In recent times not only have traditional areas of public economics such as taxation, public expenditure, public sector pricing, benefit cost analysis, and fiscal federalism thrown up new challenges but entirely new areas of research and inquiry have emerged. This second edition builds upon the strengths of the previous edition and incorporates results of research on new areas such as global public goods, environmental taxation and carbon permits trading and the complexities of corporate taxation in a rapidly globalizing world.
The book is a modern and comprehensive exposition of public economics. It includes extended discussions on topics of particular interest to developing countries and covers subjects such as:
- taxation in an economy with a large informal sector
- the challenges of using VAT
- the use of randomized evaluation
- theory of public expenditure and public goods including global public goods
- incentive effects of taxation and tax incidence
This book discusses the major traditional areas of taxation and public expenditure as well as emerging issues relating to public economics in the globalized world economy. It will be useful as a reference and update on the modern literature on public economics for professional economists and policymakers, as well as providing invaluable information as a basic text for undergraduate and graduate students in public economics.
Part 1: Welfare Economics 1. A Quick Primer on Consumer Demand 2. Perfect Competition and Pareto Optimality 3. Forms of the Social Welfare Function 4. Arrow's General Possibility and Other Impossibility Theorems Part 2: The Theory of Public Expenditure 4. External Effects and the Market Mechanism 5. The Theory of Pure Public Goods 6. Topics in the Theory of Public Goods Part 3: The Theory of Taxation 7. The Effects of Taxes on Savings 8. Taxation and Labor Supply 9. The Effects of Taxes on Investment Behavior 10. Taxation and Risk-Taking 11. The Theory of Tax Incidence 12. Tax Incidence in Dynamic Models 13. Some Results in Commodity Taxation 14. Aspects of Income Taxation 15. Topics in the Theory of Taxation 16. Tax Reform Part 4: Applied Problems in Public Economics 17. Pricing in the Public Sector 18. International Aspects of Taxation 19. International Issues 20. Global Public Goods 21. Cost Benefit Analysis 22. Environmental Taxation Part 5: Fiscal Federalism 23. Issues in Fiscal Federalism 24. Grants and Taxes in Federal Countries
Biography
Raghbendra Jha is Rajiv Gandhi Chair Professor of Economics and Executive Director of Australia South Asia Research Centre, Australian National University.
Praise for the first edition
"Professor Jha's Modern Public Economics is one of those rare feats--an accessible, wide-ranging and marvelously organized survey of the field for intermediate students and a precise down-to-earth manual for practitioners."
Edmund S. Phelps, Columbia University (2006 Nobel Prize for economics)
"Jha's book fills an important lacuna from the point of view of students.... The challenging task before a contemporary text is to convey the movement from the old to the new public economics in a manner that will enthuse and motivate the students. This is a subtle task and Jha has accomplished this admirably... Modern Public Economics is an excellent and exciting book and belongs on the bookshelf of every serious student of the effect of state intervention in the market place."Economic and Political Weekly
Praise for the second edition
"This is a magisterial study-the author’s complete mastery of theoretical intricacies and subtleties is matched by a deep and profound understanding of policy choices that confront governments in developing countries. In a remarkable blend of theory and practice, it surpasses the best in Public Finance. "
Raghav Gaiha, Professor of Public Policy, Faculty of Management Studies, University of Delhi.
"This is a clear, concise and well-written book on public economics – one of the best public economics textbooks I have read. The discussion of theoretical concepts in public economics is lucid and uncluttered; in his usual style, Professor Jha uses plenty of diagrams and intuition to complement the mathematical derivations. The inclusion of topics that are particularly germane to developing countries, such as taxation in an economy with a large informal sector and fiscal federalism, will make this a very appealing textbook in public economics for readers from developing countries. A very large section of the book is devoted to applied problems in public economics, including timely topics such as global public goods and the use of randomized evaluations in benefit-cost analysis. All in all, this is a must-read book for students and researchers interested in applied public economics and public policy, especially as it relates to developing countries."
Anil B. Deolalikar, Professor of Economics, University of California Riverside
"Professor Jha has again provided both students and researchers a comprehensive and intelligible introduction to Public Economics. His clear, crisp exposition of complex ideas will be welcomed by students everywhere".
Sinclair Davidson, RMIT University.
