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ECON – Topics in Public Sector Economics
Campus S3H
Programs PG
Session Spring Semester 2017
Course Title Topics in Public Sector Economics
Course Code ECON –
Credit Hours 3 Hours/week
Pre-Requisutes
Course Objectives To give students an appreciation of the analytical methods in economics for the study of the public sector and its role in principle and practice. This course provides a basis for the economic analysis of public policy issues. It analyzes the role of public sector in the economic system, its functions, management techniques, taxation, public goods provision, methods of efficiency evaluation, fiscal federalism. The focus of the course is on the main parts of public finance _ taxation and government expenditures. Issues related to the role of the state and bureaucracy, public choice, management of public assets and liabilities will be examined.
Detail Content
  • Fundamentals of  Welfare economics— Introduction; Market efficiency; market failure; allocative, distributional, regulatory and stabilization roles of government; equity and efficiency
  • Public Expenditure Theory—Public good and publicly provided private goods; public choice; public production and bureaucracy, Regulations, bureaucrats and efficiency; privatization, Rent seeking costs and political process; externalities and environment; analysis of expenditures policy; evaluation of public expenditures, cost benefit analysis and project appraisal; Social insurance
  • Taxation theory—Tax theory-basic concepts; tax incidence; welfare cost of taxation, taxation and economic efficiency; optimal taxation and income distribution; tax evasion and the black economy
  • Further topics—Income distribution, criticism to redistribution, Fiscal federalism; welfare gains from multiple fiscal units, local governments; the Tiebout Hypothesis; Fiscal aspects of macroeconomic theories
Text/Ref Books
  • Stiglitz, J.  (2000), Economics of the Public Sector. 3rd Ed. Norton & Company.
  • Brown, CV., Jackson, PM., (1990) Public Sector Economics, 4th Ed.
  • John Cullis and Philip Jones (1992) Public finance and public choice: analytical perspectives.
Time Schedule Spring Semester 2015
Faculty/Resource Person Dr. Faisal
PhD-Economics