ID:
500513
Duration (hours):
66
CFU:
9
SSD:
SCIENZA DELLE FINANZE
Year:
2025
Overview
Date/time interval
Secondo Semestre (16/02/2026 - 23/05/2026)
Syllabus
Course Objectives
The course introduces students to public intervention in market economies. In particular the course aims to explain the motivations of public intervention, the justifications provided by economic theory and the behavior of public institutions in various economic contexts. The presentation of basic principles, will be followed by an introduction to taxation and to health economics. The main aim of the course is to get students used to adopt economic instruments to understand public intervention (applying knowledge and understanding). Therefore the main target of the course is to provide students with methodological skills and let them acquire a critical perspective when analysing public expenditures and taxation (making judgements). At the end of the course students should be able: 1) to distinguish effciency and equity issues in public intervention 2) to understand the differences between alternative instruments used to reach the same target 3) to understand the limits of public intervention and the distortions that could affect market economies.
Course Prerequisites
A good knowledge of basic Microeconomics Is required to attend the course of Public Finance. Students should know the theory of consumer and demand, the theeory of production and production costs, the theory of market structure, with particuoar reference to perfect competition, with extension to the market for inputs. As to Monopoly and the theorems of welfare economics, they will be reviewed in class, being included in the topics of the Course. As the course includes also an introduction to health economics, some basic knowledge of choice under uncertainty and asymmetric information is also required. Other topics like public goods and externalities will be analyzed in depth and with a policy perspective, considering the corrections of market failures. At the start of the course, a test of basic microeoconomics will be proposed to the students, in order to evaluate the actual level of their knowledge. On the basis of the results of the test some tutorship sessions will be organized, to recover the essential concepts required to attend the lectures.
Teaching Methods
The Course is based on traditional lectures, integrated by excercises and tutorial sessions. During traditional lectures, interaction with students and feed back by them is higly encouraged, by proposing questions and "problem solving" activities. In order to go beyond the theoretical approach, some excercises are solved in class with the aim to apply the basic concepts to stylized context that can approach the reality of markets and institutions. Some lectures may be devoted to the collective reading of short articles that the instructor comments together with the students, still pursuing the aim to emphasize the practical significance of theoretical concepts previously introduced.
Assessment Methods
Written exam including multiple choice questions. Some of the multiiple choice questions requires to solve small excercises similar to those available in the KIRO platform. It is possible to take part to a mid-term exam that covers the first part of the course.
Texts
*J.E. Stiglitz and J.K. Rosengard “Economia del settore pubblico”, terza edizione, 2018, Hoepli, Milano
**G.Cervigni, M.D’Antoni “Monopolio naturale, Concorrenza, Regolamentazione”, 2001,
Carocci, Roma
**G.Cervigni, M.D’Antoni “Monopolio naturale, Concorrenza, Regolamentazione”, 2001,
Carocci, Roma
Contents
1.The public sector in a mixed economy (*Chapter 1)
2. Efficiency in Market Economies (*Chapter 2)
3. Market Failures (*Chapter 3)
4. Efficiency and equity (*Chapter 4, excluding, 4.3.6, appendix included until p.110)
5. Public goods and private goods provided by the public sector (*Chapter 5, ecluding 5.3.4, 5.4; including appendix A and B)
6. Public choice (*Chapter 6, excluding 6.2, 6.3 and appendix)
7. Natural Monopoly and Regulation (**Chapter1, excluding i 1.2.3, 1.3.2,1.3.3 including only the single product case pp.66, , 1.3.4, 1.4,1.5; Chapter.2, excluding 2.1, 2.2.2, 2.3, 2.4.2, 2.4.3, 2.5.2, 2.5.3, Appendix)
8. Externalities and environmental policy (***Chapter 5)
9. Taxation systems: an introduction (*, Chapter 9)
10. The economic effects of taxation (*, Chapter 10, excluding 10.2.2, 10.2.3, 10.4, 10.5 and Appendix)
11. Taxation and efficiency (*, Chapter11 until p.356 included)
12. Optimal Taxation (*, Chapter 12, excluding 12.3, 12.4)
13. Personal Income taxation in Italy (IRPEF) (***, Chapter 18, excluding 18.2.5)
14. Corporate Income taxation (***, Chapter 19, excluding 19.3)
15. The Health Sector
2. Efficiency in Market Economies (*Chapter 2)
3. Market Failures (*Chapter 3)
4. Efficiency and equity (*Chapter 4, excluding, 4.3.6, appendix included until p.110)
5. Public goods and private goods provided by the public sector (*Chapter 5, ecluding 5.3.4, 5.4; including appendix A and B)
6. Public choice (*Chapter 6, excluding 6.2, 6.3 and appendix)
7. Natural Monopoly and Regulation (**Chapter1, excluding i 1.2.3, 1.3.2,1.3.3 including only the single product case pp.66, , 1.3.4, 1.4,1.5; Chapter.2, excluding 2.1, 2.2.2, 2.3, 2.4.2, 2.4.3, 2.5.2, 2.5.3, Appendix)
8. Externalities and environmental policy (***Chapter 5)
9. Taxation systems: an introduction (*, Chapter 9)
10. The economic effects of taxation (*, Chapter 10, excluding 10.2.2, 10.2.3, 10.4, 10.5 and Appendix)
11. Taxation and efficiency (*, Chapter11 until p.356 included)
12. Optimal Taxation (*, Chapter 12, excluding 12.3, 12.4)
13. Personal Income taxation in Italy (IRPEF) (***, Chapter 18, excluding 18.2.5)
14. Corporate Income taxation (***, Chapter 19, excluding 19.3)
15. The Health Sector
Course Language
Italian
Degrees
Degrees
ECONOMICS
Bachelor’s Degree
3 years
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People
People
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