Goods
In economics, goods are items that satisfy human wants[1] and provide utility, for example, to a consumer making a purchase of a satisfying product. A common distinction is made between goods which are transferable, and services, which are not transferable.[2]
This article is about the economic concept. For other uses, see Good (disambiguation).
A good is an "economic good" if it is useful to people but scarce in relation to its demand so that human effort is required to obtain it.[3]
In contrast, free goods, such as air, are naturally in abundant supply and need no conscious effort to obtain them.
Private goods are things owned by people, such as televisions, living room furniture, wallets, cellular telephones, almost anything owned or used on a daily basis that is not food-related.
A consumer good or "final good" is any item that is ultimately consumed, rather than used in the production of another good. For example, a microwave oven or a bicycle that is sold to a consumer is a final good or consumer good, but the components that are sold to be used in those goods are intermediate goods. For example, textiles or transistors can be used to make some further goods.
Commercial goods are construed as tangible products that are manufactured and then made available for supply to be used in an industry of commerce. Commercial goods could be tractors, commercial vehicles, mobile structures, airplanes, and even roofing materials. Commercial and personal goods as categories are very broad and cover almost everything a person sees from the time they wake up in their home, on their commute to work to their arrival at the workplace.
Commodities may be used as a synonym for economic goods but often refer to marketable raw materials and primary products.[4]
Although common goods are tangible, certain classes of goods, such as information, only take intangible forms. For example, among other goods an apple is a tangible object, while news belongs to an intangible class of goods and can be perceived only by means of an instrument such as printers or television.
Utility and characteristics of goods[edit]
Goods may increase or decrease their utility directly or indirectly and may be described as having marginal utility. Some things are useful, but not scarce enough to have monetary value, such as the Earth's atmosphere, these are referred to as 'free goods'.
In normal parlance, "goods" is always a plural word,[5][6] but economists have long termed a single item of goods "a good".
In economics, a bad is the opposite of a good.[7] Ultimately, whether an object is a good or a bad depends on each individual consumer and therefore, not all goods are goods to all people.
Goods classified by exclusivity and competitiveness[edit]
Fourfold model of goods[edit]
Goods can be classified based on their degree of excludability and rivalry (competitiveness). Considering excludability can be measured on a continuous scale, some goods would not be able to fall into one of the four common categories used.
There are four types of goods based on the characteristics of rival in consumption and excludability: Public Goods, Private Goods, Common Resources, and Club Goods.[8] These four types plus examples for anti-rivalry appear in the accompanying table.[9]
