PUBLIC ECONOMICS
Academic Year 2023/2024 - Teacher: Romilda RIZZOExpected Learning Outcomes
Knowledge and understanding. To provide the analytical knowledge needed to understand the fundaments of public intervention and its effects on the allocation and distribution of resources.
Applying knowledge and understanding. To enable students to apply their knowledge on the economics of public sector to understand official documents and reports and to evaluate different models of public intervention.
Making judgments To train students to use data to be able to develop autonomous opinions and critical understanding on public intervention
Communication skills To enable students to use technical terminology, diagrams and tables to express their opinions to experts and non- experts. Oral and written communication skills will be also stimulated through classroom activities - such as discussion and seminars- and written examinations.
Learning skills. To stimulate learning skills through power point presentations and discussions to enable students to upgrading autonomously their knowledge and to prepare them for post-graduate courses.
Course Structure
Lectures with power point presentation, discussions in class, seminars and analysis of case studies. Should teaching be carried out in mixed mode or remotely, it may be necessary to introduce changes with respect to previous statements, in line with the programme planned and outlined in the syllabus.
Detailed Course Content
*Public intervention, normative and positive analysis.
*State functions.
* Fundaments of welfare economics
*Market failure and reasons for public intervention
*Political Economy.
*Cost-benefit analysis
*Income redistribution.
*Tax incidence,
*Taxation and efficiency; income taxation and its effects; corporate taxes; consumption taxes.
*Welfare policies (social secuirty, healthcare ).
*Public debt.
*Fiscal federalism.
*Local public finance.
Textbook Information
H. S. Rosen, T. Gayer. Public Finance. McGraw Hill, 10th Global Edition (ch. 10, only pp.201-211; ch. 11, only pp.222-226 and 230-243; ch.13, only pp.273-280 and 289-292)
Other publications, mainly on Italian public finance, may be made available to students during the course.
Course Planning
| Subjects | Text References | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 Introduction to the course. Tools of positive analysis | Chapters 1 e 2 |
| 2 | 2 Tools of normative analysis | Chapter 3 |
| 3 | 3 Fundaments of welfare economics. Efficiency conditions | Chapter 3 |
| 4 | 4 Public goods - positive analysis | Chapter 4 |
| 5 | 5 Public goods - normative analysis | Chapter 4 |
| 6 | 6 Externalities | Chapter 5 |
| 7 | 7 Political economy - Direct democracy | Chapter 6 |
| 8 | 8 Political economy - Representative democracy | Chapter 6 |
| 9 | 9 Political economy - Bureaucracy; Government growth | Chapter 6 |
| 10 | 10 Education | Chapter 7 |
| 11 | 11 Cost-benefit analysis | Chapter 8 |
| 12 | 12 Cost-benefit analysis | Chapter 8 |
| 13 | 13 Health care market | Chapter 9 |
| 14 | 14 Health expenditures | Chapter 10 - pp.201-211 |
| 15 | 15 Social security | Chapter 11 - pp.222-226 e 230-243 |
| 16 | 16 Income redistribution: conceptual issues | Chapter 12 |
| 17 | 17 Unemployment policies | Chapter 13 - pp.273-280; 289-292 |
| 18 | 18 Taxation - basic concepts | Chapters 14 |
| 19 | 19 Taxation and income distribution | Chapter 14 |
| 20 | 20 Taxation and efficiency – excess burden | Chapter 15 |
| 21 | 21 Trade-off between equity and efficiency | Chapter 16 |
| 22 | 22 Classification of public revenues | Chapter 18 |
| 23 | 23 Personal taxation and behavior | Chapter 18 |
| 24 | 24 The Corporation tax | Chapter 19 |
| 25 | 25 Taxes on consumption | Chapter 21 |
| 26 | 26 Wealth taxes | Chapter 21 |
| 27 | 27 Deficit finance | Chapter 20 |
| 28 | 28 Deficit finance | Chapter 20 |
| 29 | 29 Fiscal federalism | Chapter 22 |
| 30 | 30 Local public finance: property tax | Chapter 22 |
| 31 | 30 Local public finance:intergovernmental grants | Chapter 22 |