Economics of the public sector

Table of Contents Part One: Role and Size of the Public Sector Chapter 1: Defining Public Sector Responsibilities The Economic Role of Government Thinking Like a Public Sector Economist Disagreements Among Economists Review and Practice Chapter 2: Measuring Public Sector Size Who or What Is the Government? Types of Government Activity Gauging the Size of the Public Sector Government Revenues Deficit Financing Playing Tricks with the Data on Government Activities Review and Practice Part Two: Fundamentals of Welfare Economics Chapter 3: Market Efficiency The Invisible Hand of Competitive Markets Welfare Economics and Pareto Efficiency Analyzing Economic Efficiency Review and Practice Chapter 4: Market Failure Property Rights and Contract Enforcement Market Failures and the Role of Government Redistribution and Merit Goods Two Perspectives on the Role of Government Review and Practice Chapter 5: Public Goods and Publicly Provided Private Goods Public Goods Publicly Provided Private Goods Efficiency Conditions for Public Goods Efficient Government as a Public Good Review and Practice Appendix: The Leftover Curve Chapter 6: Externalities and the Environment The Problem of Externalities Private Solutions to Externalities Public Sector Solutions to Externalities Protecting the Environment: The Role of Government in Practice Concluding Comments Review and Practice Chapter 7: Efficiency and Equity Efficiency and Distribution Trade-Offs Analyzing Social Choices Social Choices in Practice Three Approaches to Social Choices The Trade-Off between Efficiency and Fairness Revisited Review and Practice Appendix: Alternative Measures of Inequality Part Three: Public Expenditure Theory Chapter 8: Public Production of Goods and Services Natural Monopoly: Public Production of Private Goods Comparison of Efficiency in the Public and Private Sectors Sources of Inefficiency in the Public Sector Corporatization A Growing Consensus on Government's Role in Production Review and Practice Chapter 9: Public Choice Public Mechanisms for Allocating Resources Alternatives for Determining Public Goods Expenditures Politics and Economics Review and Practice Appendix: New Preference-Revelation Mechanisms Part Four: Public Expenditure in Practice Chapter 10: Framework for Analysis of Expenditure Policy Need for a Program Market Failures Alternative Forms of Government Intervention The Importance of Particular Design Features Private Sector Responses to Government Programs Efficiency Consequences Distributional Consequences Equity-Efficiency Trade-Offs Public Policy Objectives Political Process Review and Practice Chapter 11: Evaluating Public Expenditure Private Cost-Benefit Analysis Social Cost-Benefit Analysis Consumer Surplus and the Decision to Undertake a Project Measuring Nonmonetized Costs and Benefits Shadow Prices and Market Prices Discount Rate for Social Cost-Benefit Analysis The Evaluation of Risk Distributional Considerations Cost Effectiveness Post-Expenditure Evaluation: Assessing and Improving Government Performance Review and Practice Chapter 12: Defense, Research, and Technology Defense Expenditures Increasing the Efficiency of the Defense Department Defense Conversion Research and Technology Review and Practice Chapter 13: Health Care The Health Care System in the United States Rationale for a Role of Government in the Health Care Sector Reforming Health Care Review and Practice Chapter 14: Education The Structure of Education in the United States Why Is Education Publicly Provided and Publicly Financed? Issues and Controversies in Educational Policy Aid to Higher Education Review and Practice Appendix: How Should Public Educational Funds Be Allocated? Chapter 15: Welfare Programs and the Redistribution of Income A Brief Description of Major U.S. Welfare Programs Rationale for Government Welfare Programs Analytic Issues Welfare Reform: Integration of Programs The Welfare Reform Bill of 1996 Concluding Comments Review and Practice Chapter 16: Social Insurance The Social Security System Social Security, Private Insurance, and Market Failures Is There a Need to Reform Social Security? Reforming Social Security Review and Practice Part Five: Taxation in Theory Chapter 17: Introduction to Taxation Background The Five Desirable Characteristics of Any Tax System General Framework for Choosing Among Tax Systems Review and Practice Chapter 18: Tax Incidence Tax Incidence in Competitive Markets Tax Incidence in Environments without Perfect Competition Equivalent Taxes Other Factors Affecting Tax Incidence Incidence of Taxes in the United States Review and Practice Appendix: Comparison of the Effects of an Ad Valorem and Specific Commodity Tax on a Monopolist Chapter 19: Taxation and Economic Efficiency Effect of Taxes Borne by Consumers Quantifying the Distortions Effect of Taxes Borne by Producers Taxation of Savings Taxation of Labor Income Measuring the Effects of Taxes on Labor Supplied Review and Practice Appendix: Measuring the Welfare Cost of User Fees Chapter 20: Optimal Taxation Two Fallacies of Optimal Taxation Optimal and Pareto Efficient Taxation Differential Taxation Taxes on Producers Review and Practice Appendix A: Deriving Ramsey Taxes on Commodities Appendix B: Derivation of Ramsey Formula for Linear Demand Schedule Chapter 21: Taxation of Capital Should Capital Be Taxed? Effects on Savings and Investment Impact on Risk Taking Measuring Changes in Asset Values Review and Practice Part Six: Taxation in Practice Chapter 22: The Personal Income Tax Outline of the U.S. Income Tax Principles Behind the U.S. Income Tax Practical Problems in Implementing an Income Tax System Special Treatment of Capital Income Concluding Comments Review and Practice Chapter 23: The Corporation Income Tax The Basic Features of the Corporation Income Tax The Incidence of the Corporation Income Tax and Its Effect on Efficiency Depreciation Combined Effects of Individual and Corporate Income Tax The Corporation Tax as Economic Policy Taxation of Multinationals Should There Be a Corporation Income Tax? Review and Practice Chapter 24: A Student's Guide to Tax Avoidance Principles of Tax Avoidance Tax Shelters Tax Reform and Tax Avoidance Equity, Efficiency, and Tax Reform Review and Practice Chapter 25: Reform of the Tax System Fairness Efficiency Simplifying the Tax Code Transition Issues and the Politics of Tax Reform Tax Reforms for the Twenty-First Century Review and Practice Part Seven: Further Issues Chapter 26: Intergovernmental Fiscal Relations The Division of Responsibilities Principles of Fiscal Federalism Production versus Finance Review and Practice Chapter 27: Subnational Taxes and Expenditures Tax Incidence Applied to Local Public Finance Capitalization Public Choice at the Local Level Problems of Multijurisdictional Taxation Review and Practice Chapter 28: Fiscal Deficits and Government Debt The U.S. Deficit Problem Since the 1980s Consequences of Government Deficits Improving the Budgetary Process The Long-Term Problem: Entitlements and the Aged Review and Practice

The long awaited revision of a classic text by an expert author team. What should be the role of government in society? How should it design its programs? How should tax systems be designed to promote both efficiency and fairness? Nobel Laureate Joseph Stiglitz and new co-author Jay Rosengard use their first-hand policy-advising experience to address these key issues of public-sector economics in this modern and accessible Fourth Edition. (http://books.wwnorton.com/books/webad.aspx?id=4294986932)