Course 2016-2017 a.y.

Go to class group/s: 31

CLMG (6 credits - I sem. - OP  |  SECS-P/03) - M (6 credits - I sem. - OP  |  SECS-P/03) - IM (6 credits - I sem. - OP  |  SECS-P/03) - MM (6 credits - I sem. - OP  |  SECS-P/03) - AFC (6 credits - I sem. - OP  |  SECS-P/03) - CLEFIN-FINANCE (6 credits - I sem. - OP  |  SECS-P/03) - CLELI (6 credits - I sem. - OP  |  SECS-P/03) - ACME (6 credits - I sem. - OP  |  SECS-P/03) - DES-ESS (6 credits - I sem. - OP  |  12 credits SECS-P/03) - EMIT (6 credits - I sem. - OP  |  SECS-P/03) - GIO (6 credits - I sem. - OP  |  SECS-P/03)

Course Director:
ALESSANDRA CASARICO

Course Objectives

The aim of the course is to lay the groundwork for an understanding of Public Economics at a master level. The course focuses on the analysis of the impact of government intervention on market economies. It develops along the following main topics:

• Interaction between public policy and the acquisition and development of human capital.
• Inequality and redistribution.
• Behavioural responses to taxation: labour supply and evasion.
• Gender gaps in the labour market and in politics and policies that attempt to overcome them.
• Public policy in open economy, with a focus on international labour mobility.
• Social security: how demographic changes influence the design, reform and impact of pension systems.

The course strikes a balance between the development of theoretical and empirical methods. It provides students with the ability to address policy relevant questions. Namely, students are given the tools to identify the institutional details that characterize a given policy; to frame a policy question in theoretical terms; to find the appropriate data to perform empirical analysis on the impact of a given policy.

Course Content Summary

• The Welfare state: an Introduction.
• Education:
• Education financing and macroeconomic outcomes
• Public/private schooling and students’ outcomes
• The technology of skill formation.
• The role of early environments and child care policy
• Inequality and redistribution
• The impact of taxation: labour supply and tax evasion
• Gender gaps
• Policies to address the gender gap in the labour market and in politics
• Public policies in open economy
• Redistribution and factor mobility
• The fiscal effect of immigration
• The assimilation of immigrants
• Social networks and welfare participation
• Migration policies and illegal migration
• Brain drain vs brain gain.
• Social security.
• Pension system, savings and the labour supply
• The design and reform of pension systems
• Welfare state and demographics

Detailed Description of Assessment Methods

For non attending students:

• Written exam.

For attending students:

• Written exam.
  
• A presentation based on topics agreed upon during the course can complement part of the written exam.
  
• There is the possibily to sit a partial exam.

Textbooks

Most of the course is based on articles from scientific journals and working papers. The compulsory readings are provided at the beginning of the course. A set of slides and lecture notes will be available before classes on e-learning.

Exam textbooks & Online Articles (check availability at the Library)

Last change 20/05/2016 15:05