Knowledge and understanding
The aim of this course is to supply the students with the tools that are necessary to interpret the role of Government and the non-profit sector in the economy, in particular in those markets where profit is not the ultimate goal of market existence. In fact, many of the markets that will be studied are related to the supply of mixed goods or meritorious goods where the price may reflect other considerations, apart from market clearing.
Applying knowledge and understanding
The student will be able to understand the motivations and the main activities carried out by the non- profit sector, to have a insight into their decision processes.
The course will provide students with the opportunity to study the behavior of the non-profit sector in various competitive areas: a) when it is the only provider of a service (often for free), when it provides a good/service on behalf of the State, when provides a good /service in competition with the public and/or the private sector.
The student will also be offered the skills to assess the value of the non-profit sector within a welfare economy like the Italian one.
Making judgements
By learning the regulation and functioning processes of the public and non-profit sectors, the student will be able to evaluate the role of the regulated sectors in the supply of merit/mixed goods and will also be able to apply the theories to the understanding the functioning of the welfare state in the real world.
Communication skills
The student must be able to communicate to different interlocutors, in an effective way and with an appropriate language, his own reflections and proposals on the topics that have been presented during the lectures. Students who decide to do a presentation will have the opportunity to discuss their own point to the rest of the class in a reasonably short time, thus also testing their synthesis skills.
Ability to learn.
The study given in this course, will allow students to learn the skills necessary to discriminate between alternative models useful for interpreting the evidence observed in the real world and to be able to understand the impact in terms of efficiency and equity of economic policy of government in a given country. The student will also develop the basic skills to apply the economic theories studied to the real world.