| CODE | ECN4195 | |||||||||
| TITLE | Applied Public Sector Economics | |||||||||
| UM LEVEL | 04 - Years 4, 5 in Modular UG or PG Cert Course | |||||||||
| MQF LEVEL | 6 | |||||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 4 | |||||||||
| DEPARTMENT | Economics | |||||||||
| DESCRIPTION | The study unit evaluates the respective roles of appropriation and privatisation in an economy. It integrates considerations regarding fiscal, monetary and foreign exchange policies. The objectives of policy makers and voters are assessed in terms of theories of social choice. Applications highlight the respective situations in Malta. Main Text/s and any supplementary readings: 1. Introduction to Applied Public Sector Economics Topics: how and why government intervenes in the economy; recent fiscal developments in Malta; fiscal impact of the crisis Readings: Gruber, Chapter 1 ‘Why study public Finance?’ Connolly, Chapter 1 ‘Introduction’ 2. Fiscal Sustainability Topics: assessing sustainability; estimating the debt-stabilizing primary deficit; impact of non-debt creating flows; fiscal vulnerability Readings: IMF, (2011), ‘Modernising the framework for fiscal policy and public debt sustainability analysis’ Reiss, L. ‘Implications of the crisis for public finances: the case of Austria’, OeNB 3. Malta Stability Programme Topics: submission and assessment of the SP; format of the SP; Malta: Update of the SP 2012-2015; Commission Assessment of Malta SP 2012 Readings: Ministry of Finance, ‘Malta: Update of Stability Programme 2012-2015’ European Commission, (2012)‘Assessment of the 2012 national reform programme and stability programme for Malta’ Commission Staff Working Document 321 final IMF, May 2012, ‘Malta: 2012 Article IV Consultation – Staff Report’ European Commission, ‘Guidelines on the format and content of the stability and convergence programmes’ 4. The Size of Government Topics: relationship between government expenditure and GDP; optimal size of Government; empirical analysis; components most detrimental to growth; government expenditure and growth; economic growth and taxation; quality of public finances Readings: Antonio Afonso, Wener Ebert, Ludger Schiknecht and Michael Thone (2005), ‘Quality of Public Finances and Growth’, ECB Working Paper No. 438 Antonio Afonso and Davide Furceri, 2008, ‘Government Size, Composition, Volatility and Economic Growth’, ECB Working Paper No 849 James Gwartney, Robert Lawson, Randall Holcombe, 1998, ‘The Size and Functions of Government and Economic Growth’ European Commission, 2009, Public Finances in EMU European Commission, (March 2009), ‘The quality of public finances and growth: a conceptual framework’, EC Occasional Paper 45 Alfonso Arpaia and Alessandro Turrini, (February 2008) ‘Government expenditure and economic growth in the EU: Long-run tendencies and short-run adjustment’, Economic Papers 300 5. Fiscal Rules Topics: types and implications of different rules; issues of flexibility; taking account of inflation; drawbacks of fiscal rules; fiscal rules as a tool towards better economic performance; features for developing effective fiscal rules; recent experience; the fiscal rule strength index; the fiscal rule index Readings: European Commission, (2010) ‘National Fiscal Frameworks’ (Part II, Ch3 Public Finances in EMU pp98- ) IMF, ‘Fiscal rules in response to the crisis – towards the ‘next generation’ rules: A new dataset’ Working Paper 12/187 IMF, ‘Fiscal Rules at a glance: country details from a new dataset’ Working Paper 12/273 IMF, (2009) ‘Fiscal rules – anchoring expectations for sustainable public finance’ 6. SGP Topics: implementation of the reformed SGP; the six-pack; the Treaty on Stability, Co-ordination and Governance; the two-pack Readings: European Commission, ‘Public Finance in EMU 2012’ European Commission ‘Specifications on the implementation of the Stability and Growth Pact’ (3 September 2012) ‘EU Economic governance ‘six-pack’ enters into force’ (Europa Press Release) 7. European Semester Topics: the European Semester; the Euro Plus Pact; Critic of the European Semester; Readings: Presidency Note on the Implementation of the European Semester – Synthesis Report European Semester: a new architecture for the new EU Economic Governance, MEMO/11/14, 12 January, 2011 European Parliament, ‘European Semester: why it matters, and what can be done to improve it’ O. Derruine and A. Tiedemann, ‘ The first European Semester and its contribution to the EU2020 Strategy’ 8. Education Policy Topics: justification of government intervention (positive externalities); free public education and crowding out; solving the crowding out problem; problems with educational vouchers; measuring the returns to education; some stylised facts; Malta: education and key measures to attain the set targets |
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| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Lecture and Tutorial | |||||||||
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| LECTURER/S | Stephanie Vella |
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The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2023/4. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
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