Economics

The course aims to introduce students to the study of public economics at an advanced level. In particular, the aim of the course is to deepen some issues relating to the role of the public sector in the economy and to the main public finance topics in the current debate. The program will enable students to acquire the necessary theoretical knowledge to assess the opportunity of the public sector intervention into the economy. This also will allow to capture specific aspects of the economic and political debate on the role of the public sector. For this purpose, the theoretical aspects (especially regarding public spending, budget balances, debt, inequality and poverty reduction, etc.) will be complemented by some empirical applications of policy instruments used both at national and international levels. Particular attention will be paid to the European context. At the end of the course and after passing the exam, students will be able to understand the outcome of modern research in public economics. In particular, they will be able to critically assess the main theoretical and empirical models with respect to public spending growth, budget balance sustainability and the formation of political decisions, as a result of different voting systems. Students can use these models for analyzing the economic patterns at an advanced level, interpreting what happens in real economic world, and actively participating to the economic policy debate, interpreting what happens in real economic world, and actively participating to the economic policy debate. Thanks to the course attendance, after passing the exam, the student acquires an advanced knowledge on many issues and on a variety of tools which can be fruitfully applied in a large number of professional fields in the public and economic sector. In particular, students will be able to prepare economic reports and analyses paying attention to the policy implications, to analyze government data evaluating the main macroeconomic variables related to the role of the public sector into the economy. The understanding of most scientific – even recent – papers in public economics, both theoretical and empirical, will allow students to also draft serious pieces of research on these topics.