Structural Policy-Period 2

Structural policy is on top of the agenda when it comes to keeping individual countries on the path to stability and growth. Microeconomic structural reforms (say, in labor and product markets, social security and welfare systems) are often seen as long-run policy measures complementary to short-term macroeconomic stabilization policies. This course discusses the role of economic policy in the context of both market failures and government objectives to adjust market outcomes, including distributional aspects.

Current structural economic problems arising in the following fields are prime candidates to be discussed:
- labor market allocation; labor supply responses to the tax and transfer system;
- development and trade: analysis of living standards and poverty, inequality, provision of legal and political frameworks, trade protection, WTO;
- environment: externalities, property rights, tragedy of the commons, environmental taxation, climate policy;
- social insurance and social security: disability insurance, moral hazard, welfare payments, pensions (social security), adverse selection;
- competition policy and regulation: imperfect competition, market power, cartels, price-discrimination, regulation and de-regulation.

During the course, both theoretical and empirical economic work in policy context is discussed.

Contact hours listed under a course description may vary due to the combination of lecture-based and independent work required for each course therefore, CEA's recommended credits are based on the ECTS credits assigned by VU Amsterdam. 1 ECTS equals 28 contact hours assigned by VU Amsterdam.