What is the difference between common resource and a public good?

Answer 1

Public goods are things which can be used by the masses without diminishing their value, such as street signs and clean air. They possess the principle of non excludability as well as are non-rival in consumption. i.e. you cannot exclude anyone from using them and the use of that commodity by one person will not reduce the availabilty of it for another person. With common resources, there is not enough to serve everyone equally. Common resources face the problems of congestion or overuse. Common resources include congested roads, fishing grounds and pastures. These common goods are rival in consumption. i.e. the use by one person will diminish the use of it by another. E.g. fishing in a lake by one individual will reduce the amount of fish available to another user. But both public goods and common resources are non-excludible, they are frequently overused.