Public Policy and Welfare
UndergraduateTAS-BEA2002024
Course information for 2024 intake View information for 2025 course intake
Enrolments for this course are closed, but you may have other options to start studying now. Book a consultation to learn more.
- Study method
- 100% online
- Assessments
- 100% online
- Entry requirements
- Prior study needed
- Duration
- 14 weeks
- Loan available
- HECS-HELP and FEE-HELP available
Public Policy and Welfare
About this subject
Upon completion of this subject, the student should be able to:
- Use economic concepts and theories to analyse economic decisions.
- Apply economic theory to identify public policy issues and how public policy is influenced by efficiency and equity.
- Apply economic models to analyse key public policies.
- Effectively communicate economics in written format.
- Module 1: Introduction and Review of 1st year ( Models and Terms ; Supply & Demand ; Arbitrage, Price Differences & Law of One Price ; Elasticity)
- Module 2: Budget Constraints, Preferences and Utility (The Budget Constraint; Preferences and Indifference Curves; The Marginal Rate of Substitution; Utility and Utility Functions)
- Module 3: Choices, Public Policy and Demand (Individual’s Choices and Public Policy; Deriving Demand ; Demand Functions)
- Module 4: More About Demand ( How Individual’s Choices and Demand React ; Substitution and Income Effects; Decomposing Changes in Demand; Market Demand)
- Module 5: Quotas, Vouchers, Taxes and Subsidies (Quotas and Vouchers; Fringe Benefits and their Taxation; Taxes in the Supply & Demand Model; Taxes & Subsides in the BC-IC Model)
- Module 6: Applications II – Labour/Leisure Choices ( The Australian Labour Market ; Deriving the Labour Supply and Participation Rates; The impact of welfare payments, clawback, property income, penalty rates, minimum wages, child-care on the labour supply.)
- Module 7: Applications III– Education (The Australian Education System and its Funding.; The choice between Public and Private education.; An evaluation of education funding systems: full public, full private, public-private hybrid, voucher system. )
- Module 8: Applications IV – Intertemporal Choice ( Borrowers and Savers; Rate of Time Preference, Discounting and Interest Rates; The impact of interest rates, inflation, credit constraints, changes in future income)
- Module 9: Inequality, Incentives and Luck ( Effort Luck and Taxes Game; The trade-off between productivity and inequality.)
- Module 10: General Equilibrium (GE) (Simple GE using Demand and Supple; Types of Efficiency and Competitive Equilibrium; Fundamental Welfare Theorems; Distortions in GE )
- Module 11: Social Welfare ( Motivation and Morals; A Brief History of Welfare Economics; Social Welfare Functions)
TAS-BEA200 Public Policy and Welfare shows how economic theory can be directly applied to explain the behaviour of individuals and help solve the decisions that policymakers face. The subject introduces and uses the neoclassical theory of consumer behaviour to initially explain how individuals respond to changes in prices, wages, interest rates and income and how to measure their welfare. The subject then considers both market and non-market public policy options such as sin-taxes, the impact of subsidies, free education vs. vouchers, welfare payments and clawback. The subject concludes by examining concepts of efficiency and social welfare and their measurement in a general equilibrium framework. This subject is a core subject in the Bachelor of Economics and can be taken as a nominated elective in a wide range of other programs throughout the University of Tasmania.
- Multiple Choice Quizzes x 5 (20%)
- Assignment (40%)
- Microeconomic Policy Analysis (40%)
For textbook details check your university's handbook, website or learning management system (LMS).
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Entry requirements
Prior study
You must either have successfully completed the following subject(s) before starting this subject, or currently be enrolled in the following subject(s) in a prior study period; or enrol in the following subject(s) to study prior to this subject:
Please note that your enrolment in this subject is conditional on successful completion of these prerequisite subject(s). If you study the prerequisite subject(s) in the study period immediately prior to studying this subject, your result for the prerequisite subject(s) will not be finalised prior to the close of enrolment. In this situation, should you not complete your prerequisite subject(s) successfully you should not continue with your enrolment in this subject. If you are currently enrolled in the prerequisite subject(s) and believe you may not complete these all successfully, it is your responsibility to reschedule your study of this subject to give you time to re-attempt the prerequisite subject(s).
Others
Prior Skills and Knowledge: Students enrolling in TAS-BEA200 are expected to have the following basic skills in mathematics (from high school): Basic Algebra – manipulation of equations, solving equations. Linear Functions – plotting functions, identifying slope and intercept. Logarithms and Exponentials – index and log laws. An understanding of simple calculus (simple and partial differentiation) is also useful but will be taught as part of the subject.
Additional requirements
- Software requirements - Students enrolling in TAS-BEA200 are also expected to be able to use: MS Excel and MS Word – to perform simple calculations and produce professional reports.
Study load
- 0.125 EFTSL
- This is in the range of 10 to 12 hours of study each week.
Equivalent full time study load (EFTSL) is one way to calculate your study load. One (1.0) EFTSL is equivalent to a full-time study load for one year.
Find out more information on Commonwealth Loans to understand what this means to your eligibility for financial support.
What to study next?
Once you’ve completed this subject it can be credited towards one of the following courses
Bachelor of Psychological Science and Bachelor of Economics
UndergraduateTAS-PEC-DEG
Bachelor of Business and Bachelor of Economics
UndergraduateTAS-BEC-DEG
UndergraduateTAS-ECO-DEG
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