Public Finance (Finance) M - Z
Academic Year 2023/2024 - Teacher: MARCO FERDINANDO MARTORANAExpected Learning Outcomes
Knowledge and understanding: students will acquire in-depth knowledge and understanding of the role that the State plays in modern market economies by means of financial tools and the definition of the game’s rules that all members of the society have to respect as far as their economic behaviour is concerned. The student will develop the understanding of the complex State’s decision-making process with regard to allocation, stabilization and redistribution functions.
Applying knowledge and understanding: students will be able to properly evaluate the problems regarding the State’s presence in an economic system where different subjects, either public or private for-profit or private not-for-profit, interact.
Making
judgements: students will acquire the ability to employ the economic approach
to formulate their personal opinion,
Communication
skills: students will be able to communicate, in a clear and unambiguous way,
to either experts or non-experts,
Learning
skills: students will acquire a high learning capacity that will allow them to
be autonomous in the management of their
Course Structure
The course includes lectures, carried out with the support of slides and supplementary teaching material that is made available to students through the Studium on-line platform. In order to consolidate the understanding of the topics and the analytical skills of the students, during the planned lectures, some classroom exercises will be done.
Required Prerequisites
No formal prerequisites. A knowledge of the basic concepts of Microeconomics is very useful and is therefore recommended.
Attendance of Lessons
Although not compulsory, it is strongly recommended to attend the lessons
Detailed Course Content
The first part of the course program is dedicated to the study of the general principles of the State’s intervention in the modern market economies. The program goes on with the theory of government revenues, paying special attention to the distortive effects of taxes. The fundamentals of the financial decentralization are also considered.
Textbook Information
1. Balestrino A., Galli E., Spataro L., (2023) Scienza delle Finanze, UTET, Torino
or its previous edition:
2. Balestrino A., Galli E., Spataro L.,
(2019) Scienza delle Finanze, UTET, Torino
Course Planning
Subjects | Text References | |
---|---|---|
1 | Introduction to the study of public intervention in marketeconomie | First part, ch.1 (p 5-24) |
2 | Economic tools for the analysis of public intervention | First part, ch 1 (appendix p. 25-34) |
3 | Welfare economics and public intervention | First part, ch 1 (p. 5-24) and ch 3 (p.54-60) |
4 | Reasons for public intervention (first part) | First part, ch 2 (p. 35-49) |
5 | Reasons for public intervention (second part) | First part, ch 2 (p. 35-49) |
6 | Public goods (second part) | first part, ch. 1 (p. 71-90) |
7 | Public goods (second part) | first part, ch. 1 (p. 71-90) |
8 | collective choices (first part) | Second part, ch. 1 (p. 143-160) |
9 | collective choices (second part) | Second part, ch. 1 (p. 143-160) |
10 | retirement system | third part, ch. 2 (p. 217-224; 229-234) |
11 | health care | third part, ch. 4 (p. 258-265; 274-277) |
12 | social security and programs for the poor | third part, ch. 5 (p. 279-284; 290-299) |
13 | Tax systems: an introduction | Fourth part, ch. 1 (p. 303-322) |
14 | Tax efficiency and distortions (first part) | Fourth part, ch. 2 (p. 323-337) |
15 | Tax efficiency and distortions (second part) | Fourth part, ch. 2 (p. 338-347) |
16 | Personal income taxes (first part) | Fourth part, ch. 3 (p. 348-361) |
17 | Personal income taxes (second part) | Fourth part, ch. 3 (p.348-361) |
18 | Consumption taxes | Fourth part, ch. 3 (p. 362-370) |
19 | The Italian Personal Income Tax | Fourth part, ch. 4 (p. 374-406) |
20 | The theories of fiscal federalism | Fifth part, ch. 4 (p. 417-433) |
21 | Fiscal federalism: rationale and forms of government | Fifth part, ch. 4 (p. 434-444) |