Course guide of Public Sector Economics I (2261132)

Curso 2025/2026
Approval date: 16/06/2025

Grado (bachelor's degree)

Bachelor'S Degree in Economics

Branch

Social and Legal Sciences

Module

Sector Público

Subject

Economía del Sector Público I

Year of study

3

Semester

1

ECTS Credits

6

Course type

Compulsory course

Teaching staff

Theory

  • David Mark Epstein . Grupo: A
  • María Dolores Jiménez Rubio. Grupo: A

Practice

  • David Mark Epstein Grupos: 1 y 2
  • María Dolores Jiménez Rubio Grupos: 1 y 2

Timetable for tutorials

David Mark Epstein

Email
  • Monday de 10:30 a 12:30 (C115 - Facultad Cc. Ee. y Empresariales)
  • Wednesday de 10:30 a 12:30 (C115 - Facultad Cc. Ee. y Empresariales)

María Dolores Jiménez Rubio

Email
  • Tuesday de 10:30 a 14:30 (C-115 F. Empresariales)
  • Thursday de 12:30 a 14:30 (C-115 F. Empresariales)

Prerequisites of recommendations

Brief description of content (According to official validation report)

  • Public Sector and budget.
  • Public Expenditure: foundations of Public intervention.
  • Public revenue and taxation.
  • Taxation, efficiency and equity.
  • Optimal taxation.
  • The Decentralized Public Sector: Fiscal Federalism.

General and specific competences

General competences

  • CG01. Skills in dealing with the ideas and the environment they are involved in.
  • CG02. Cognitive comprehension skills.
  • CG03. Ability to analyse and summarise.
  • CG05. Oral and written communication skills in Spanish.
  • CG08. Problem-solving skills.
  • CG10. Ability to work in a team.
  • CG13. Skills in interpersonal relationships.
  • CG16. Ability to engage in critical and self-critical reasoning.
  • CG17. Ability to learn and work autonomously.
  • CG23. Sensitivity towards environmental issues.
  • CG24. Ability to apply knowledge to practice.
  • CG25. Ability to search for information and research.

Specific competences

  • CE17. Identify and anticipate economic problems relevant to the general allocation of resources in the public and private sector.
  • CE22. Bring rationality to the analysis and description of any aspect of economic reality.
  • CE32. Communicate fluently in an environment and work in a team.
  • CE38. Derive from the data relevant information not accessible to non-professionals.
  • CE39. Regularly use Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in their professional activities.
  • CE40. Read and communicate professionally in more than one language, especially in English.
  • CE41. Apply professional criteria based on the use of theoretical instruments to the analysis of problems.
  • CE42. Ethical commitment at work. Ability to work in a team. Critical and self-critical reasoning. Work in an international context.
  • CE43. Motivation for quality.
  • CE56. Acquire knowledge on public budgets, public companies, fiscal federalism, regional and local finances, international public finances and social security.
  • CE57. Acquire knowledge on public sector interventions.

Transversal competences

  • CT01. Through the knowledge and application of concepts learnt in the Bachelor's Degree (Grado), be able to identify and anticipate economic problems relevant to the allocation of resources, both in the public and private sectors.
  • CT02. Know, understand and apply the different economic models to provide rationality to the analysis and description of any aspect of reality, and be able to know the economic choice criteria of the different agents that make up society.
  • CT03. Learn to communicate fluently in an environment and to work in a team, both in a national and an international context.

Objectives (Expressed as expected learning outcomes)

Students will learn/understand:

  • The management of the Public Budget
  • Budgetary policies
  • The justification for public intervention
  • Market failures and public solutions
  • The redistribution of the economic surplus
  • Macroeconomic policies
  • The fundamentals of taxation
  • Optimal taxation
  • The economic impact of fiscal federalism

Detailed syllabus

Theory

  • THEORETICAL CONTENT:
    • SECTION 1. ANALYSIS OF PUBLIC SPENDING POLICY.
    • SECTION 2. MARKET FAILURES AND PUBLIC INTERVENTION.
    • SECTION 3. PUBLIC CHOICE.
    • SECTION 4. PUBLIC REVENUES: TAXES EQUITY-EFFICIENCY TRADE OFF.
    • SECTION 5. FISCAL FEDERALISM.

Practice

  • THEORETICAL CONTENT:
    • SECTION 1. ANALYSIS OF PUBLIC SPENDING POLICY.
    • SECTION 2. MARKET FAILURES AND PUBLIC INTERVENTION.
    • SECTION 3. PUBLIC CHOICE.
    • SECTION 4. PUBLIC REVENUES: TAXES EQUITY-EFFICIENCY TRADE OFF.
    • SECTION 5. FISCAL FEDERALISM.

Bibliography

Basic reading list

  • Rosen, H. S y Gayer T. Public Finance, 10 th. Edition. McGraw Hill, 2014
  • Stiglitz, J.E. (2015): Economics of the Public Sector, 4rd edition. W. W. Norton & Company
  • Mankiw, G. Essentials of Economics. 11th edition. New York : Worth Publishers, 2017
  • Mankiw, G. The Economics of Healthcare (2017). Accessible at: economics_of_healthcare.pdf (harvard.edu)

Complementary reading

  • Albi, E., González-Páramo, J.M., Urbanos, R., y Zubiri, I. (2017). Economía Pública I. Fundamentos, Presupuesto y Gasto. Aspectos Macroeconómicos. Barcelona: Ariel.
  • Bustos Gisbert, A. (2017): Curso Básico de Hacienda Pública, Editorial Colex, Madrid.
  • Paniagua Soto, F.J. y Navarro Pascual, R. (2016). Hacienda Pública I. Teoría del Presupuesto y Gasto Público. Madrid: UNED-Pearson.

Recommended links

  • PRADO 2 https://pradogrado.ugr.es/moodle/auth/saml/login.php
  • The Economist: http://www.economist.com/
  • Spanish Statistics Institute: http://www.ine.es/
  • Bank of Spain: http://www.bde.es/webbde/es/
  • EUROSTAT: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/home?
  • OCDE: www.ocde.org
  • OUR WORLD IN DATA: Our World in Data

Teaching methods

  • MD01. Face-to-face teaching in the classroom 
  • MD02. Individual work by the student; retrieval, consultation and processing of information; problem solving and practical case studies; and completion of assignments and presentations 
  • MD03. Individual and/or group tutoring and evaluation  

Assessment methods (Instruments, criteria and percentages)

Ordinary assessment session

  • Coursework: 30-50% of the overall mark
  • Exam: 50-70% of the overall mark
  • Important note: The overall mark (coursework plus written exam) to pass this subject is 50%. In order to qualify for the continuous evaluation students are required to participate at least in 50% of the practical coursework. Students are required to obtain a minimum of 40% in each part of the course (exam and coursework)
  • In accordance with the current Regulations for the Evaluation and Grading of Students at the University of Granada (Article 22):
    If an exam accounts for 50% or more of the total weighting of the final grade for the subject, and the student chooses not to take it, the record will show "Not Presented" ("No presentado").
    When the student has completed activities and assessments from the continuous evaluation process that constitute more than 50% of the total weighting of the final grade for the subject, the record will show the corresponding grade.
  • DESCRIPTION OF THE EXERCISES WHICH WILL CONSTITUTE SINGLE FINAL ASSESSMENT AS ESTABLISHED IN UGR REGULATIONS

Single final assessment

Additional information

  • Not applicable

Información de interés para estudiantado con discapacidad y/o Necesidades Específicas de Apoyo Educativo (NEAE): Gestión de servicios y apoyos (https://ve.ugr.es/servicios/atencion-social/estudiantes-con-discapacidad).