AØKA08035U Public Finance

Volume 2015/2016
Education

Elective at BSc in Economics
Elective at MSc in Economics

Content

The course focuses on the relationship between the government and the market and tries to answer such questions as when should the government intervene, and what problems can arise due to government interventions when governments operate under imperfect information and other imperfections.

The course will cover a range of the many critical decisions facing policy makers regarding both the expenditure side and the financing of the public sector. Examples of questions addressed in the course are:
 

  • How large should governments be?
  • What are the main arguments for government intervention?
  • How do individuals and firms respond to government policies and why is it important?
  • How can empirical methods be used to identify behavioral responses to government policy?
  • Should governments provide private goods?
  • How large are tax distortions and how are they minimized?
  • How big is the trade-off between equality and efficiency?
  • How high is the tax rate on the rich and how high should it be?
  • How big a problem is tax evasion and what is the optimal strategy to fight it?
  • Who bears the cost of a tax (often nothing is as it seems)?
  • What is the scope for fiscal stimulus policy during economic crisis?
  • What are the right and wrong policies to deal with the climate challenge?
Learning Outcome

The course introuces students to main topics and theoretical and empirical methods in modern public finance. At the end of the course, students are expected to:
 

  • know the main motives for and against public sector involvement in the economy
  • know about key concepts as well as theoretical and empirical results in modern public finance
  • be able to demonstrate a thorough understanding of the underlying mechanisms behind the theoretical results
  • be able to apply the empirical methods introduced in the course

 

The grade 12 is awarded to students who show full capability of meeting these stipulated expectations.

Syllabus:
Hindriks, Jean and Gareth Myles (2013): “Intermediate Public Economics”, 2nd edition, MIT Press (OBS: New edition).
Articles

Knowledge of first and second year micro- and macro-economics.
2 hours of lectures one to two times per week for 14 weeks

Timetable and classroom:
For time and classroom please press the link under "Se skema"(See schedule) at the right side of this page (15E means Autumn 2015, 16F means Spring 2016).

You can find the similar information partly in English at
https:/​/​skema.ku.dk/​ku1516/​uk/​module.htm
-Select Department: “2200-Økonomisk Institut” (and wait for respond)
-Select Module:: “2200-F16; [Name of course]”
-Select Period: “Forår/Spring – Weeks 4-29”
-Press: “ View Timetable”
  • Category
  • Hours
  • Exam
  • 3
  • Lectures
  • 42
  • Preparation
  • 161
  • Total
  • 206
Credit
7,5 ECTS
Type of assessment
Written examination, 3 hours under invigilation
A 3 hours written examination without aids.
Aid
Without aids
Marking scale
7-point grading scale
Censorship form
External censorship
100 % censurship
Exam period

The written exam takes place May 31, 2016 at Peter Bangsvej 36, 2000 Frederiksberg http://pc-eksamen.ku.dk/pc_exam

The exact time of the exam will be informed in the Self-Service at KUnet mid-April.

For enrolled students more information about examination, exam/re-sit, rules etc. is available at the student intranet for Examination (English),student intranet for Examination (KA-Danish) and student intranet for Examination (BA-Danish).

Re-exam

The written re-exam takes place August 9, 2016 at Peter Bangsvej

The exact time of the exam will be informed in the Self-Service at KUnet mid-July.

If only a few students have registered for the re-exam, the exam might change to an oral exam including the date for the exam, which will be informed  by the Examination Office.

Criteria for exam assesment

The student must in a satisfactory way demonstrate that he/she has mastered the learning outcome of the course.