In this course students are required to read the theoretical texts on designing public systems. Public interventions are required when voluntary actions to pursue their own interests lead to socially undesirable outcomes. This situation is defined as collective action dilemma by game theory, which provides common research framework in various interdisciplinary social sciences such as Public Economics, Law and Economics, Economics of Organization, Economics of Governance, Political Philosophy and Sociology on Public Affairs.
The aim of this course is to provide the integrative perspective common to various approaches to solve collective action dilemma. By doing so, students are expected to acquire analytical skills to evaluate existing public systems.
The goals of this course are as following: 1) to define problems of public intervention under the framework of collective action dilemma, and to understand why individual rationality conflicts with social desirability in dealing with first order dilemmas such as public goods provisions, externality, common pool resource problems, and charitable giving; 2) to understand that provision of institution to solve first order dilemmas is itself a collective action dilemma called second order dilemma; 3) to learn theories useful to solve these two level dilemmas such as self-organized collective action theory, property right economic theory, theory of organizational governance, and their application to new public management and quasi market.; and 4) thus, finally, to acquire capability to evaluate and redesign public systems in the real world.
self-organized collective action theory, property right economic theory, theory of organizational governance, new public management, quasi market
✔ Specialist skills | Intercultural skills | Communication skills | ✔ Critical thinking skills | ✔ Practical and/or problem-solving skills |
It is required to read the texts assigned before the class. The instructor introduces the ideas behind the texts and class discussion will follow.
Course schedule | Required learning | |
---|---|---|
Class 1 | Introduction: Collective Action Dilemma and Designing Public Governance | Understand public governance as collective action dilemmas and explain efficiency of public institution and organization |
Class 2 | Modernistic Concept of Rationality and Bureaucracy | Understand Bureaucracy, the dominant organizing principle of modern society, in relation to modernistic concept of rationality |
Class 3 | Anti-Taylorism and New Public Management | Understand new public management in the context of anti-Taylorism and design alternate organizational structure to change bureaucracy |
Class 4 | Efficiency of Quasi-market | Understand theory of quasi-market and apply it to solve public problems |
Class 5 | Economic Theory of Non Profit Sector | Understand economic theory of non profit sector and apply it to solve public problems |
Class 6 | Economic theory of ethical bahavior | Understand economic theory of charitable behaviors and explain the influence of altruism on public goods provision |
Class 7 | Hedonistic and Eudaimonistic design | Understand Hedonism and Eudemonism and explain their influence on institutional design |
The reading materials are provided before the class.
Ostrom, E., 2005, Understandig Institutional Diversity, Princeton University
Mini quiz in each class: 40%
Term paper: 60%
None.