Advanced Studies in Public Policy Analysis, 90 cr

Public Policy Analysis teaches students to use economic tools to address broader social science problems. Public Policy Analysis involves an approach that combines insights and techniques from economics and political science. Studies extend economic analysis beyond the traditional focus on market interactions to examine intended and unintended consequences of policies and to explore how and when individual self-interest among politicians, interest groups, etc. can help or hinder the public interest. Public Policy Analysis involves understanding: institutional design, policy evaluation and implementation and decision-making. The methods include microeconomics, game theory, experimental economics, spatial econometrics, social choice theory and econometrics.

After completing the Advanced Studies in Public Policy Analysis a student is expected to be able to:

• identify, evaluate, analyze and contribute to the international academic literature
• learn and use quantitative methods from political science, economics and sociology and apply them to social science issues
• to address issues that involve strategic behavior ranging from institution design, policy design and implementation and decision making by using quantitative tools
• understand social sciences from a comparative (North America and Europe) and multidisciplinary perspective