Applied Microeconomics for Policy Analysis
The purpose of this course is to build analytic skills at the master’s level from applying principles of microeconomics to the study of public policies with consideration for how incentives create unintended consequences in policy design. The course begins introducing a common language for discussing and analyzing economic issues and then proceeds to consider models of individual decision making of consumers and producers. Tools are presented for analyzing the efficiency and equity of market outcomes which are brought to bear when considering the role of public policy in markets. This includes less than perfectly competitive markets, externalities, public goods and asymmetric information. We will also consider the role of behavioral economics in public policy design.