Public Choice and Economic Policymaking

Public Choice and Economic Policymaking

Module aims and overview

The principal objective of this module is to develop an understanding of the economics of the public sector, in an international context. In the first part of the module we analyze the role of the public sector in a modern economy. The second part employs a public choice framework to analyze the decision process that leads to economic policymaking. The third and final part of the module uses the analytical tools of public economics to analyze taxation policy, fiscal decentralization, and social security.

Class contact

The module consists of 10 weekly 1-hour lectures (weeks 27-36), as well as two tutorials. Lectures take place on Mondays 9am-10am in SSB329.

#Topic Topic Reference in Gruber

1 Government growth ch1

2 Externalities ch5-6

3 Public goods ch7

4 Theory of public choice ch9

5 Income taxation ch19,21

6 Commodity taxation ch20

7 Decentralization /

8 Welfare and inequality parts of ch12-13

9 Government size and economic growth

10 Revision

Learning objectives and outcomes

Knowledge and understanding

This module develops a knowledge and understanding of:

• The development and operation of markets for resources, goods and services.

• The management and development of people within organizations.

• The management of resources and operations.

• The development of appropriate business policies and strategies to meet stakeholder needs within a changing environment.

Intellectual skills

This module develops:

• The cognitive skills of critical thinking, analysis and synthesis, including the ability to identify assumptions, evaluate statements in terms of evidence, to detect false logic or reasoning, to identify implicit values, and to define terms adequately and to generalise appropriately.

• The ability to create, evaluate and access a range of options, together with the capacity to apply ideas and knowledge to a range of business and other situations.