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ES20068: Public economics

Follow this link for further information on academic years Academic Year: 2014/5
Further information on owning departmentsOwning Department/School: Department of Economics
Further information on credits Credits: 6
Further information on unit levels Level: Intermediate (FHEQ level 5)
Further information on teaching periods Period: Semester 2
Further information on unit assessment Assessment Summary: EX 100%
Further information on unit assessment Assessment Detail:
  • Examination (EX 100%)
Further information on supplementary assessment Supplementary Assessment: ES20068A Re-sit Examination (where allowed by programme regulations)
Further information on requisites Requisites: Before taking this unit you must take ES10001 and take ES10005
Further information on descriptions Description: Aims:
To enable students to apply principles of microeconomics to analyse public finance theory.
To enable students to understand and assess policy issues in public finance.
To make students aware of the different schools of thought in public finance.
To enable students to understand and to assess `cost benefit¿ analyses of public expenditure programmes.

Learning Outcomes:
At the end of the course unit students should be able to:
* Apply microeconomic theory rigorously to assess theoretical issues in public finance.
* Understand and evaluate policy debates in public finance.
* Understand how microeconomic theory can be applied to explain divurgence between policy prescription and policy adoption.

Skills:
The following are facilitated and assessed: Abstract reasoning; information synthesis; diagrammatic skills; writing skills; numeracy skills.

Content:
Public Economics provides an introduction to the wider economic roles and policy tools of governments, beyond the issue of taxation discussed in Public Finance. Throughout the course, a strong emphasis is placed on understanding the empirical approaches that have been used to test the relevant theories and what these imply for the effectiveness of government interventions.
The unit begins with a discussion of the First Welfare Theorem and the situations under which free markets may fail to produce efficient outcomes. The bulk of the unit then examines what role governments may play in alleviating these market failures. Public goods, property rights, imperfect information and irrationality among individuals are considered in detail. The unit also examines common policy tools used to achieve desired distributions of income and what public choice models tell us about the effectiveness of voting as a method of making policy choices in the first place.
Key texts:
* Hindricks, J. and Myles, G.D. Intermediate Public Economics (MIT Press, 2006)
* Cullis, J. and Jones, P. Public Finance and Public Choice, third edition (Oxford University Press, 2009).
Further information on programme availabilityProgramme availability:

ES20068 is Optional on the following programmes:

Department of Economics
  • UHES-AFB03 : BSc(Hons) Economics (Year 2)
  • UHES-AKB03 : BSc(Hons) Economics with Year long work placement (Year 2)
  • UHES-AFB02 : BSc(Hons) Economics and International Development (Year 2)
  • UHES-AKB02 : BSc(Hons) Economics and International Development with Year long work placement (Year 2)
  • UHES-AFB01 : BSc(Hons) Economics and Politics (Year 2)
  • UHES-AKB01 : BSc(Hons) Economics and Politics with Year long work placement (Year 2)

Notes:
* This unit catalogue is applicable for the 2014/15 academic year only. Students continuing their studies into 2015/16 and beyond should not assume that this unit will be available in future years in the format displayed here for 2014/15.
* Programmes and units are subject to change at any time, in accordance with normal University procedures.
* Availability of units will be subject to constraints such as staff availability, minimum and maximum group sizes, and timetabling factors as well as a student's ability to meet any pre-requisite rules.