Public Finance - NMFM306
Title: Veřejné finance
Guaranteed by: Department of Probability and Mathematical Statistics (32-KPMS)
Faculty: Faculty of Mathematics and Physics
Actual: from 2021
Semester: summer
E-Credits: 3
Hours per week, examination: summer s.:2/0, Ex [HT]
Capacity: unlimited
Min. number of students: unlimited
4EU+: no
Virtual mobility / capacity: no
State of the course: taught
Language: English
Teaching methods: full-time
Teaching methods: full-time
Guarantor: doc. Petr Janský, M.Sc., Ph.D.
Class: M Bc. FM
M Bc. FM > Doporučené volitelné
Classification: Economics > Financial Economics
Mathematics > Financial and Insurance Math.
Is interchangeable with: NFAP006
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download Syllabus Public Finance 2023-2024 IES CUNI.pdf Syllabus 2024 PhDr. Miroslav Palanský, Ph.D.
Annotation -
Last update: RNDr. Jitka Zichová, Dr. (06.05.2021)
Basic principles of public finance. The course is organized at the Faculty of Social Sciences, Charles University. Course in english.
Aim of the course -
Last update: G_M (24.04.2012)

To explain fundamentals of public finance.

Course completion requirements -
Last update: RNDr. Jitka Zichová, Dr. (19.04.2018)

Home assignments + Wiki edit + Written exam

Literature - Czech
Last update: PhDr. Natálie Švarcová, Ph.D. (11.02.2013)

• Stiglitz, J.E. (2000) Economics of the Public Sector, 3. Edition

• Hillman, A.L. (2009) Public Finance and Public Policy, Responsibilities and Limitations of Government, Cambridge University Press

• Gruber, J. (2010) Public Finance and Public Policy, Worth Publishers

• Hindriks, J., Myles, G.D. (2006) Intermediate Public Economics, The MIT Press

• Barr, N. (2004) The Economics of the Welfare State, Stanford University Press

• Cullis, J., Jones, P. (1998) Public Finance and Public Choice, McGraw Hill

Teaching methods -
Last update: G_M (24.04.2012)

Lecture.

Requirements to the exam -
Last update: RNDr. Jitka Zichová, Dr. (15.02.2018)

1) Home assignments: max. 20 points

There will be 2 home assignments (HA) with a maximum of 10 points each, announced in the beginning of the lectures on April 4, 2018 (HA1) and April 25, 2018 (HA2) and posted on the course webpage in the SIS. Home assignments are individual work. You will have exactly 1 week to submit your solution. Submit it in the section ‘Study group roster’ in the SIS (in .pdf format; may be hand-written and scanned) until April 11, 2018, 23:59 (HA1) and May 2, 2018, 23:59 (HA2). If you have any questions or problems with turning in your HA, please contact Miroslav Palanský (miroslav.palansky@fsv.cuni.cz).

2) Wiki edit: max. 20 points

There will be a list of Wikipedia pages on topics from public finance that need improvement. You are asked to register in an online system (Wikiproject) that tracks Wikipedia edits, sign up for topics and contribute. Wikipedia edits are individual work. You are expected to contribute around 1000 words to Wikipedia. All your edits are registered in the Wikiproject. You should finish your edits by May 2, 2018. After that, you will receive feedback from us and, possibly, other Wikipedists, and you will have the chance to incorporate this feedback into your edits, with a final deadline of May 18, 2018. Your edits will then be checked by us and you will obtain a grade for your assignment based on the quality of your edits.

3) Final exam: max. 60 points

The final exam will be a written test and will cover material from all the lectures, both home assignments and also the course textbook (Stiglitz, Economics of the Public Sector, third edition; only chapters that are covered in lectures). There will be at least three exam dates announced in the SIS.

Syllabus -
Last update: PhDr. Natálie Švarcová, Ph.D. (11.02.2013)

• Introduction

o Four questions of public finance

o Facts on governments around the world

o Why study public finance now?

• Economic Rationale for the Government

o Efficiency of the markets

o Market failures

o Distributive justice

o Paternalism

o Efficiency equity trade-off

• Public goods

o Types of public goods

o Efficient provision of public goods

• Public choice

o Voting

o Majority rule

• Government Bureaucracy

o Principal agent problem

o Rent-seeking

• Externalities

o Private solutions to externalities

o Public solution to externalities

• Expenditure programs

o Education

o Pension systems

o Health care and health insurance

• Financing public programs

o Taxation and economic efficiency

o Tax incidence

o Government borrowing

• Choice of taxation

o Optimal taxation - Ramsey rule, equal sacrifice

o Capital and other tax bases

Entry requirements -
Last update: RNDr. Jitka Zichová, Dr. (02.06.2021)

Introductory course in Economics, e.g. NMFM260 in the same semester as NMFM306.