|
 Academic Year: | 2016/7 |
| Owning Department/School: | Department of Economics |
| Credits: | 6 [equivalent to 12 CATS credits] |
| Notional Study Hours: | 120 |
| Level: | Intermediate (FHEQ level 5) |
| Period: |
|
| Assessment Summary: | EX 100% |
| Assessment Detail: |
|
| Supplementary Assessment: |
|
| Requisites: | Before taking this module you must take ES10001 AND take ES10005 |
| Description:
| Aims: * To enable students to apply principles of microeconomics to analyse public economic theory. * To enable students to understand and assess policy issues in public economics. * To make students aware of the different schools of thought in public economics. Learning Outcomes: At the end of the course unit students should be able to: * Apply microeconomic theory rigorously to assess theoretical issues in public economics. * Understand and evaluate policy debates in public economics. * Interpret empirical evidence and whether it supports the theoretical models studied. 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 economic roles and policy tools of governments. 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. Students are encouraged to take ES20019 Public Finance (Economics of Taxation) after taking this unit. ES20019 covers in depth how governments finance their activities and complements the topics covered in Public Economics (ES20068). |
| Programme availability: |
ES20068 is Optional on the following programmes:Department of Economics
|
Notes:
|