Public Finance
A Normative Theory
3rd Edition
Published on 4. December 2014
Book
Hardback
534 pages
978-0-12-415834-4 (ISBN)
Description
Public Finance remains the premier textbook on the normative theory of government policy, with the third edition propelling into the twenty-first century its examination of what government ought to be doing instead of what it is doing.
The welfare aspects of public economics receive extensively renewed examination in this third edition. With four new chapters and other significant revisions, it presents detailed and comprehensive coverage of theoretical literature, empirical work, environmental issues, social insurance, behavioral economics, and international tax issues. With increased emphasis on the European Union, it is rigid enough for use by PhDs while being accessible to students less well trained in math.
The welfare aspects of public economics receive extensively renewed examination in this third edition. With four new chapters and other significant revisions, it presents detailed and comprehensive coverage of theoretical literature, empirical work, environmental issues, social insurance, behavioral economics, and international tax issues. With increased emphasis on the European Union, it is rigid enough for use by PhDs while being accessible to students less well trained in math.
Reviews / Votes
"Richard Tresch's graduate textbook, Public Finance, A Normative Theory, has become the standard reference for graduate courses in public economics. He has now updated the textbook, with the same clear, informative, and illuminating writing, while maintaining the high level of rigor of the previous editions. The revised textbook contains many new and useful insights. I look forward to my continued use of his textbook in my own graduate classes." --James Alm, Tulane University"Richard Tresch provides a wonderful graduate textbook that is difficult to top in terms of clarity and accessibility. It combines neat mathematical presentation with lots of intuition." --Alfons Weichenrieder, Goethe University Frankfurt
"The ideal graduate treatment of public economic theory. Tresch introduces a general equilibrium model and uses it to solve the classic problems. He then devotes the majority of the book to theoretically examining problems in the second best context, which is the training that students really need to apply theory to real world policy questions." --Stephen Ross, University of Connecticut
More details
Edition
3rd edition
Language
English
Place of publication
San Diego
United States
Publishing group
Elsevier Science Publishing Co Inc
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Advanced undergraduate and graduate students studying public finance and public economics, and more broadly welfare economics.
Dimensions
Height: 276 mm
Width: 216 mm
Weight
1770 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-12-415834-4 (9780124158344)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
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Book
04/2022
4th Edition
Academic Press
€97.00
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Additional editions
Book
10/2018
3rd Edition
Academic Press
€68.19
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E-Book
11/2014
3rd Edition
Academic Press
€68.95
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Previous edition
Book
05/2002
2nd Edition
Academic Press
€188.49
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Person
Richard Tresch earned a bachelor's degree in 1965 from Williams College and a doctorate in
economics in 1973 from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he was a teaching assistant
prior to joining Boston College. He joined the Boston College faculty in 1969, and during his
49-year-long career in the college, Dr. Tresch has served as the Chairman of the Department of
Economics, Director of Graduate Studies, and Director of Undergraduate Studies. Currently, he is
Professor Emeritus of Economics at Boston College. In 1996, he was chosen as the Massachusetts
Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. He was one
of 585 national entrants in the foundation's U.S. Professors of the Year Program, which salutes
outstanding undergraduate instructors, with the award recognized as one of the most prestigious
honors to be bestowed on professors. Dr. Tresch, a member of the American Economic Association,
has served on the board of editors of the American Economic Review and contributed to the New
England Journal of Business and Economics and Public Finance. Moreover, he is the editor of a fourvolume
major reference work on public sector economics.
economics in 1973 from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he was a teaching assistant
prior to joining Boston College. He joined the Boston College faculty in 1969, and during his
49-year-long career in the college, Dr. Tresch has served as the Chairman of the Department of
Economics, Director of Graduate Studies, and Director of Undergraduate Studies. Currently, he is
Professor Emeritus of Economics at Boston College. In 1996, he was chosen as the Massachusetts
Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. He was one
of 585 national entrants in the foundation's U.S. Professors of the Year Program, which salutes
outstanding undergraduate instructors, with the award recognized as one of the most prestigious
honors to be bestowed on professors. Dr. Tresch, a member of the American Economic Association,
has served on the board of editors of the American Economic Review and contributed to the New
England Journal of Business and Economics and Public Finance. Moreover, he is the editor of a fourvolume
major reference work on public sector economics.
Content
Part I: Introduction: The Content and Methodology of Public Sector Theory1. Introduction to Normative Public Sector Theory2. A General Equilibrium Model for Public Sector Analysis3. First-Best and Second-Best Analysis and the Political Economy of Public Sector Economics
Part II: The Theory of Public Expenditures and Taxation-First-Best Analysis4. The Social Welfare Function in Policy Analysis5. The Problem of Externalities--An Overview6. Consumption Externalities7. Production Externalities8. Global Warming: An Application of Externality Theory9. The Theory of Decreasing Cost Production10. The First-Best Theory of Taxation11. Applying First-Best Principles of Taxation-What to Tax and How
Part III: The Theory of Public Expenditures and Taxation: Second-Best Analysis12. Introduction to Second-Best Analysis13. The Second-Best Theory of Taxation in One-Consumer Economies with Linear Production Technology14. The Second-Best Theory of Taxation with General Production Technologies and Many Consumers15. Taxation Under Asymmetric Information16. The Theory and Measurement of Tax Incidence17. Expenditure Incidence and Economy-Wide Incidence Studies18. The Second-Best Theory of Public Expenditures: Overview19. Transfer Payments and Private Information20. Social Insurance: Medical Care21. Social Insurance: Social Security22. Externalities in a Second-Best Environment23. Decreasing Costs and the Theory of the Second-Best-The Boiteux Problem24. General Production Rules in a Second-Best Environment25. Behavioral Public Sector Economics
Part IV: Fiscal Federalism and International Public Finance26. Optimal Federalism: Sorting the Functions of Government Within the Fiscal Hierarchy27. Optimal Federalism: The Sorting of People within the Fiscal Hierarchy28. The Role of Grants-in-Aid in a Federalist System of Governments29. International Public Finance
Part II: The Theory of Public Expenditures and Taxation-First-Best Analysis4. The Social Welfare Function in Policy Analysis5. The Problem of Externalities--An Overview6. Consumption Externalities7. Production Externalities8. Global Warming: An Application of Externality Theory9. The Theory of Decreasing Cost Production10. The First-Best Theory of Taxation11. Applying First-Best Principles of Taxation-What to Tax and How
Part III: The Theory of Public Expenditures and Taxation: Second-Best Analysis12. Introduction to Second-Best Analysis13. The Second-Best Theory of Taxation in One-Consumer Economies with Linear Production Technology14. The Second-Best Theory of Taxation with General Production Technologies and Many Consumers15. Taxation Under Asymmetric Information16. The Theory and Measurement of Tax Incidence17. Expenditure Incidence and Economy-Wide Incidence Studies18. The Second-Best Theory of Public Expenditures: Overview19. Transfer Payments and Private Information20. Social Insurance: Medical Care21. Social Insurance: Social Security22. Externalities in a Second-Best Environment23. Decreasing Costs and the Theory of the Second-Best-The Boiteux Problem24. General Production Rules in a Second-Best Environment25. Behavioral Public Sector Economics
Part IV: Fiscal Federalism and International Public Finance26. Optimal Federalism: Sorting the Functions of Government Within the Fiscal Hierarchy27. Optimal Federalism: The Sorting of People within the Fiscal Hierarchy28. The Role of Grants-in-Aid in a Federalist System of Governments29. International Public Finance