Population Aging and Sustainability of the Welfare State

Welfare States and their programs differ widely across countries and – within the same country – also over time. This course studies the economic determinants of welfare policies. We use economic principles and political analysis to develop a conceptual framework for investigating government intervention in the market, with a specific focus on the welfare state. To what extent should the government take care of individual risks by setting up public programs, such as pensions, health care and labor market policies? How much and how should the government intervene in the case of global shock, such as COVID-19 pandemic? We will address these questions using a normative and a positive approach. 

Students will be required to develop their own economic analysis of an issue (LTC and retirement) and to design a policy, which will be discussed in class. 

In presenza

Lectures

80% final exam and 20% class presentation