EC547 Half Unit
Public Economics for Research Students I
This information is for the 2025/26 session.
Course Convenor
Prof Camille Landais
Dr David Seim
Availability
This course is available on the MRes in Economics, MRes in Economics and Management, PhD in Economics and PhD in Economics and Management. This course is not available as an outside option to students on other programmes. This course uses controlled access as part of the course selection process.
For queries contact: econ.mres.phd@lse.ac.uk
Requisites
Mutually exclusive courses:
This course cannot be taken with EC534 at any time on the same degree programme.
Course content
The course will cover the economics of the public sector, including material on taxation, public expenditures and political economics. The course, which covers both theory and empirics, aims to give students a broad overview of this growing field and bring them to the research frontier.
The specific topics covered may vary from year to year. The following are likely to be included:
• Social insurance design: unemployment Insurance (and moral hazard); Health Insurance (and adverse Selection); social security; incidence.
• Inequality; intergenerational mobility; efficiency, labour supply and taxable income; employment protection.
Additional topics are explored in Public Economics for Research Students II in the Winter Term. The two half unit courses are designed to complement each other.
Teaching
30 hours of lectures in the Autumn Term.
Attendance is compulsory.
Formative assessment
Students will discuss papers in lectures.
Indicative reading
Readings will be mainly from journal articles; a list will be supplied at the start of the term. Although the course will not be based on a textbook as such, it will make extensive use of:
- Handbook of Public Economics Vol. 1-4 (A.J. Auerbach and M. Feldstein, eds.)
- Lectures in Public Economics, A.B.Atkinson and J.E.Stiglitz, Princeton University Press, 2015.
Assessment
Continuous assessment (100%)
Key facts
Department: Economics
Course Study Period: Autumn Term
Unit value: Half unit
FHEQ Level: Level 8
CEFR Level: Null
Total students 2024/25: 13
Average class size 2024/25: Unavailable
Controlled access 2024/25: NoCourse selection videos
Some departments have produced short videos to introduce their courses. Please refer to the course selection videos index page for further information.