Content

The course Public Economics provides an overview of the fundamental issues in public economics.

Learning goals:

Students are able to:

• critically assess the economic role of the state in a market economy.
• explain and discuss key concepts in public economics, including: public goods; economic externalities; and market failure.
• explain and critically discuss competing theoretical approaches to public economics, including welfare economics and public choice theory.
• explain the theory of bureaucracy according to Weber and critically assess its strengths and weaknesses.
• evaluate the incentives inherent in the bureaucratic model, as well as the more recent introduction of market-oriented incentives associated with public-sector reform.