Public Economics and Policy

Course goals

Learning objectives
At the end of the course the student is able to:

• Recognise market failures, the role of the government, the possibility of government failure and the relevance of behavioural economics for public policy;
• Enhance a deeper understanding of collective action problems using the tools of economic theory;
• Understand the economics behind a broad range of public policy issues;
• Critically appraise different public policy programmes with respect to efficiency and fairness.
• Write an informed opinion linked to one of the topics dealt with in this course.

Content

This course studies how government taxing and spending activities affect the economy, with a focus on economic efficiency and the distribution of income and wealth. Market failures such as public goods, externalities and asymmetric information are discussed in depth, as well as different forms of taxation, including tax evasion. The course is meant to give a solid theoretical background from an economic point of view on a broad range of public policy issues. 


In case online access is required for this course and you are not in the position to buy the access code, you are advised to contact the course coordinator for an alternative solution. Please note that access codes are not re-usable meaning that codes from second hand books do not work, as well as access codes from books with a different ISBN. Separate or spare codes are usually not available.