Identify the correct characteristics of Public goods from the following:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → Non rivalous and non excludable.
Some goods are used by everybody together: national defence, roads, government administration. These are public goods, and they differ from private goods such as clothes or food in two ways:
Non-rivalrous: one person’s use does not reduce the amount available to others, so many people can enjoy the benefit together.
Non-excludable: there is no feasible way of keeping anyone from the benefit, even those who do not pay.
Since no one can be made to pay for them, the market does not provide them and the government has to.
Why the other options are incorrect
Option (1) Rivalous and non excludable. — Incorrect. Rivalry belongs to private goods; a public good can be shared without being used up.
Option (2) Non rivalous and excludable. — Incorrect. If non-payers could be shut out, the good could be sold in the market; public goods cannot exclude non-payers.
Option (4) Rivalous and excludable. — Incorrect. These are the two features of a private good such as clothes, cars or food items, the opposite of a public good.
Note: A same/similar question was asked in CUET (UG) in the papers below.
| 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 |
| 23-05 S2 | 15-05 S1 27-05 S2 | – | 10-06 S3* | 06-08 S2* |
* A similar question.
NCERT (2025-26): “Allocation Function of Government Budget … To understand why public goods need to be provided by the government, we must understand the difference between private goods such as clothes, cars, food items etc. and public goods. There are two major differences. One, the benefits of public goods are available to all and are not only restricted to one particular consumer. For example, if a person eats a chocolate or wears a shirt, these will not be available to others. It is said that this person’s consumption stands in rival relationship to the consumption of others. However, if we consider a public park or measures to reduce air pollution, the benefits will be available to all. One person’s consumption of a good does not reduce the amount available for consumption for others and so several people can enjoy the benefits, that is, the consumption of many people is not ‘rivalrous’. Two, in case of private goods anyone who does not pay for the goods can be excluded from enjoying its benefits. If you do not buy a ticket, you will not be allowed to watch a movie at a local cinema hall. However, in case of public goods, there is no feasible way of excluding anyone from enjoying the benefits of the good. That is why public goods are called non-excludable.…” |