Reflexive Governance for Global Public Goods

Global public goods (GPGs)--the economic term for a broad range of goods and servicesthat benefit everyone, including stable climate, public health, and economic security--pose notablegovernance challenges. At the national level, public goods are often provided by government, but atthe global level there is no established state-like entity to take charge of their provision. Thecomplex nature of many GPGs poses additional problems of coordination, knowledge generation and theformation of citizen preferences. This book considers traditional public economy theory of publicgoods provision as oversimplified, because it is state centered and fiscally focused. It develops amultidisciplinary look at the challenges of understanding and designing appropriate governanceregimes for different types of goods in such areas as the environment, food security, anddevelopment assistance. The chapter authors, all leading scholars in the field, explore themisalignment between existing GPG policies and actors' incentives and understandings. They analyzethe complex impact of incentives, the involvement of stakeholders in collective decision making, andthe specific coordination needed for the generation of knowledge. The book shows that governance ofGPGs must be democratic, reflexive--emphasizing collective learning processes--and knowledge basedin order to be effective.

The hardcover edition does not include a dustjacket.

Eric Brousseau is Professor of Economics at the University Paris Dauphine and at the European University Institute. Tom Dedeurwaerdere is Professor of Philosophy of Science and Governance at Universite catholique de Louvain at Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium. Bernd Siebenhuner is Professor of Ecological Economics at Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg, Germany.