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- Code:
- DPE-942
- Field:
- Public Economics
- Targets:
- Research Master's students PhD students
- Organiser:
- University of Helsinki - Economics
- Instructor:
- Several instructors
- Period:
- Period 1
- Format:
- Lecture
- Method:
- Hybrid
- Venue:
- Helsinkin and Tampere
- Enrollment:
In case of conflicting information consider the Moodle page the primary source of information.
Aalto, Hanken and UH economics students can enroll through their home university’s SISU. The official name of the course in Sisu is “Study unit to be agreed separately with the supervisor 1” (Complemention method: PhD Public Sector Economics). Further instructions are available on the How to enroll? page, also for students from other universities.
If you would like to count the credits towards your degree, please check your curriculum or contact your supervisor or student services for guidance.
Course Description
This is a PhD-level course on public economics, covering both taxation and government expenditure programmes. The course consists of weekly 2-hour hybrid sessions from September to November, and in-person sessions in October in Tampere and in December in Helsinki. The course is organized jointly by the University of Helsinki and Tampere University, also in collaboration with Uppsala University.
The course is open to all PhD students in Finland as well as students from other Nordic countries.
There is no course fee. Accommodation and travel costs to Helsinki and Tampere are covered by the course organizers for PhD students in the Finnish universities. We have secured some funding towards the travel costs for students from other Nordic countries. Inquiries on travel support: fit.events@tuni.fi.
Schedule
Hybrid lectures (Zoom/on site) every Thursday at 2 – 4pm in September – November:
- First hybrid session: Thursday, 4 September 2025
- Last hybrid session: Thursday, 27 November 2025
- Venue: Economicum lecture room (period 1) and seminar room 3-4 (period 2)
In-person get-togethers (lectures and presentations) in Tampere in October and in Helsinki in December:
- Tampere in-person get-together: 21. – 23.10.2025. Students may, if they want to, also attend the FIT workshop in Tampere as observers on 23. – 24.10.
- Helsinki in-person get-together: 15. – 16.12.2025
- Programs can be found on the FIT website
Hybrid Lecture Topics
1. Public finance and the role of government (Kaisa Kotakorpi and Jukka Pirttilä)
2. Taxation
a. Optimal tax theory (Jukka Pirttilä, 2 lectures)
b. Optimal capital (income) taxation (Spencer Bastani)
c. Tax incidence (Tuomas Kosonen)
d. Labor supply responses to taxation (Håkan Selin)
e. Labor supply responses to transfers (Håkan Selin)
3. Social insurance, wealth and income inequality
a. Social insurance theory: adverse selection and moral hazard (Terhi Ravaska)
b. Pensions (Johannes Hagen)
c. Unemployment insurance (Tomi Kyyrä)
d. Wealth and inheritance taxation (Mikael Elinder)
e. MVPF (Spencer Bastani)
Assessment
- Own paper or research plan presentation (in person)
- Published paper presentation and referee report (hybrid)
- The course provides 5 credits subject to satisfactory completion of the tasks above