23-36.906.162 Economics of the Welfare State

Lehrende: Prof. Dr. Mathias Kifmann

Veranstaltungsart: Vorlesung + Übung

Anzeige im Stundenplan: Econ. Welfare State

Semesterwochenstunden: 3

Credits: 6,0

Unterrichtssprache: Englisch

Min. | Max. Teilnehmerzahl: - | -

Kommentare/ Inhalte:
This course uses methods from economics to analyze the welfare state. The focus is on the economic effects of social health insurance, public pensions, and transfer programs to alleviate poverty. We analyze how these institutions affect the insurance and savings decisions and consider how they lead to intra- and intergenerational redistribution. We examine a number of important policy issues, e.g., the design of transfer programs and the consequences of ageing.

Outline:

1.      Introduction

2.      The Welfare State – an Overview

3.      Insurance, Savings and the Welfare State

4.      Intragenerational Redistribution through the Welfare State

5.      Intergenerational Redistribution through the Welfare State


The course consists of the lecture and an exercise session.

Requirements:

The course requires a good knowledge of microeconomics. In addition, students should be familiar with regression analysis.


Literature:

The course uses the following textbooks:

Barr, Nicholas (2012). Economics of the Welfare State. 5th ed. Oxford: OUP.

Salanié, Bernard (2011). The Economics of Taxation. 2nd ed. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Additional literature will be referred to during the course.


Grading:

Exam duration: 90 min.

Students can improve their grade up to 0.7 by taking up assignments, e.g., oral presentations of problem sets.