Advantages of studying public goods with reference to a utility-layer and a supply-layer

This chapter presents the public good categories and the distinction between the utility-layer (the good itself) and the supply-layer (the provision of the good). It is also considered how the provision of goods may depend on selective incentives. Based on the dominant macro-economic literature on public goods, criteria are suggested for deciding the category of the good itself (in the utility-layer), and for deciding the category of the provision of goods (in the supply-layer). It is then shown how two contributions by scholars criticizing our perception of public goods, would benefit from using the multi-layered approach to public goods. Finally, four cases describing a change in public goods show how these changes may be interpreted as changes in the positions in the utility-layer and the supply-layer. All changes affect the position in the supply-layer incorporating technological, organizational, and policy changes, while only one of the cases affect the position in the utility-layer.