UCL - Public Economics

[ECON2607]

[30h] 5 credits

Teacher(s): Jean Hindriks

Language: English

Level: Second

Aims
Main themes
Content and teaching methods
Other information (prerequisite, evaluation (assessment methods), course materials recommended readings, ...)

Aims

This course is essentially an evaluation of the role of the public sector in a market economy. The course will use the most recent economic analysis to (re)consider the efficiency and distributive ef-fects of government intervention. The optimal design of government intervention both in terms of public expenditures and tax collection is also studied. The main objective of the course is to strike a balance between political and market failures in determining the form and the extent of government intervention. Students taking this course will acquire:
1 An understanding of the design of public spending and tax collection;
2 An understanding of the tradeoff between equity and efficiency
3 The skill to apply economic analysis to the public sector

Main themes

Part 1 Political economy and public sector
1. Voting
2. Rent seeking and lobbying
Part 2 Equity and Redistribution
3. Inequality and poverty
Part 3 Taxation
4. Commodity taxation
5. Income taxation
Part 4 Multiple jurisdictions
6. Fiscal federalism
7. tax competition
Part 5 Issue of time
8. Intertemporal efficiency
9. Social security and pension crisis

Content and teaching methods

Teaching is by one two-hour lecture twice a week which will present the core theoretical material based on the textbook by Hindriks and Myles "Intermediate Public Economics". Fortnightly two-hour tutorials will consist in solving problems. This should help to develop students' skill and agility in public economics as well as to check their understanding of the course.

Other information (prerequisite, evaluation (assessment methods), course materials recommended readings, ...)

Textbook : Jean Hindriks and Gareth Myles " Intermediate Public Economics " MIT Press 2006

Solutions Manual : Nigar Hashimzade, Jean Hindriks, and Gareth Myles "Solutions manual to Accompany Intermediate Public Economics" MIT press 2006.

Power point slide show