Harvard Kennedy School
API-102: Economic Analysis of Public Policy
Description: This course builds on API-101A (Markets and Market Failures) and uses microeconomic tools to analyze government programs and policies. The course is broadly focused on evaluating the rationale for government intervention in the economy and evaluating the efficiency, incentive, and distributional effects of government policies.
Applications include climate change, tax policy, welfare policy, government contracting, health care, education, immigration, and trade. This course presumes the ability to use basic calculus.
This course includes four sections:
The A section introduces the major themes of the course, and specific areas of application including cost-benefit analysis, taxation, income redistribution, health, education, infrastructure and trade.
The B section focuses on economic policymaking in the open economy, with both macroeconomic and microeconomic elements.
The C section focuses on applications at the nexus of business and government, including energy policy, competition policy, environmental regulation, financial markets, labor markets, public health and safety, and insurance markets.
The D section focuses on social policy and the design of optimal government programs, with applications including poverty alleviation, health, education, unemployment, and taxation.
Prerequisite: API-101A (Markets and Market Failures) or equivalent.
Faculty: Faculty: Jose Carlos Rodriguez-Pueblita (API-102A, 2013); George Borjas (API-102B, 2013); Pinar Dogan (API-102C and API-102B, 2013).
Source: At http://http://www.hks.harvard.edu/degrees/teaching-courses/course-listing (accessed 13 February 2013)