Good (economics) - Definition and Overview

A good in economics is anything that increases utility. This contrasts with a bad that decreases utility. Another way of think of it is that a good is something that you want more of, and a bad is something that you want less of. For example, leisure is a good, but work is a bad from the standpoint of the worker, though the money that is paid for work is a good. A good is often thought of as only a physical product, such as in the accounting definition as an ("accounting good"). In economics, a good does not need to be a physical object. For example, a service such as getting a haircut would be a good as long as the recipient wanted it. The broader definition economists use is valuable in thinking of many of the decisions people make among a number available choices.

Private and public goods

One of the most common way of looking at goods in economy, illustrated in the table below, is the classic division based on:

• is there a competition involved in obtaining a given good
• whether it is possible to exclude a person from consumption of a given good

Other good types

There are a number of different ways of looking at the concept of goods in economics including:

• Collective good (also known as social good)
• Complement good vs substitute good
• Free good and scarce good
• Giffen good
• Inferior good and normal good
• Luxury good
• Veblen good

See also

• List of economics topics
• Public good

Example Usage of (economics)