Featuring a general equilibrium framework that is both cohesive and versatile, the Second Edition of Public Finance: A Normative Theory brings new and updated information to this classic text. Through its concentration on the microeconomic theory of the public sector in the context of capitalist market economics it addresses the subjects traditionally at the heart of public sector economics, including public good theory, theory of taxation, welfare analysis, externalities, tax incidence, cost benefit analysis, and fiscal federalism. Its goal of providing a foundation, rather than attempting to present the most recent scholarship in detail, makes this Second Edition both a valuable text and a resource for professionals. * Second edition provides new and updated information * Focuses on the heart of public sector economics, including public expenditure theory and policy, tax theory and policy, cost benefit-analysis, and fiscal federalism * Features a cohesive and versatile general equilibrium framework

Chapters include: "Income distribution and welfare programs", "State and local government expenditures" and "Health economics and private health insurance".

The second edition of Public Finance and Public Policy retains the first edition's themes of investigation of responsibilities and limitations of government. The present edition has been rewritten and restructured. Public choice and political economy concepts and political and bureaucratic principal-agent problems are introduced at the beginning for application to later topics. Fairness, envy, hyperbolic discounting, and other concepts of behavioral economics are integrated throughout. The consequences of asymmetric information and the tradeoff between efficiency and ex-post equality are recurring themes. Key themes investigated are markets and governments, institutions and governance, public goods, public finance for public goods, market corrections (externalities and paternalist public policies), voting, social justice, entitlements and equality of opportunity, choice of taxation, and the need for government. The purpose of the book is to provide an accessible introduction to the use of public finance and public policy to improve on market outcomes.

Now in its 4th edition, State and Local Public Finance provides a comprehensive and sophisticated analysis of state and local government public finance practices and issues, using the basic tools of economics. For this new edition, there is a focus on the most important services provided in the state-local sector: education, health and welfare, public safety, and transportation. This textbook provides an examination and analysis of public finance practices and problems in a federal fiscal system, focusing on the fiscal behaviour and policies of state and local governments. The author presents detailed descriptions of significant institutions. Modern economic theory is applied to examine the way these institutions are used to produce and finance services, and to provide evaluation of alternative policies. Although the emphasis is on U.S. institutions and issues, much of the economic analysis can be applied to any federal system or to fiscal decentralization. This fully revised new edition sees updates throughout to data, topics, and applications. The Headlines and Applications sections reflect the most current policy issues affecting state and local governments. These include the effects of the Great Recession on state and local governments, changes in the tax treatment of internet purchases, the Affordable Care Act and implications for Medicaid spending by state governments, demographic changes and the implications for state-local finances, the implications of changes in automobile technology for transportation financing, and the potential for increased gambling activity. This text will continue to be invaluable reading for those who study public finance, local government finance, urban economics and public policy and public administration.

Drawing from current examples from a variety of countries, Public Finance: An International Perspective addresses the main issues in contemporary public finance, including fiscal sustainability, state enterprises, and a variety of subsidies. There are relatively few textbooks on public finance, and many of them focus on the experience and issues facing the United States. This book sets out to address the critical issues from other countries, particularly those from the developing world or emerging market countries, who have received less attention in other texts. Written in a highly accessible manner, this book is a useful reference for students and practitioners alike.