The production of public goods is not
very different from the production of any good or service—various inputs
are required to get to the final good. In many cases, the global public good—or
bad as the case may be—is an outcome of various individual actions and
inputs. For example, the global public bad of climate instability is the
by-product of many years of greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere by,
among others, people who drive cars and manufacturing companies that have
not adopted cleaner technologies. The chapter by Kaul and Le Goulven on
institutions illustrates the production processes of two global public
goods, climate stability and food safety, in greater detail.
The discussion in that chapter shows
that production depends on the institutions and organizations that help (or
hinder) the synthesis of inputs required to produce the good. It also shows
that many of today's institutions are not conducive to the production of
global public goods. The production of global public goods requires a
process that is "multi"—multi-country/level/actor/sector. Yet
policymaking at present is often fragmented and compartmentalized along
national borders or along economic sector and actor lines.
[While the chapter by Kaul and Le
Goulven examines the production of global public goods from a crosscutting
perspective, the issue case studies presented in part IV of the book present
important insights into this topic vis-à-vis select global public goods.]
