ABSTRACT
Most of the economic literature on public goods focus on the optimal distribution and expenditure, and on problems related to collective governance. The aim of the multi-layered approach is to improve the understanding of public goods. In the multi-level approach to public goods the question of whether a good may be characterized as rivalrous or excludable is determined by the good itself, but also by the institutional and political environment deciding how the good is provided. The decision of whether a public good should be provided or not, is determined by the demand expressed in the market and in the political process. A multilayered approach to public goods sheds new light on technological, economic, and institutional trends by distinguishing between the good itself, the provision of the good, and the efficiency related to the provision of the good.
