Economic Analysis of Public Policy

Course Coordinator: Dr. Thomas Chan, B.Cog.Sci (HKU); MA (Boston College); PhD (Boston College)

Course Developer: Dr Ku Kei Tat, Consultant

Advisory prerequisite(s)
You are strongly advised to have already studied ECON A231 and ECON A232.

Aims
This course aims to provide students with the concepts and theories needed to analyse public policies. The focus of the course is on the policies on social security, unemployment, health care systems, environmental protection, as well as fiscal policies and public debts. The course also aims to provide students with a general understanding of policy design by governments in certain important areas such as pension systems and health care financing.

Contents
The course covers the following topics:

• The economics of social security and unemployment insurance
• The economics of health care financing and environmental protection
• The economics of education
• Fiscal policy and stabilization
• The economics of public debt

Learning support
There will be six two-hour tutorials.

Assessment
There will be two assignments and a final examination. Students are required to submit assignments via the Online Learning Environment (OLE).

Set book(s)
Rosen, H, S and Gayer, T (2014) Public Finance, 10th edn, New York: McGraw-Hill.