Public Economics- Period 1

The free market does not always deliver socially optimal outcomes. In such situations where markets fail, there is a potential role for government intervention. At the same time, government intervention can also have (sometimes unintended) side effects. In this course, the many aspects of government intervention in the economic process including its logic and legitimacy are discussed. Topics that are central are: (i) the role for the government in the economic process, (ii) externalities, (iii) public goods, (iv) labor markets and income distribution (interpersonal and interregional), (v) optimal taxation, (vi) fiscal federalism and subsidiarity and (vii) location choice of firms and people. Much attention will be devoted to methods for policy evaluation, with special emphasis on cost-benefit analysis.

Contact hours listed under a course description may vary due to the combination of lecture-based and independent work required for each course therefore, CEA's recommended credits are based on the ECTS credits assigned by VU Amsterdam. 1 ECTS equals 28 contact hours assigned by VU Amsterdam