Public Economics
Code
1115
Academic unit
null
Department
null
Credits
7,5
Teacher in charge
Paulo Côrte-Real
Teaching language
English
Objectives
The course covers the main goals, areas and tools of government intervention in the economy, from a microeconomic viewpoint.
Prerequisites
Compulsory pre-requisites:
- Microeconomics
- Advanced Microeconomics (recomended)
Subject matter
1 Introduction: the goals of government intervention (Ch 1)
2 Redistribution and Fairness
2-1 Utility-based fairness criteria (Ch 2)
2-2 Preference-based fairness criteria (Thomson)
3 Externalities and Public Goods
3-1 Externalities (Ch 5-6)
3-2 Public Goods (Ch 7)
3-3 Mixed Goods (Ch 11)
3-4 Collective decision-making (Ch 9)
4 Social Insurance
4-1 Benefits and Costs of Insurance (Ch 12)
4-2 Social Security (Ch 13)
4-3 Unemployment Insurance and Poverty-Alleviation Programs (Ch 14, 17)
4-4 Health Insurance (Ch 15)
5 Taxation
5-1 Equity implications of taxation (Ch 19)
5-2 Efficiency implications of taxation (Ch 20)
Bibliography
Teaching method
Evaluation method
The final grade is based on:
A- Final Exam
B- Midterm (compulsory)
C- Group Assignments
The final grade will be 0.5A + 0.25B + 0.25C if A ≥ 8.0; A if A < 8.0