Alex Tabarrok wrote: > > Races are public goods?! How do I benefit if some other people run > > a race with each other? Is this just due to some externality that > > healthy people produce in general? > >Recall that the definition of public goods is not a good that is good >for the public! :) The definition is in terms of non-rivalry and non- >excludability of which non-rivalry is the more critical component. My >point was simply that the output produced by someone running a race is >non-rivalrous. Thus, the charitable racer can collect donations from >any number of people for running the same race.
People could organize a race, and solicit donations to support the race. People can also run some other charity, like for a cancer, and solicit donations to support that charity. The question is why these two charities are so often combined. Many people would not give money to someone soliciting for a race by itself, or for someone soliciting for a cancer charity by itself, but they do give money to someone soliciting for a cancer run. Why the extra willingness to donate to this combined solicitation? Robin Hanson [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://hanson.gmu.edu Asst. Prof. Economics, George Mason University MSN 1D3, Carow Hall, Fairfax VA 22030-4444 703-993-2326 FAX: 703-993-2323
