| Unit name | The Economics of Public Policy |
|---|---|
| Unit code | SPOLM1062 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | M/7 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24) |
| Unit director | Dr. Yiming Wang |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Pre-requisites |
None |
| Co-requisites |
None |
| School/department | School for Policy Studies |
| Faculty | Faculty of Social Sciences and Law |
This unit examines key ideas from mainstream economics, their relevance to public policy and their application to public policy analysis. The unit also introduces alternative perspectives such as behavioural and institutional economics to complement the mainstream approach. The specific topics covered in the unit include, but are not limited to, the welfare economics of market intervention, the economic critique of government, the marketisation of public services, the ethics and economics of public policy, and the application of economic thinking to practical public policy issues, such as transport infrastructure and land value, financialisation of the housing market and global warming/climate change. The unit seeks to set the economic approach to policy alongside other criteria that could be used to inform thinking about public policy.
This unit will be delivered in sessions of 2 hours. Some sessions consist of introductory lectures while others are organised as policy seminars made up of student presentations, discussions and debates.
Students will complete one 4,000 word written assignment through which they will demonstrate an understanding of (i) concepts that are key to an economic approach to policy (ii) how an economic approach can be applied in practical public policy contexts and (iii) what sort of evaluative criteria the economic approach to policy uses and how that compares with other criteria that could inform policy thinking.
