Public finance (2017/2018)

Learning outcomes

The course presents the role played by of the public sector within modern economic systems through taxation, public spending and regulation. Emphasis will be placed on the motivation of public intervention and it implications in terms of efficiency and equity. After attending the course students are expected to understand key public finance decisions as wells as their short- and long-term implications for consumers and firms.

Part I:
-Market failures and possible interventions: externalities, public goods, natural monopoly, asymmetry of information.
- Redistribution (cash and in-kind)
-Decentralization: theory and the implementation in Italy

Part II:
-Social security: pensions, health care, poverty and unemployment insurance
-Pension systems: the rationale for public intervention; characteristics of different pensions systems; pension reforms in Italy since the 1990s.

Part III:
-Alternative financing tools: taxes and debt;
-General principles of taxation: equity and efficiency considerations;
-What characterises taxes: tax bases and tax rates;
-The economic impact of taxation
-The main characteristics of the Italian tax system: personal income tax, corporate taxation, taxation of returns on capital, indirect taxes, local taxes.
-Taxation in open economies.

The exam aims to test the understanding of the concepts introduced during the course and the ability to apply them for the solution of simple problems.
The exam is split into two parts:
- a preliminary multiple choice test (weight: 1/3)
- a written exam with exercises and theoretical questions (weight: 2/3)
Admission to the second part is conditioned on the achievement of a minimum score in the first part (14/30).
The exam may (optionally) be split into two parts: the first will be scheduled during the course, with questions of topics covered until that point; the second, scheduled for the same date date as the whole entire exam, with questions on the remaining part of the programme. The weight of the two parts in determining the final grade is the same.

STUDENT MODULE EVALUATION - 2017/2018