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Economic Definition of quasi-public good. Defined.

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Term quasi-public good Definition: A good that is easy to keep nonpayers from consuming, but use of the good by one person does not prevent use by others. Also termed a near-public good,the trick with a quasi-public good is that it is easy to keep people away, and thus you can charge them a price for consuming, but there is no real good reason to do so. From an efficiency view, the more people who consume a quasi-public good, the better off society. This mixture of nearly unlimited benefits and the ability to charge a price means that some quasi-public goods are sold through markets and others are provided by government. For efficiency's sake, none should be sold through markets.

 

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