This course is a research masters-level elective focusing on the most basic fiscal choices made by government. How big should government be? What is a good source of revenue? What is a good expenditure? Our approach to answering these questions will be comparative in several senses. That is, we will compare how different theoretical and disciplinary approaches to fiscal analysis – economic, institutional, political, and rational – answer these questions. We will also see how these questions have been answered in different times and in different places. Our approach to answering these questions will also blend theoretical and applied orientations.
Coordinator
Prof. Dr. D. Lowery
Teaching format
The course will be conducted using both lecture and discussion. I will generally give a very short lecture reviewing the major issues on the topic. This will be followed by an extended discussion of the assigned articles each week. Last, students will review additional papers on the topic, ideally a topic on which the student is doing the paper.
Course Material
It is assumed that students have had a general preparation in public finance. If not, two recommended texts are noted below. The required reading in the course will consist of published research articles in the professional journals on the various topics considered in the course. These will be made available via blackboard. Individually, students will also identify and select articles to discuss in class on the various topics with the other participants in the course.
C. A. de Kam, L. Koopmans, and A. H. E. M. Wellink. 2008. Overheidsfinancien. Groningen: Wolters-Noordhoof. ISBN: 978-90-01-70980-8.
John L. Mikesell, 2007. Fiscal Administration: Analysis and Applications for the Public Sector, 7th edition. Belmont, California: Wadsworth Publishers.
Grading
Final course grades will be based on three elements. First, 50 percent of the final grade will be based on research design proposal on some issue associated with fiscal choice. Details about the paper assignments will be provided during the term. Second, 50 percent of the final grade will be based on class discussion and student presentations of research articles.
Schedule
To be announced