Economics and Finance

SILVIA FEDELI

This course is designed to help students to achieve a solid grasp of the theory of public finance by applying the basic tools of microeconomics. The course trains students in areas relevant to the needs of business and government's institutions and provides the necessary background for advanced graduate studies.
Topics covered include: the theories of collective decision processes (voting, Condorcet winner, Arrow's theorem, median voter theorem, social welfare functions); market failures (public goods, Samuelsonian public goods; merit goods; externalities; club goods and fiscal federalism); interest group, bureaucracy and rent seeking; fiscal constitution and public budgetary process; analysis of public expenditures; theories of taxation (progressive, regressive and proportional taxation; issues of efficiency, effectiveness and equity; optimal taxation; commodity and income taxation; tax shifting and tax incidence; Italian tax system); deficit financing and public debt (Ricardian equivalence, Lucas and Barro model, intergenerational shifting of debt burden; sustainability and Domar's model) cost-benefit analysis.

Knowledge and understanding of the main areas of public intervention in the market economy. Ability to apply acquired knowledge, both to develop and support arguments and to solve problems in the field of public economics.
Ability to collect and interpret data useful in determining independent judgments about public choices, including those related to social and ethical issues.
Develop skills necessary to undertake further study.

Economia Politica (9CFU)
Good knowledge of Italian language

The course covers the following issues:
Public choices and social welfare functions.
Market failures: externalities and public goods.
Models of bureaucracy and interest groups in public decision processes.
Public budgets and fiscal constitution.
Public reveneus: the Italian tax system.
Theories of public debt.
Central and local government; local public finance.

Reference bibliography

Francesco Forte, MANUALE DI SCIENZA DELLE FINANZE (Terza edizione aggiornata da Silvia Fedeli con la collaborazione di P.diCaro, L.Giuriato, F.Palmisano, F.Porcelli), Giuffrè Francis Lefebre Ed., 2025.



CAPITOLO I

CAPITOLO II

CAPITOLO III

CAPITOLO IV (Parte I, paragrafi 1-8, 10-11, 13-17; Parte II, Parte III, paragrafi 1-4)

CAPITOLO V (paragrafi 1-4 e 6-10)

CAPITOLO VI (Parte I)

CAPITOLO VIII

CAPITOLO IX

CAPITOLO X (Parte I; Parte II; Parte III paragrafi 1-4)

CAPITOLO XI (Parte I; Parte II paragrafi 1-5 e 8, Parte III)

CAPITOLO XII (Parte I; Parte II paragrafo 6)

The course shall be delivered in standard modality.

"in attendance" mode

There is a written in itinere test on the first part of the programme for students attending the course, followed by an oral examination on the entire programme.
Students who do not attend or who do not pass the in itinere test will take a written admission test and an oral test on the whole programme.

The relevant material is available at: https://elearning.uniroma1.it/

• First semester, second year