100% satisfaction guarantee Immediately available after payment Both online and in PDF No strings attached
logo-home
Complete Summary of Economics of the Public Sector (including lectures) $5.36
Add to cart

Summary

Complete Summary of Economics of the Public Sector (including lectures)

 78 views  5 purchases
  • Course
  • Institution
  • Book

Complete Summary of Economics of the Public Sector (including lectures) ECB2EPS, period 4, 2021. Including graphs from the book and lectures.

Preview 4 out of 56  pages

  • No
  • The necessary chapters
  • June 30, 2021
  • 56
  • 2020/2021
  • Summary
avatar-seller
Complete: Lectures + Book



Summary
Economics of the
Public Sector
Period 4, 2021




Book: Public Finance by Harvey S. Rosen and Ted Gayer

,Table of Contents

Week 1: Chapter One and Three ............................................................................................................. 2
Chapter 1: Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 2
Chapter 3: Tools of Normative Analysis .............................................................................................. 4
Week 2: Chapter Four and Twelve .......................................................................................................... 9
Chapter 4: Public Goods ...................................................................................................................... 9
Chapter 12: Income Redistribution: conceptual issues ..................................................................... 11
Week 3: Chapter Five ............................................................................................................................ 14
Chapter 5: Externalities ..................................................................................................................... 14
Week 4: Chapter Fourteen and Chapter Fifteen ................................................................................... 19
Chapter 14: Taxation and Income Distribution ................................................................................. 19
Chapter 15: Taxation and Efficiency .................................................................................................. 24
Week 5: Chapter Sixteen and Eighteen ................................................................................................. 29
Chapter 18: Personal Taxation and Behaviour .................................................................................. 35
Week 6: Chapter Nineteen .................................................................................................................... 42
Chapter 19: The Corporation Tax ...................................................................................................... 42
Week 7: Chapter Twenty ....................................................................................................................... 50
Chapter 20: Deficit Finance ............................................................................................................... 50




1

,Week 1: Chapter One and Three
Chapter 1: Introduction

What is the public sector?:

Public Finance/Economics of the Public Sector book: “The field of economics that analyzes
government taxation and government spending policies”.

Abstract definition (Weber): “an institution that successfully claims the monopoly of legitimate
physical force within a certain geographical area”.

➔ government can impose a policy and enforce it (public law)
➔ political decision making
➔ budget mechanism instead of price mechanism

Different from a private company:

- no profit maximization
- no competition
- no market price

Government failure is possible!

In east Europe there is lower government spending. This is because they are late members of EU. In a
communist world they didn’t have public sectors.


Why do we need a public sector? Two theories:

Positive theory: explain how and why things actually happen, analyze consequences → government
developed because certain groups in society (ab)used their power

Normative theory: what are the best instruments to achieve certain (given) objectives? →
government is needed to raise social welfare by increasing efficiency and equity.


Controversial issue:

- Different ideologies:
o Organic view: many people see the society as a body, each individual is a part of this
body. It is a organic whole. Government can be seen as the brain.
o Mechanistic view: government works like a machine, and people also work as a
machine. The individual rather than the group is at center stage. Virtually everyone
agrees that it is good for individuals when government protects them from violence.
To do so government must have a monopoly on coercive power.
- Different weights attached:
o Efficiency: no waste of resource, maximum of goods is produced as what is needed
o Equity: people have equal shares and participate in the economy.
- Intertemporal issues: government has to take care of the future generations. They (future
generation) cannot think about this now, so the government has to take care of this.




2

, Some concepts:

- Unified budget: The document that includes all the federal government’s revenues and
expenditures.
- Regulatory budget: An annual statement of the costs imposed on the economy by
government regulations. (Currently, there is no such budget.)
- Entitlement programs: Programs whose expenditures are determined by the number of
people who qualify, rather than present budget allocations.


Normative arguments for a government:

- Efficiency arguments:
o Government is required for well-functioning of the market mechanism
▪ The market mechanism has to be able to function
• Project property rights and compel fulfilment of contracts
• But a government still need property rights to protect the people
and to function as a government.
• Libertarians: monarchism, also known as nachtwakersstaat in the
Netherlands.
o Government should correct market failures
▪ Too little competition (market power)
▪ Public goods (for example; lighthouse):
• Non excludable: that it is either very expensive or impossible to
prevent anyone from consuming it.
• Non rival: the fact that one person consumes it does not prevent
anyone else from doing so as well.
▪ Externalities (e.g. pollution): A cost or benefit that occurs when the activity
of one entity directly affects the welfare of another in a way that is outside
the market mechanism.
▪ Natural Monopolies: high fixed costs, things like train rails.
▪ Incomplete markets (e.g due to asymmetric information).
• Asymmetric information: A situation in which one party engaged in
an economic transaction has better information about the good or
service traded than the other party.
- Equity argument:
o Government should redistribute income: can be inefficient
- Paternalistic motive:
o Merit/demerit goods
▪ Merit = good just as education, health care etc.
▪ Demerit = not good, these should be prevented by the government, because
it is bad for the society (alcohol, drugs, cigarettes).




3

The benefits of buying summaries with Stuvia:

Guaranteed quality through customer reviews

Guaranteed quality through customer reviews

Stuvia customers have reviewed more than 700,000 summaries. This how you know that you are buying the best documents.

Quick and easy check-out

Quick and easy check-out

You can quickly pay through credit card or Stuvia-credit for the summaries. There is no membership needed.

Focus on what matters

Focus on what matters

Your fellow students write the study notes themselves, which is why the documents are always reliable and up-to-date. This ensures you quickly get to the core!

Frequently asked questions

What do I get when I buy this document?

You get a PDF, available immediately after your purchase. The purchased document is accessible anytime, anywhere and indefinitely through your profile.

Satisfaction guarantee: how does it work?

Our satisfaction guarantee ensures that you always find a study document that suits you well. You fill out a form, and our customer service team takes care of the rest.

Who am I buying these notes from?

Stuvia is a marketplace, so you are not buying this document from us, but from seller MT7. Stuvia facilitates payment to the seller.

Will I be stuck with a subscription?

No, you only buy these notes for $5.36. You're not tied to anything after your purchase.

Can Stuvia be trusted?

4.6 stars on Google & Trustpilot (+1000 reviews)

52510 documents were sold in the last 30 days

Founded in 2010, the go-to place to buy study notes for 14 years now

Start selling
$5.36  5x  sold
  • (0)
Add to cart
Added