经济学中的灯塔（科斯）.docVIP

经济学中的灯塔（科斯） THE LIGHTHOUSEI N ECONOMICS* R. H. COASE Universityo f ChicagoL aw School I. INTRODUCTION T HE lighthouse appears in the writings of economists because of the light it is supposed to throw on the question of the economic functions of government. It is often used as an example of something which has to be provided by government rather than by private enterprise. What economists usually seem to have in mind is that the impossibility of securing payment from the owners of the ships that benefit from the existence of the lighthouse makes it unprofitable for any private individual or firm to build and maintain a light- house. John Stuart Mill in his Principles of Political Economy, in the chapter ;Of the Grounds and Limits of the Laissez-Faire or Non-Interference Principle,; said: ... it is a proper office of government to build and maintain lighthouses, establish buoys, etc. for the security of navigation: for since it is impossible that the ships at sea which are benefited by a lighthouse, should be made to pay a toll on the occasion of its use, no one would build lighthouses from motives of personal interest, unless indemnified and rewarded from a compulsory levy made by the state.x Henry Sidgwick in his Principles of Political Economy, in the chapter, ;The System of Natural Liberty Considered in Relation to Production,; had this to say: . . . there is a large and varied class of cases in which the supposition [that an individual can always obtain through free exchange adequate remuneration for the services he renders] would be manifestly erroneous. In the first place there are some utilities which, from their nature, are practically incapable of being * It is with great pleasuret hat I acknowledget he helpfulnesso f memberso f Trinity House and of officialsi n the Departmento f Trade and of the Chambero f Shipping in providingm e with informationo n the British lighthouses ystem. They are not, however, in any way responsiblef or the use I have made of thi