Public Sector Economics (Second Edition)

Author: Bowen Wei
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-04-01
Features: The book is divided into four parts. Part 1 provides an overview of public economics content and introduces the welfare economics tools that will be used in this book. In this part, the concept of economic efficiency will be discussed in detail, and specific situations where markets cannot efficiently allocate resources will be studied. It is precisely these "market failures" that provide the necessary premise for public intervention in the economy. In Part 2, we will discuss both the normative and empirical aspects of public expenditure, including theories of public goods and externalities, electoral models, price and investment decisions in increasing-return industries, preference revelation mechanisms, and cost-benefit analysis methods. Part 3 will discuss tax issues from three aspects: the issue of tax burden shifting and incidence, the incentive effects of taxes on households and firms, and the design of an efficient and fair tax system. We will also analyze the U.S. tax system as an example within the framework of these three principles. Part 4 discusses transfers to individuals and the government. Transfers to individuals can include cash transfers to low-income individuals, in-kind transfers, and the provision of various social insurance programs such as social security, unemployment insurance, or medical insurance.