PUBLIC ECONOMICS

The aim of the course is to analyse the role of the public sector in a mixed economy. The focus will be on exploring the reasons behind government intervention, its impact, and the use of taxes to finance public sector activities.

1. Knowledge and comprehension skills:
1.1. understanding of the motivations of public intervention in the economy and how the equity-efficiency trade-off affects public choices of the Government with respect to the supply of goods and services and taxation.
1.2. understanding of the main characteristics of and solutions to market failures, which require the Government`s intervention in the economy: public goods, externalities and information asymmetries;
1.3. understanding the economic effects of taxes: tax incidence and the dead weight loss;

2. Applied knowledge and comprehension skills:
2.1. being able to apply the tools offered by welfare economics to determine the efficiency and equity of public interventions;
2.3. being able to identify the aim of the taxation system and to apply simple tax schedules to real case scenarios;
2.4. knowing how to solve basic problems including the emergence of externalities, asymmetric information and the provision of public goods.

3. Use of independent judgment:
3.1. to investigate the motivations of public intervention ad the trade-off between equity and efficiency;
3.2. to evaluate the effects of taxes on agents' economic choices;
3.3. to understand the limits of neoclassical economics in the analysis of public economics.

See the list of the exams that must have been already recorded in the following link: https://www.unive.it/pag/203/

The public sector in a mixed economy
Pareto efficiency and the first theorem of welfare economics
Equity and the second theorem of welfare economics
Market failures: public goods, externalities, esternalities and asymmetric information
Taxation: basic concepts and the personal income tax
Tax incidence
The distortionary effect of taxation

The recommended textbook for the course is Jonathan Gruber, Public Finance and Public Policy: Last Edition. The textbook will be complemented by additional teaching material made available on the course webpage.

If the exam can be taken in person (namely in absence of any specific restrictions caused by Covid-19), the exam is written and lasts about 1,5 hour, including about 3-4 questions of different types:
- open questions on theory
- graphical analysis
- exercises requiring calculations
The exam tests preparation based on BOTH the textbook AND the additional teaching material. A mock exam will be made available at the end of the course.
The exam does not vary by student lecture attendance status.

The course is organized in:
a) lectures,
b) classroom exercises, including graphical analysis and experiments,
c) individual study.
Students are encouraged to attend classes in an active way.

English

Accessibility, Disability and Inclusion
Accommodation and support services for students with disabilities and students with specific learning impairments

Ca' Foscari abides by Italian Law (Law 17/1999; Law 170/2010) regarding support services and accommodation available to students with disabilities. This includes students with mobility, visual, hearing and other disabilities (Law 17/1999), and specific learning impairments (Law 170/2010). If you have a disability or impairment that requires accommodations (i.e., alternate testing, readers, note takers or interpreters) please contact the Disability and Accessibility Offices in Student Services: disabilita@unive.it.

written

This subject deals with topics related to the macro-area "Poverty and inequalities" and contributes to the achievement of one or more goals of U. N. Agenda for Sustainable Development