Two - Year Master Degree in Economics

PUBLIC ECONOMICS AND FINANCE

PUBLIC ECONOMICS AND FINANCE

Academic year 2018/2019

Sommario del corso

• Course objectives
• Results of learning outcomes
• Course delivery
• Learning assessment methods
• Program
• Suggested textbooks and readings
• Teaching tools

Course objectives

This course examines the role of government in modern private economies, focusing on the topic of market failures. Under ideal conditions, competition promotes economic efficiency, leaving little role for the public sector. In some circumstances, however, private markets fail and government intervention to restore efficiency may be desirable. Market failures to be analyzed include public good provision, externalities, imperfect competition, and asymmetric information.

Results of learning outcomes

• The course will provide students with an advanced knowledge of standard public economic theory and empirical public economics. After attending the course, the student is expected:
  to be able to manage quantitative microeconomic tools to analyse market failure problems and related government interventions; 
• to have notions on how public economic theory can be fruitfully applied for undertaking sound empirical analysis of policy making concerning public good provision, market power control, and environmental regulation;
• to learn how to effectively organize ideas mainly in written form, by summarizing, discussing and criticizing the results of academic research in public economics;
• to understand the main building blocks of public economic theory and to acquire the toolkit for undertaking further research work in public economics.
• to understand the main empirical strategies aimed at studying public economic theory.

Course delivery

Upfront lectures and student presentations. Lectures will be based on the textbook and on current research in public economics. Students will have to choose and present a research paper in about 30 minutes.  

Learning assessment methods

There will be a midterm exam, and students are expected to actively participate in the lectures. Students will also present a public economics research paper.

Program

Public economics and economic efficiency:
- Pareto-efficiency of competition and First Theorem of Welfare Economics
- Lump-sum transfers and Second Theorem of Welfare Economics 

Departures from efficiency:
- Public goods
- Club goods and local public goods
- Externalities
- Imperfect competition
- Asymmetric Information

HINDRIKS J., MYLES G.D., Intermediate Public Economics, MIT Press, 2006.

Class schedule

• Teaching materials
• Exams and finals
• Go to Moodle
• Visit the forums