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The role of government in society is examined using the tools and methods of microeconomics. Topics include welfare economics, public goods, externalities, optimal taxation and voting models.
This paper examines the ways government tax, expenditure, and debt policies affect the economy. It begins with a historical, empirical, and theoretical overview of government expenditure in OECD countries. It then develops microeconomic and macroeconomic tools to explore how government policies affect distribution of resources and the efficiency of the economy. Topics include institutional economics and public choice theory; income redistribution within cohorts and between cohorts; social security and retirement income policies; the distribution and efficiency effects of tax policies; and government finance (debt and asset positions, and the link to monetary policy). A focus of the course is the way that government policy can be used to transfer resources between generations, and how many governments adopt policies that impose large costs on young and future generations.
| Paper title | Public Economics |
|---|---|
| Paper code | ECON308 |
| Subject | Economics |
| EFTS | 0.15 |
| Points | 18 points |
| Teaching period | Not offered in 2021 (On campus) |
| Domestic Tuition Fees (NZD) | $872.70 |
| International Tuition Fees (NZD) | $4,405.05 |
- Prerequisite
- ECON 201 or ECON 271
- Schedule C
- Arts and Music, Commerce, Science
- Contact
- economics@otago.ac.nz
- More information link
- View more information about ECON 308
- Teaching staff
- Textbooks
Joel Slemrod and John Bakija (2017) Taxing Ourselves, 5th edition. (MIT Press)
- Graduate Attributes Emphasised
- Global perspective, Interdisciplinary perspective, Lifelong learning, Scholarship,
Critical thinking, Ethics, Teamwork.
View more information about Otago's graduate attributes. - Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of this paper, you should be able to
- Explain core micro- and macroeconomic principles relevant to understanding the scope and structure of government interventions in a market-oriented economy
- Use these principles to identify core problems that may benefit from government intervention, and core problems government interventions may need to overcome to solve these problems
- Use these principles to identify the trade-offs involved with specific public sector interventions in the economy
- Use these principles, along with appropriate data sources and literature, to formulate positive critiques of popular policy positions
Timetable
The role of government in society is examined using the tools and methods of microeconomics. Topics include welfare economics, public goods, externalities, optimal taxation and voting models.
This paper examines the ways government tax, expenditure, and debt policies affect the economy. You will learn about key policy issues through the language of microeconomic theory, vivid real-world examples and research processes that generate major empirical findings. Topics range from externalities, to public goods, to social insurance programs, to taxation. New topics of public policy debates, such as responses to climate change, drug legalisation and universal basic income will also be discussed in this course.
| Paper title | Public Economics |
|---|---|
| Paper code | ECON308 |
| Subject | Economics |
| EFTS | 0.15 |
| Points | 18 points |
| Teaching period | Semester 1 (On campus) |
| Domestic Tuition Fees | Tuition Fees for 2022 have not yet been set |
| International Tuition Fees | Tuition Fees for international students are elsewhere on this website. |
- Prerequisite
- ECON 201 or ECON 271
- Schedule C
- Arts and Music, Commerce, Science
- Contact
- More information link
- View more information about ECON 308
- Teaching staff
- Textbooks
Jonathan Gruber (2019). Public Finance Public Policy. New York: Macmillan Learning.
- Graduate Attributes Emphasised
- Global perspective, Interdisciplinary perspective, Lifelong learning, Scholarship,
Critical thinking, Ethics, Teamwork.
View more information about Otago's graduate attributes. - Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of this paper, you should be able to
- Explain core microeconomic principles and research processes relevant to understanding the scope and structure of government interventions in a market-oriented economy
- Use these principles and processes to identify core problems that may benefit from government intervention, and core problems government interventions may need to overcome to solve these problems
- Use these principles and processes to identify the trade-offs involved with specific public sector interventions in the economy
- Use these principles and processes to formulate positive critiques of popular policy positions
