Public financial management

Abstract

This concentration is designed for students wishing to understand the manner in which efforts to finance public sector activities affects public policy. Public finance provides a framework for understanding policy choices and the implications of program structural features within the context of economic responses of service populations, the general public, and policymakers. The concentration combines models of public sector economics, including mechanisms of public choice, service pricing, taxation and expenditure structures, with economic analytic frameworks to understand mechanisms available for influencing public behavior and likely outcomes of alternative tax, expenditure and regulatory policy options. Faculty advising on this concentration is provided by Professors Jocelyn Johnston and Daniel Mullins.