Learning objectives
Knowledge of the economic aspects of public intervention is now a part of the essential professional education of the social services student. This course considers issues connected with the effects of taxation, with the public and merit characteristics of goods, with public spending in relation to social welfare, and examines the education, health and pensions and social security sectors, in terms of efficiency and equity. Concepts and measures of inequality and poverty are also examined, as well as the redistributive consequences of fiscal policies and the characteristics of possible methods for examining them. Microsimulation is used to study in detail the evolution of the Italian socio-economic situation, with examination of its main aspects (e.g. demography, education, employment, income, taxation and pension system) and quantification of the consequences of recent fiscal and social security policies, and with consideration the changes in personal income taxation, the increase in social security pensions and the possible role of mechanisms for index-linking social security pensions to earnings. The course draws on and provides all the elements of economics that are useful for a full understanding of the various topics.
Prerequisites
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Course unit content
<br />PUBLIC INTERVENTION AND REDISTRIBUTION <br />
National budget and redistribution; taxation, contributions, progressivity and redistribution; mixed goods, merit goods and redistribution; public spending and social welfare: efficiency and equity issues and types of intervention; education, health, benefits and labour market; he pensions and social security system. <br />
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ASSESSMENT OF REDISTRIBUTIVE ACTIVITIES <br />
Inequality, poverty and development of the welfare state; concepts and measures of inequality and poverty; inequality beyond the welfare approach. <br />
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MICROSIMULATION OF FISCAL POLICIES <br />
Dynamic microsimulation: advantages and limits; The MIND model; Description of the model, structure and validation and reliability of simulations. <br />
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FISCAL POLICIES, INCOME DISTRIBUTION AND POVERTY <br />
Evaluation of public policy; personal income taxation and trends in net income inequality and poverty; social security system and long-term indexation; income distribution and poverty among pensioners; child benefit and short, medium and long-term poverty; microsimulation of alternative measures and resulting trends. <br />
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The course is borrowed from Finance science of the degree course in Legal Science of the Law Faculty.
Full programme
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Bibliography
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The lectures cover the entire content of the course and contain exercises; individual assistance is provided during reception. <br />
The reference text is: P. Vagliasindi, EFFETTI REDISTRIBUTIVI DELL?INTERVENTO PUBBLICO, Giappichelli Editore, 2004. <br />
Other informative material on the exam is available on the web site.
Teaching methods
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Assessment methods and criteria
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Other information
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