Conocimientos de Microeconomía intermedia

Students must learn how to apply their knowledge in subjects such as Public Economics and Microeconomics in the analysis of problems relating to the role of the public sector in the economy. In particular, students will acquire the following knowledge skills: ¿ Understanding of the reasons for government intervention in the provision of a basic set of private and public goods and the value judgments that justify different types of interventions that are seen in different countries ¿ The student will be exposed to the different systems of economic evaluation of public projects, with special emphasis on the information necessary to make possible that activity. ¿ Understand the role of the state as provider of insurance and the redistributive effect of its policies. ¿ Carefully distinguish the impact of government spending on the behavior and welfare of economic agents.

K1: Understand democratic principles and values, as well as the Sustainable Development Goals, with special emphasis on respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, gender equality, non-discrimination, universal accessibility principles, and the fight against climate change. K3: Acquire knowledge of the theories and techniques specific to Economics, employing appropriate terminology and the scientific method. K4: To understand the functioning of the economy as the efficient allocation of scarce resources, including the importance of equity. K5: Know quantitative and qualitative research techniques, and be able to discern which are the most appropriate to apply in the field of economics. K6: Comprehend the economic and social impact of various public policies on different agents and in diverse socioeconomic contexts. K7: Understand the economic variables that regulate the economy and govern the behaviour of agents. K8: Understanding economic institutions K9: Identify the economic, political, and social framework for the activities of various economic, political, or social agents. K10: Understand the fundamental elements of the economic environment from the perspective of different theories and various economic agents. S2: Exploit information by interpreting relevant data, avoiding plagiarism, and adhering to academic and professional conventions within the field of study, with the ability to evaluate the reliability and quality of the information. S4: Manage and develop autonomous learning within the field of Economics. S5: Formulate, debate, and defend critical and ethical arguments related to Economics. S8: Formally representing economic decision-making processes S9: Derive relevant economic information from the data, and be able to process it to answer the questions of interest S11: Describe and analyze economic problems within a specific social context. S12: Model and quantitatively interpret specific economic issues C4: Solve economic models of interest from both theoretical and numerical perspectives. C6: Integrate democratic principles and values, as well as the Sustainable Development Goals, into the professional sphere.

1. Externalities 1.1 Theory of Externalities 1.2 Private Sector solutions to negative externalities. 1.3 Public Sector remedies for externalitites 1.4 Distinctions Between Price and Quantity Approaches to Addressing Externalities 1.5 Externalities in Action: Environmental and Health Externalities 2. Public goods. 2.1 Specific examples of inefficient private provision. 2.2 The problem of Crowd-out. 2.3 How to measure the preferences for public goods. 3. Cost-benefit analysis. 3.1 Measuring the costs and benefits of public projects. 3.2 Applications: Valuing life; Valuing Time. 4. Government intervention in Education. 4.1 Private sector failures in the provision of education. 4.2 Redistribution, equality of opportunity and education. 4.3 Different types of public intervention. 4.4 Higher education. 4.5 Ways to evaluate educational institutions. 5. Problems of asymmetric information and adverse selection and social insurance policies. 5.1 Reasons for the social security system. 5.2 Unemployement insurance. 6. Public Health Systems. 7. Political economy 7.1 Representative democracy. 7.2 Public choice theory. 7.3 Rent seeking and corruption.

The student will apply the basic ideas of Public Economics to study specific cases of public sector intervention. As an important part of the teaching methodology is based on case studies, students should consult papers and articles in professional journals.