22-10.120 Public Finance

Instructors: Dr. Enrico Longo

Event type: Lecture + practical course

Displayed in timetable as: Finanzwissensch

Hours per week: 3

Credits: 6,0

Language of instruction: English

Min. | Max. participants: - | 145

Comments/contents:
Public Finance is the study of the economics of the public sector. Accordingly, it deals with the role of the state as an economic actor from both normative and positive perspectives. This course provides an overview of various theoretical and empirical concepts in finance. It deals with the question of how to justify government activity from the perspective of economic theory as well as with the question of how to design tax systems efficiently.

Didactic concept:
The lecture is scheduled to be face-to-face. Slides and other materials will be posted regularly in OpenOlat.

Outline of the lecture:
1. Introduction
2. Welfare economics
3. Market failure (public goods, externalities)
4. Imperfect information
5. Natural monopolies
6. Efficiency and equity
7. Positive theory
8. Taxation
9. Tax incidence
10. Public debt and financial crisis
11. The welfare state (poverty, social security, education)

Literature:
- Stiglitz, J.E. (2000), Economics of the Public Sector, 3rd ed.
- Wigger, Berthold U. (2006), Grundzüge der Finanzwissenschaft, 2nd ed.
- Blankart, C.B. (2008), Public Finance in Democracy, 7th ed.
- Rosen, H.S. and T. Gayer (2010), Public Finance, 9th edition, McGraw-Hill.

Additional examination information: