"Public economics (or economics of the public sector) is the study of government policy through the lens of economic efficiency and equity."
The study of how the government can impact the economy through taxation, spending, and regulation.
Market Failures: Market failures occur when the market fails to allocate resources efficiently. Public economics examines different forms of market failures such as externalities, public goods, and asymmetric information.
Public Goods: Public goods are those goods that are non-excludable and non-rivalrous. Public economics examines the provision of public goods and the motivations for their provision.
Externalities: Externalities are the costs or benefits of a market exchange that are not reflected in the prices of the goods and services involved in the exchange. Public economics examines how externalities can be internalized through policy interventions such as taxes and subsidies.
Taxation: Taxation is one of the primary tools used by governments to raise revenue. Public economics examines the principles of optimal taxation and the tradeoffs involved in designing a tax system.
Market Design: Market design is the process of designing rules and mechanisms that govern market interactions. Public economics examines different market design problems such as auction design and matching markets.
Public Choice: Public choice theory applies the tools of economics to the study of political decision-making. Public economics examines different models of political behavior and their implications for policy outcomes.
Fiscal Federalism: Fiscal federalism is the study of how government spending and taxation are allocated between different levels of government. Public economics examines the advantages and disadvantages of different models of federalism such as centralized and decentralized systems.
Social Insurance: Social insurance is a system of government programs that provide income support in the event of unemployment, disability, or retirement. Public economics examines the design of social insurance programs and their impact on labor market outcomes.
Public Expenditure: Public expenditure is the spending of government money on goods and services. Public economics examines the principles of efficient public expenditure and the tradeoffs involved in designing a public expenditure system.
Regulation: Regulation is the imposition of rules by government on private interests. Public economics examines the principles of efficient regulation and the tradeoffs involved in designing a regulatory system.
"Public economics builds on the theory of welfare economics and is ultimately used as a tool to improve social welfare."
"Welfare can be defined in terms of well-being, prosperity, and overall state of being."
"Public economics provides a framework for thinking about whether or not the government should participate in economic markets and if so to what extent it should do so."
"Microeconomic theory is utilized to assess whether the private market is likely to provide efficient outcomes in the absence of governmental interference."
"This study involves the analysis of government taxation and expenditures."
"Broad methods and topics include the theory and application of public finance, analysis and design of public policy, distributional effects of taxation and government expenditures, analysis of market failure and government failure."
"Emphasis is on analytical and scientific methods and normative-ethical analysis, as distinguished from ideology."
"Examples of topics covered are tax incidence, optimal taxation, and the theory of public goods."
"Public economics (or economics of the public sector) is the study of government policy through the lens of economic efficiency and equity."
"Public economics builds on the theory of welfare economics and is ultimately used as a tool to improve social welfare."
"This study involves the analysis of government taxation and expenditures."
"Microeconomic theory is utilized to assess whether the private market is likely to provide efficient outcomes in the absence of governmental interference."
"Examples of topics covered are tax incidence, optimal taxation, and the theory of public goods."
"Emphasis is on analytical and scientific methods and normative-ethical analysis, as distinguished from ideology."
"Analysis and design of public policy" is one of the broad methods and topics included in public economics.
"Analysis and design of public policy" includes the examination of the distributional effects of taxation and government expenditures.
"Broad methods and topics include analysis of market failure and government failure."
"Emphasis is on analytical and scientific methods and normative-ethical analysis, as distinguished from ideology."
"Examples of topics covered are tax incidence, optimal taxation, and the theory of public goods."