Public Finance
A.Y. 2020/2021
Learning objectives
Knowledge and ability to understand: students will gain knowledge and will need to show an understanding both of the reasons underlying the public intervention in the economy and of the interactions between the public intervention and the economic decisions of private agents.
· Ability to apply the acquired knowledge: students will be empowered with theoretical and analytical instruments that will enable them to interpret the effects of the public intervention in the economic realm and the relevant trade-off that are at stake in the design of public policies.
· Autonomy of judgement: through the acquired knowledge, students will be able to analyze, evaluate and critically discuss the public intervention in the economic realm, implemented through tax- and public-expenditure-instruments.
· Ability to communicate: students will be able to explain and interpret the most relevant devices used by governments to affect the functioning of a market economy.
· Ability to learn: the knowledge of the program of the course will enable the students to develop abilities to learn that will be useful for the study of other economic- as well as law-subjects.
· Ability to apply the acquired knowledge: students will be empowered with theoretical and analytical instruments that will enable them to interpret the effects of the public intervention in the economic realm and the relevant trade-off that are at stake in the design of public policies.
· Autonomy of judgement: through the acquired knowledge, students will be able to analyze, evaluate and critically discuss the public intervention in the economic realm, implemented through tax- and public-expenditure-instruments.
· Ability to communicate: students will be able to explain and interpret the most relevant devices used by governments to affect the functioning of a market economy.
· Ability to learn: the knowledge of the program of the course will enable the students to develop abilities to learn that will be useful for the study of other economic- as well as law-subjects.
Expected learning outcomes
Students who will have learnt the material covered in the course will have acquired the skills needed to use the economic theory for the purpose of analyzing the main features and structure of the tax system and the welfare state.
Lesson period: First semester
Assessment methods: Esame
Assessment result: voto verbalizzato in trentesimi
Single course
This course cannot be attended as a single course. Please check our list of single courses to find the ones available for enrolment.
Course syllabus and organization
Single session
Responsible
Lesson period
First semester
TEACHING METHODS:
In the first semester of the academic year 2020-2021 the lectures will be done by remote using the platform Microsoft Teams. The course will be taught synchronously according to the timetable of the first semester. The lectures will be recorded and made available to students on the ARIEL website of the course. Further information will be provided on the ARIEL website of the course prior to the beginning of the teaching semester.
PROGRAM AND TEXTBOOK
The outline of the course and the teaching material, including the textbook, will not vary.
EXAM:
There will only be a final exam (no intermediate exams). The exam will be oral and it will be done through the platform Microsoft Teams.
In the first semester of the academic year 2020-2021 the lectures will be done by remote using the platform Microsoft Teams. The course will be taught synchronously according to the timetable of the first semester. The lectures will be recorded and made available to students on the ARIEL website of the course. Further information will be provided on the ARIEL website of the course prior to the beginning of the teaching semester.
PROGRAM AND TEXTBOOK
The outline of the course and the teaching material, including the textbook, will not vary.
EXAM:
There will only be a final exam (no intermediate exams). The exam will be oral and it will be done through the platform Microsoft Teams.
Course syllabus
This course presents the economic theory of the public sector, with a focus on government spending and taxation. Despite the course's main theoretical approach, a great deal of attention will be devoted to institutions. The aim of the course is twofold. On the one hand, the course aims at providing students with a solid economic knowledge, which will allow them to interpret critically the basic facts of government intervention in modern market economies (i.e. taxation, publicly provided healthcare, social security, and so on). On the other hand, the course aims at equipping students with knowledge that will enable them to better interpret the legal rules and the economic and social rationales underlying them.
Outline of the course:
1. Justifying government intervention on the basis of the two fundamental theorems of welfare economics.
2. Government revenue and government spending.
3. Taxation.
4. Tax progressivity
5. The Italian tax system: theory and institutions.
6. Government spending: health care and social security, theory and institutions.
7. Public debt dynamics.
Outline of the course:
1. Justifying government intervention on the basis of the two fundamental theorems of welfare economics.
2. Government revenue and government spending.
3. Taxation.
4. Tax progressivity
5. The Italian tax system: theory and institutions.
6. Government spending: health care and social security, theory and institutions.
7. Public debt dynamics.
Prerequisites for admission
Istituzioni di diritto privato, Diritto costituzionale, Economia Politica.
Teaching methods
21 frontal lectures.
Teaching Resources
Artoni, R., Elementi di scienza delle finanze, VIII ed., Bologna, Il Mulino, 2015 (chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 12). Further teaching materials (i.e. lectures slides) will be uploaded on the ARIEL website.
Assessment methods and Criteria
The exam consists of a written examination, with both open questions and numerical exercises. The final mark is expressed out of 30. The pass mark is 18/30. The maximum mark is 30/30 cum laude. Students attending the course can take, if they wish to do so, a mid-term written examination on the first part of the course.
Professor(s)