Public finance refers to the monetary resources available to governments and also to the study of finance within government and role of the government in the economy.[1] As a subject of study, it is the branch of economics which assesses the government revenue and government expenditure of the public authorities and the adjustment of one or the other to achieve desirable effects and avoid undesirable ones.[2]
The purview of public finance is considered to be threefold, consisting of governmental effects on:[3]
Economist Jonathan Gruber has put forth a framework to assess the broad field of public finance.[4] Gruber suggests public finance should be thought of in terms of four central questions:
How might the government intervene? Once the decision is made to intervene the government must choose the specific tool or policy choice to carry out the intervention (for example public provision, taxation, or subsidization).[5]
What is the effect of those interventions on economic outcomes? A question to assess the empirical direct and indirect effects of specific government intervention.[6]
And finally, why do governments choose to intervene in the way that they do? This question is centrally concerned with the study of political economy, theorizing how governments make public policy.[7]
^Gruber, Jonathan (2005). Public Finance and Public Policy. New York: Worth Publications. p. 2. ISBN0-7167-8655-9.
^Oates, Wallace E., "The Theory of Public Finance in a Federal System", The Canadian Journal of Economics / Revue Canadienne D'Economique, vol. 1, no. 1, 1968, pp. 37–54
^ abGruber, J. (2010) Public Finance and Public Policy (Third Edition), Worth Publishers, Pg. 3, Part 1
^Gruber, J. (2010) Public Finance and Public Policy , Worth Publishers, Pg. 6, Part 1
^Gruber, J. (2010) Public Finance and Public Policy (Third Edition), Worth Publishers, Pg. 7, Part 1
^Gruber, J. (2010) Public Finance and Public Policy (Third Edition), Worth Publishers, Pg. 9, Part 1
