Public Provision Of Indivisible Private Goods In Short Supply

Public provision of private goods is usually analysed as the displacement of a market, where people can buy as much or as little of a good as they please, with tax financed provision by the government of equal and identical amounts of the good per person. But publivc provision is not always equal per person because some goods cannot be supplied equally or because the government does not choose to supply goods equally. There may be fewer organs available for transplant than there are people who need them. Doctors and teachers may differ in skill or dedication. Governments may limit total expenditure in circumstances where there is a lower limit to useful expenditure per person.