The course of Public Economics belongs to the economics courses for the Global legal studies curriculum of Laurea magistrale in Giurisprudenza. The course is taught in English and provides an introduction to the economic analysis of State interventions in market economies. The course aims to provide the students with 1) an understanding of justifications and effects of State interventions in the economic systems, with reference to both efficiency and equity; 2) an understanding of the main issues concerning market failures: natural monopoly, asymmetric information, external effects, public goods; 3) an understanding of the main aspects concerning government budget formation and the main problems regarding deficit spending and public debt.
teacher profile teaching materials
1. Welfare economics
1.1 Efficiency criteria: Pareto efficiency; Hicks-Kaldor criterion
1.2 First fundamental theorem of Welfare economics
1.3 Second fundamental theorem of Welfare economics and the efficiency-equity trade-off
2. Social welfare and income redistribution
2.1 The Social Welfare Function
2.2 Utilitarianism and the rationale for income redistribution
2.3 The Rawlsian view and the Maximin criterion
3. Market failures
3.1 Public goods
3.2 Externalities
3.3 Non-competitive markets
3.4 Imperfect information
4. Case study: the health care sector
Part 2: The economics of taxation
5. A taxonomy of government’s revenues
6. Principles of taxation
6.1 Horizontal and vertical equity
6.2 The benefit principle
6.3 The ability to pay principle
6.4 The choice of the tax base
7. Distributive effects of taxation: tax incidence
7.1 Overview (Mugrave & Musgrave, 234-241; Rosen & Gayer, 296-300)
7.2 Incidence of taxes on commodity (Rosen & Gayer, 301-307)
7.3 Incidence of taxes on production factors (Rosen & Gayer, 307-313)
8. Taxation and economic efficiency
8.1 Taxation and consumers behaviour
8.2 Excess burden measurement in partial equilibrium
9. Personal income tax
10. Corporate income tax
11. Wealth taxation
12. Consumption taxes
13. International taxation
Musgrave, R.A and P.B. Musgrave, Public Finance in Theory and Practice, Fifth Edition, McGraw-Hill, 1989
Cullis, J. and P. Jones, Public Finance and Public Choice, Third Edition, Oxford University Press, 2009
Programme
Part 1: The economic role of the state1. Welfare economics
1.1 Efficiency criteria: Pareto efficiency; Hicks-Kaldor criterion
1.2 First fundamental theorem of Welfare economics
1.3 Second fundamental theorem of Welfare economics and the efficiency-equity trade-off
2. Social welfare and income redistribution
2.1 The Social Welfare Function
2.2 Utilitarianism and the rationale for income redistribution
2.3 The Rawlsian view and the Maximin criterion
3. Market failures
3.1 Public goods
3.2 Externalities
3.3 Non-competitive markets
3.4 Imperfect information
4. Case study: the health care sector
Part 2: The economics of taxation
5. A taxonomy of government’s revenues
6. Principles of taxation
6.1 Horizontal and vertical equity
6.2 The benefit principle
6.3 The ability to pay principle
6.4 The choice of the tax base
7. Distributive effects of taxation: tax incidence
7.1 Overview (Mugrave & Musgrave, 234-241; Rosen & Gayer, 296-300)
7.2 Incidence of taxes on commodity (Rosen & Gayer, 301-307)
7.3 Incidence of taxes on production factors (Rosen & Gayer, 307-313)
8. Taxation and economic efficiency
8.1 Taxation and consumers behaviour
8.2 Excess burden measurement in partial equilibrium
9. Personal income tax
10. Corporate income tax
11. Wealth taxation
12. Consumption taxes
13. International taxation
Core Documentation
Rosen, H.S. and T. Gayer, Public Finance, Global Edition, McGraw-Hill Education, 2014Musgrave, R.A and P.B. Musgrave, Public Finance in Theory and Practice, Fifth Edition, McGraw-Hill, 1989
Cullis, J. and P. Jones, Public Finance and Public Choice, Third Edition, Oxford University Press, 2009
Type of delivery of the course
LecturesType of evaluation
Students are kindly asked to constantly follow the updates relating teaching and examination published on the University and the Department of Law websites. This document will be promptly updated when the provisions adopted require it. In compliance with the provisions of Chancellor Decree (DR) n. 1096/2020, examination and assessment will be carried out in-person. The assessment tools are aimed at verifying the understanding of the basic concepts of Public Economics and the implications for public intervention as well as the ability to understand the graphic tools under study. There are two assessment methods: a) Ordinary exam sessions (June-July; September; January-February): b) Assessment during the course a) Ordinary exam sessions The assessment consists in: I) a written exam (questions and/or exercises): 6 multiple-choice questions (2 points each) + 2 (out of 4 proposed) open questions (max 10 points each…on average!). Time: 60 minutes Students must register in Gomp. Registrations deadline is two days before the date of examination. II) an oral exam on the whole course program: - optional for students that have got a mark equal or greater of 18/30 in the written exam. Students are not allowed to renounce to the final mark of the exam; - compulsory for students that have got a mark between 15/30 and 17/30 in the written exam. Students are not allowed to renounce to the final mark of the exam. All students wishing to take the oral exam must inform the teacher by sending an email within the deadlines indicated jointly with the publication of the results of the written exam. b) Assessment during the course The possibility to base a part of the evaluation on class work (class participation, presentations given during the semester) will be decided during the course. The assessment consists in: I) Two partial written exams (on 1st part and 2nd part of the program): 5 multiple-choice questions 2 points each) + 1 (out of 2 proposed) open questions (max 20 points). Time: 30 minutes for each partial written exam. In order to pass the 1st partial written exam (and to be admitted to the 2nd partial written exam) a mark equal or greater than 15/30 is required. Students can renounce the written exam by sending an e-mail to the teacher within 5 minutes of the end of the exam. The 1st partial written exam will be on April 21st or 22nd. The 2nd partial written exam will be on May 26th or 27th Students who either do not participates to the 2nd partial written exam, or renounce it, are allowed to register and participate to the written exams during the ordinary exam session. Students who have delivered the 2nd partial written exam without renouncing it, are not allowed to register to the first written exam of the summer exam session. The final mark is given by the average of the marks obtained in the two partial written exams. II) Oral exam on the whole program: - optional for students that have got a final mark equal or greater of 18/30 in the written exam. Students are not allowed to renounce to the final mark of the exam; - compulsory for students that have got a mark between 15/30 and 17/30 in the written exam. Students are not allowed to renounce to the final mark of the exam.