20271 - PUBLIC ECONOMICS
CLMG - M - IM - MM - AFC - CLAPI - CLEFIN-FINANCE - CLELI - ACME - DES-ESS - EMIT
Course taught in English
Go to class group/s: 31
The aim of the course is to lay the groundwork for an understanding of Public Economics at a master level. The course tries to strike a balance between the development of theoretical tools and the use of empirical methods to assess the impact of government intervention.
The course develops along three main parts.
- The first part analyses the government expenditure with a special focus on social security and education.
- The second part of the course examines public policies in an open economy, with a view on multiple jurisdictions and migration decisions issues: we discuss how national policies can be sustained in the presence of international labour and capital movements and we will focus on the setting of migration policies.
- The last part covers issues related to gender gaps in participation and wages: their causes and policies aimed at reducing them.
- Social Security.
- Pension systems, savings and the accumulation of physical capital.
- Pensions and the labour supply.
- Pensions and demographics.
- Pension design and reform.
- Pensions and risk-sharing.
- Education.
- Private versus public provision.
- Financing of schools. The role of vouchers
- The redistributive effects of education and education financing.
- Public Policy in Open Economy.
- Fiscal competition.
- Migration and migration policies.
- Gender.
- Gaps in the labour market and in politics.
- Public Policies to reduce gender gaps.
Attending students
Written exam. A presentation based on topics agreed upon during the course can complement part of the written exam.
Non attending students
Written exam
Reference texts are:
- HINDRICKS, MYLES, Intermediate Public Economics, MIT Press, 2005.
- MYLES, Public Economics, CUP, 1998.
- J. GRUBER, Public Finance and Public Policy, Worth Publishers, 2005.
- AUERBACH, FELDSTEIN (eds.) Handbook of Public Economics, vol.2 and 4, North-Holland.
- N. BARR, The Welfare State as Piggy Bank, Part III, OUP, 2001.
Most of the course is based on articles from scientific journals and working papers. A complete and up-to-date list with an indication of the compulsory readings are provided at the beginning of the course.