Cyberspace: Global Public Goods?

Abstract

Cyberspace has become an indispensable part of our everyday lives. Due to the Internet of Things, it has permeated the whole of society. Nevertheless, cyberspace on its own still tends to be neglected in academia, especially in social sciences. This article aims to contribute to the debate over whether cyberspace may be labelled as global public goods. First, the essential economic theories dealing with public goods are presented forming a solid basis for the subsequent analysis and stating the basic conditions for the evaluation of cyberspace as global public goods. Second, a basic cyberspace model is introduced dividing it into three different layers-the physical layer, the application level, and the level of information. Third, an analysis is conducted testing each layer for the legitimacy of global public goods categorisation. Fourth, a final synthesis provides the answer to the question of whether cyberspace can be categorised as global public goods. Based on the findings in the analytical part of this paper, it has been concluded that cyberspace may be, although with several reservations, categorised as global public goods.