perform is prestige. For example, two jackets may be of the same quality, color, etc. At the same time, the difference in price will be significant, because one jacket is produced in a mass production factory and in huge quantities, while the other is produced in the workshop of a famous designer and in a single copy. When purchasing a second jacket, the consumer pays not only for the required quality, but also for the “name” (or brand) of the manufacturer. Luxury goods are products of exclusive, prestigious production. Products of mass consumption are goods produced in large quantities according to one sample. The concept of a luxury item is constantly changing: things that were not luxury items can become so over time - for example, antiques. Benefits that were luxury goods cease to be them, because at one time a fountain pen, a car, and a mobile phone were exclusive goods and luxury items. Now they are products of mass production and consumption. But there are also benefits that have always been and remain at the moment, prestigious and luxury items. For example, precious stones.

On modern stage economic development, there has been a significant increase in the scale of consumption of various natural resources. At the same time, the process of interaction between society and the environment becomes dramatically more complicated.

Main problems

Due to the technogenic influence on nature, the manifestation of specific anthropogenic phenomena is expanding and becoming more intense. Today, energy, fuel, raw materials, water and in general problems are so acute that they have gone beyond the boundaries of individual regions, acquiring a global scale. In this regard, the study of global natural resource potential, reserves of individual states. Not least important is a thorough analysis of the economic systems that have developed in different structures of modern society and their use. Currently, it is necessary to develop a clear plan for the optimal development of natural resources.

The concept of economic good

Every person has certain desires. They are divided into two categories: material and spiritual. It should be said, however, that this division is largely arbitrary. Thus, it is difficult to say exactly whether the need for knowledge belongs to the material or spiritual category. Nevertheless, separation is quite possible. and benefits are two related categories. The first reflect what a person strives for. In turn, it is a property of an object that can satisfy people's desires. This category is considered fundamental in the theory of economic development of any country.

Peculiarities

At the dawn of the formation of statehood, free and economic benefits were available to humanity. The first includes everything that naturally exists in nature and can satisfy the desires of people. However, over time, the relationship between free and economic goods began to change in favor of the latter. In other words, almost all people's desires began to be satisfied through production. In a market where material (economic) goods are bought and sold, they are called services and goods (usually just products, products).

Category ratio

Humanity is structured in such a way that its economic needs and the goods at its disposal are usually not equal in volume. As a rule, the former exceed the latter. Experts even talk about a special principle - the “law of elevation.” It means that needs grow faster than goods are produced. To a greater extent, this arises due to the fact that after satisfying some desires, people have others. First of all, the goods necessary for normal life are required. Examples of them occur every day. These are, in particular, food, clothing, basic services, and housing.

Engel's law

It points out the direct relationship between the type of products purchased and people's income level. This theory was proven back in the 19th century by the Prussian statistician Ernest Engel. In accordance with his statements, which are confirmed by practice, as the absolute value of income increases, the share that is spent on services and essential goods decreases. At the same time, costs increase for products that are needed less. The very first need is food. In this regard, Engel's law is expressed in the fact that as income increases, the share spent on food decreases. At the same time, the portion spent on the purchase of other goods, especially services that are not essential products, increases. As a result, we can conclude that if the growth of needs constantly outstrips the output of economic goods, then the former become limitless, completely insatiable. At the same time, something else can be said. In particular, if economic goods and resources are limited, then there is less need for them. This, in turn, is due to the limited nature of many natural reserves, lack of labor, low production capacity and weak financing. In other words, production lags behind needs due to limited capacity and supplies.

Economic benefits and their classification

Since humanity cannot live without satisfying its needs, the main issue in the theory of economics in any country is the problem of production. The production of products is determined by the inexhaustible needs of people that require satisfaction. The needs of humanity are different. To satisfy them, various economic benefits are required (examples of these will be given below). To produce any product, certain costs are required. For better understanding, economic goods and their classification must be considered separately. This will allow us to draw correct conclusions in the future when studying the subject of production as a whole. It should be noted that not all objects act as economic goods. Examples of them are quite well known - air, water, earth. Now there are enough of them to satisfy people's needs. Economic benefits are limited. They are not enough to meet the needs of the population. It should be noted here that the ability to satisfy needs does not make an object a good. This property must be realized by a person.

Main categories

Today there is a wide variety of benefits. In particular, they may be:

Public and individual.
Material and spiritual.
Present and future. The former in this case are at the real direct disposal of people. The latter can be used, accordingly, in the future. In practice, a person prefers real goods. Different theories about income come from this priority.
Economic and non-economic.
Direct and indirect. In this case, the former are aimed at satisfying some need and do not require transformation. The latter act as a means. They are also called productive economic goods. Examples of them: buildings, equipment, industrial buildings etc. This distinction, however, is considered very conditional.
Short-term and long-term. The former can be used to satisfy a specific need only once. Long-lasting benefits are designed to be used over and over again. They are consumed gradually and are able to satisfy the same need several times.
Interchangeable and complementary (complementary). The former are able to replace each other during consumption. Mutually fulfilling ones can satisfy needs only when they are used together. Any economic good is in a certain complementary or substitutive relationship with others.

All objects that satisfy needs fall into different categories:

Category characteristics

As mentioned above, benefits can be material and spiritual. This division is based on the physical properties of one or another object. So, there are things that are materially tangible. They can be seen and identified physical characteristics. There are also “incorporeal” and “ideal” objects in the world. They make sure mandatory a document securing the corresponding rights to them. Material goods (clothing, nutritious food) are not found in open form in nature. A person can obtain them through the production process by transforming natural raw materials. In order for there to be more such benefits, additional actions need to be taken. This is the essence of the necessity of production. are absorbed by people without any effort. They are present in habitats in finished form. Such objects also have the ability to act on the development of human skills. Material and spiritual benefits are divided into:

Internal (hearing, voice, etc., which are given by nature, and a person develops them himself).
External (business relations).

Production means

To produce any product or perform a service, resources are needed. They are divided into the following categories:

Finally

All economic forces, resources have one common property - limitation. However, this characteristic is considered relative. Scarcity means that there are usually fewer resources than are needed to meet the needs at a certain stage of economic development. As a result, there is insufficient production volume. Industry cannot produce all the goods and services that humanity would like to receive. Limitedness is also considered limited due to the fact that the level of scientific and technological development determines the limits of the use of certain resources (for example, it sets the depth of oil refining).