Types of Goods

• Goods are tangible products that are sold by businesses to customers and other businesses.
• Goods can be classified in various ways for example there are:
• Public goods– is a good that is non-rivalrous and non-excludable e.g. defense and street lights.
• Private goods-the opposite of public goods.
• Free goods– a good that has no economic value and freely occurring e.g. water in rural areas. Free goods have zero opportunity cost.
• Snob Good/Goods of Snob appeal-goods whose demand increases when their price increases for example jewelry and high end fashion.
• Complementary goods-these are goods that are used together for example tea and bread, DVD players and CDs, Cars and Fuel etc.
• Substitute goods-goods that can be used in place of one another e.g. tea and coffee, margarine and butter, Pepsi and Coca Cola.

The Public and Private sector

• Public Sector-Is that part of the economy that is made of businesses and entities that are owned, controlled and managed by the national and local government. Their main aim is to provide a service to the community at large rather than make profit. Examples include public corporation like GMB and ZESA.
• Private Sector-is that part of the economy that is made up of businesses and entities that are owned controlled and managed by private individuals. Their main aim is to make a profit examples include OK and TM.

To access more topics go to the O Level Business Studies Notes page.