Admission requirements
This course is for Master students of Public Administration, track Economics and Governance only.
Students are highly recommended to have intermediate knowledge on public economics, see e.g. Public Finance of Rosen and Gayer. Those who do not have an extensive background in economics and want to read more about economics can use the following book: Principles of Economics, Moore McDowell, Rodney Thom, Ivan Pastine, Robert Frank, Ben Bernanke. McGraw-Hill Education. Two important topics for this course are, 1) Marginal costs and benefits versus average costs and benefits: pages 11-13, and 2) Indifference curve analysis and the demand curve: pages 125-138.
Description
Governments implement welfare state programmes to protect their citizens against social risks such as falling sick, becoming unemployed, ageing or the occurrence of health costs. These programmes, that range from public benefits to the regulation of private insurance markets, may have a strong impact on the income, well-being and the behaviour of individuals. Welfare state programmes are typically justified by equity and public responsibility, but at the same time the growth of public expenditures force governments to make more efficient use of existing resources. This gives rise to a tension between equity and efficiency considerations.
This course provides an economic perspective on the design of equitable and efficient welfare state programmes. The course starts with exploring the fundamental arguments for state intervention and the provision of social insurance, using concepts from insurance theory. Next, attention will be devoted to different welfare state interventions, including cash benefits (such as unemployment insurance, sick pay, disability insurance and pensions) and benefits in kind programmes (e.g. health care and labour market programmes). Throughout the course, these programmes will be assessed along the line of equity and efficiency measures, using insights from the empirical literature on the effect of welfare state interventions on individual behaviour and social outcomes.
Course objectives
By the end of this course, students will be able to assess the concepts of the welfare state from an economic perspective:
Students can analyse and generate solutions to weekly exercises, for example onthe key equity and efficiency arguments for the provision of various welfare state programmes
Students can use the concepts of insurance theory and apply them to the context of the provision of social insurance.
Students can independently and critically evaluate empirical applications about individual behaviour in the context of the welfare state.
Students are able to apply their knowledge to real life welfare state programmes, of which they can evaluate, judge and communicate the pros and cons.
Students, working together with peers, can present arguments for policy intervention and discuss orally the pros and cons of policy options.
Timetable
On the Public Administration front page of the Studyguide you will find links to the website and timetables, uSis and Brightspace.
Mode of instruction
The course consists of seminars on the one hand and interactive meetings with exercises on the other hand.
Total course load 140 hours
Hours spent on attending seminars 14 hours (7 x 2 hours)
Hours spent on attending interactive meetings 14 hours (7 x 2 hours)
Written exam 5 hours
Time for studying compulsory literature and completing assignments 107 hours
Assessment method
Grading will be based on the quality of the presentation and on participation during the lectures and the interactive meetings (25%), together with an exam at the end of the course (75%). Students need a sufficient score for both the presentation & participation and the exam.
We offer a re-examination for the written exam, but not for the presentation and participation (in case the number of students is limited, we will offer an oral exam). A sufficient score for the presentation and participation remains valid during the current and the next academic year.
In the exceptional situation in which a sufficient score for the exam (75%) and an insufficient score for the presentation and participation (25%) lead to an insufficient end grade for the course, there is a retake for the insufficient 25% score (by writing a review report of a scientific paper).
Reading list
N. Barr (2020), Economics of the Welfare State, sixth edition, Oxford University Press
Journal papers will be announced on Brightspace.
Registration
Register yourself via MyStudymap for each course, workgroup and exam (not all courses have workgroups and/or exams).
Do so on time, before the start of the course; some courses and workgroups have limited spaces. You can view your personal schedule in MyTimetable after logging in.
Registration for this course is possible from Wednesday 12 July 13.00h
Leiden University uses Brightspace as its online learning management system. After enrolment for the course in MyStudymap you will be automatically enrolled in the Brightspace environment of this course.
More information on registration via MyStudymap can be found on this page.
Please note: guest-/contract-/exchange students do not register via MyStudymap but via uSis.
Contact
Dr. J. Meekes j.meekes@law.leidenuniv.nl