PUBLIC FINANCE
Academic Year 2022/2023 - Teacher: Giacomo PIGNATAROExpected Learning Outcomes
Knowledge and understanding: The course’s goal is to provide students with advanced knowledge and skills on the role of public finance and the effects of taxation in the modern market economies. The course will develop analytical knowledge of the main tools of the public sector’s financial activity, with particular regard to those of public accountancy and national budget, following the most recent theoretical developments.
Applying knowledge and understanding: The knowledge of the main tools of the public sector’s activity will enable students to use and interpret the main documents of public finance, while the development of analytical skills on the structure and the implications of the different tax models will allow them to deal with the problems related to economic-managerial decisions, thus taking into account the effects caused by taxation.
Making judgements: Students will be able to critically assess the different taxation choices of governments, in terms of their social welfare impact.
Communication skills: Students will gain communication skills and appropriateness in the use of technical language, by means of interaction and active participation during class activities, so as to be able to convey technically rigorous information to experts and non-experts.
Learning skills: The learning skills of students will be improved through an appropriate interaction, in particular during classes devoted to practice the theoretical concepts through analytical exercises.
Course Structure
The course is structured through lectures, carried out with the support of slides and additional educational material that is made available to students through the Studium platform. To consolidate the understanding of the topics covered and the analytical skills of the students at the end of the discussion of the individual topics in the program, there will be classroom exercises carried out by the teacher.
Required Prerequisites
Attendance of Lessons
Detailed Course Content
Introductory topics:
- Market failures and government intervention.
- Concepts and models for the analysis of the role of public finance.
- Concepts, classifications, and statistics of taxation.
General issues of the economic analysis of the effects of taxation: tax incidence, tax burden, and tax neutrality.
Taxation and economic choices
- Taxes and labor supply choices
- Taxes and savings choices
- Taxes and investment choices
- Taxers and corporate choices
Optimal taxation
Tax evasion
Textbook Information
1. J. Gruber. Public Finance and Public Policy. 4th ed. Worth Publishers, 2013. (Chapters 1, 2, 3, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24).
2. J. Hindriks and G.D. Myles. Intermediate public economics. 2nd ed. Cambridge: MIT press, 2013. (Chapters 15 – excluding paragraphs 15.8 and 15.9; 16 – excluding paragraphs 16.6.2, 16.7, 16.8; 17 – excluding paragraph 17.8).
Author | Title | Publisher | Year | ISBN |
---|---|---|---|---|
J. Gruber | Public Finance and Public Policy 4th edition | Worth Publishers | 2013 | 978-1-4292-7845-4 |
J. Hindriks, G.D. Myles | Intermediate Public Economics, 2nd edition | MIT Press | 2013 | 978-0-262-01869-2 |
Course Planning
Subjects | Text References | |
---|---|---|
1 | Introduction to public finance | Text 1 (Gruber): Chapter 1 |
2 | Theoretical and empirical tools for public finance/1 | Text 1 (Gruber): Chapters 2,3 |
3 | Theoretical and empirical tools for public finance/2 | Text 1 (Gruber): Chapters 2,3 |
4 | Exercises | Teaching material |
5 | Introduction to taxation/1 | Text 1 (Gruber): Chapter 18 (except for 18.2) - Teaching material |
6 | Introduction to taxation/2 | Text 1 (Gruber): Chapter 18 (except for 18.2) - Teaching material |
7 | Exercises | Teaching material |
8 | Equity and efficiency implications of taxation/1 | Text 1 (Gruber): Chapters 19 and 20 (just 20.1) and Text 2 (Hindricks and Myles): Chapter 15 (just 15.1 and 15.2) – Teaching material |
9 | Equity and efficiency implications of taxation/2 | Text 1 (Gruber): Chapters 19 and 20 (just 20.1) and Text 2 (Hindricks and Myles): Chapter 15 (just 15.1 and 15.2) – Teaching material |
10 | Exercises | Teaching material |
11 | Taxes on labor supply/1 | Text 1 (Gruber): Chapter 21 and and Text 2 (Hindricks and Myles): Chapter 16 (just 16.3 and 16.4) - Teaching material |
12 | Taxes on labor supply/2 | Text 1 (Gruber): Chapter 21 and and Text 2 (Hindricks and Myles): Chapter 16 (just 16.3 and 16.4) - Teaching material |
13 | Exercises | Teaching material |
14 | Taxes on savings | Text 1 (Gruber): Chapter 22 – Teaching material |
15 | Taxes on risk taking and wealth/1 | Text 1 (Gruber): Chapter 23 – Teaching material |
16 | Taxes on risk taking and wealth/2 | Text 1 (Gruber): Chapter 23 – Teaching material |
17 | Exercises | Teaching material |
18 | Corporate taxation/1 | Text 1 (Gruber): Chapter 24 - Teaching material |
19 | Corporate taxation/2 | Text 1 (Gruber): Chapter 24 - Teaching material |
20 | Corporate taxation/3 | Text 1 (Gruber): Chapter 24 - Teaching material |
21 | Corporate taxation/4 | Text 1 (Gruber): Chapter 24 - Teaching material |
22 | Exercises | Teaching material |
23 | Optimal taxation/1 | Text 2 (Hindriks and Myles): Chapters 15 (15.3, 15.4, 15.5, 15.6) and 16(16.5, 16.6.1) - Teaching material |
24 | Optimal taxation/2 | Text 2 (Hindriks and Myles): Chapters 15 (15.3, 15.4, 15.5, 15.6) and 16(16.5, 16.6.1) - Teaching material |
25 | Optimal taxation/3 | Text 2 (Hindriks and Myles): Chapters 15 (15.3, 15.4, 15.5, 15.6) and 16(16.5, 16.6.1) - Teaching material |
26 | Optimal taxation/4 | Text 2 (Hindriks and Myles): Chapters 15 (15.3, 15.4, 15.5, 15.6) and 16(16.5, 16.6.1) - Teaching material |
27 | Exercises | Teaching material |
28 | Tax evasion/1 | Text 2 (Hindriks and Myles): Chapter 17 (except for 17.8) - Teaching material |
29 | Tax evasion/2 | Text 2 (Hindriks and Myles): Chapter 17 (except for 17.8) - Teaching material |
30 | Exercises | Teaching material |