JOSSELIN Jean-Michel - Public Economics & Programme Evaluation (30h)

Academic Assistant: Colm LAVELLE

Public economics theory is about the efficient and welfare-enhancing provision of various types of collective goods, from the local to the supranational scale. In practice, public good provision goes through public policies that involve the implementation of programs and often equipment and facilities. The specificities of public goods usually prevent competitive market pricing from optimally allocating resources. Nevertheless, non-competitive mechanisms for resource allocation can be welfare-improving, providing those public interventions are properly evaluated. Hence the need for program evaluation.

This course links theoretical and institutional insights in public good provision to the appraisal of investment projects. It provides a self-contained introduction to the main methods required for conducting evaluations of public programs, which are advocated by the European Union, the European Investment Bank and World Bank, the OECD, as well as many governments.

For more information, please consult the ECTS Card.