Political Economy and Public Finance

Descrizione This course investigates the relationship between characteristics of the political system and the level and types of government spending. Understanding the effects of political institutions on economic policy has become a vibrant field of research, and the students get acquainted with recent research findings based on articles. For instance, it is explained how the electoral system or the degree of direct democracy affects whose interests get represented. The methodology of this course is to combine theory with empirical evidence from Switzerland and other mature democracies.