This course will provide an overview of the role of government, blending theory and
empirical evidence. The course is taught using applications, where the policies considered
are microeconomic policies, particularly concerned with environmental sustainability and
climate change, health economics and education, wellbeing and inequality, etc..
The first section of the course begins with a discussion of theoretical rationale behind
government intervention in the economy. The following weeks are dedicated to
government activities motivated by different market failures, including policies designed to
reduce inequality in society, the provision of public goods such as health care services and
education, regulation in the face of ill-defined property rights (e.g. road congestion and
climate change), the provision of social insurance and how behavioural economics can
inform policy design. The course ends with an introduction to public choice models, which
aim to explain how governments operate in practice.
Simona MONTAGNANA
Cours magistral seul
English
Spring 2023-2024
LECTURE 1
Public policy evaluation - objectives and tools
First class presents an introduction to public policy evaluation and the economic tools. It will help students to understand the project assignment.
LECTURE 2
Public policy evaluation - Policy measures and their determinants
This class follows on public policy evaluation addressing the main issues raised in the process of evaluation.
LECTURE 3
Capitalism, State and public policy
Public policies are proportional to the State power and degree of intervention. This class addresses the size of government and how it can reflect either a liberal capitalism or a regulated capitalism.
LECTURE 4
Capitalism, Firms and communities
This class is about the interactions between firms, individuals and communities in modern capitalism and how the level of interactions and distribution of power between them determine public policies.
LECTURE 5
Electoral rules, form of government and policies.
The political economy of electoral rules is exposed to understand the political frame of public policies.
LECTURE 6
Collective choice, social norms and public policies
This class is about first the limits of defining aggregated preferences (Arrow impossibility theorem) and social norms influence the design and orientations of public policy.
LECTURE 7
Social responsibility of business.
The question of the ethics of capitalism is recurrently on the board. Societies are facing social and environmental issues. Enterprises are more and more expected to be concerned by social issues and even to participate to an inclusive capitalism. Why and How ?
LECTURE 8
Public policies, lobbying and corruption
The class focuses on the role of lobbying in the design of public policy and its increasing weight.