5 credits
30.0 h
Q2
Teacher(s)
Maniquet François;
Language
English
Prerequisites
Students must be familiar with basic microeconomics concepts, such as preferences, budgets, market equilibrium, Pareto efficiency, and general equilibrium
Main themes
The main themes are :
1) How can we define resource equality when agents have different preferences ?
2) Can we justify competitive markets when efficiency is to be combined with norms of equity ?
3) How can we define equality of opportunity when agents have different needs and different talents ?
4) How can public intervention improve equality when the governments face information constraints
1) How can we define resource equality when agents have different preferences ?
2) Can we justify competitive markets when efficiency is to be combined with norms of equity ?
3) How can we define equality of opportunity when agents have different needs and different talents ?
4) How can public intervention improve equality when the governments face information constraints
Aims
At the end of this learning unit, the student is able to : | |
| 1 | Whereas economics is mainly interested in efficiency, it is often the case that public intervention is inspired by different norms. One such major norm is that of social justice. There is no unique way to define justice, however, and there are implementation issues when one wishes to reach a more equitable allocation of resources. The course aims at introducing students to the part of economics that rigorously studies the different norms that can be used to justify public intervention. |
The contribution of this Teaching Unit to the development and command of the skills and learning outcomes of the programme(s) can be accessed at the end of this sheet, in the section entitled “Programmes/courses offering this Teaching Unit”.
Content
Public interventions are supposed to be beneficial to societies. Let's say that they are supposed to enhance social welfare. In order to design these interventions clearly and efficiently and to evaluate their impact, it is necessary to discuss the way social welfare is defined. This course is about studying some schools of thought that have produced families of notions of social welfare. We will also study how these notions of social welfare can be used to evaluate contemporary social policies.
Teaching methods
The courses is composed of lectures given by the lecturer. Students are assigned exercises to solve each week. Students also have to work in group and produce an essay, that consists in applying the method developed during the lectures to a new problem. For the students registered to the public economics module, this essay is required to survey all three approaches to this problem. The essay will be evaluated by the three lecturers.
Evaluation methods
1) Students are required to submit homeworks every week. 20%
2) Students provide a group essay at the end of the term. These essays are graded and count for 30% of the final grade.
3) There is a written close book exam during the session. It counts for 50% of the final grade.
2) Students provide a group essay at the end of the term. These essays are graded and count for 30% of the final grade.
3) There is a written close book exam during the session. It counts for 50% of the final grade.
Bibliography
Une bibliographie détaillée est donnée au début du cours. Elle contient notamment les deux manuels suivants :
- Moulin, H (1995), Coopérative Microeconomics, Princeton, Princeton University Press
- Young, HP (1994), Equity, in theory
- Moulin, H (1995), Coopérative Microeconomics, Princeton, Princeton University Press
- Young, HP (1994), Equity, in theory
Faculty or entity
ECON
