Teaching plan for the course unit

 

 
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General information

 

Course unit name: Public Treasury: Revenue

Course unit code: 366718

Academic year: 2025-2026

Coordinator: Amelia Díaz Álvarez

Department: Department of Economics

Credits: 6

Single program: S

 

 

Estimated learning time

Total number of hours 150

 

Face-to-face and/or online activities

60
 

-  Lecture with practical component

Face-to-face

  

45
 

-  Problem-solving class

Face-to-face

  

15

Supervised project

20

Independent learning

70

 

 

Recommendations

 

Students should have taken and passed the following subjects: Microeconomics I, Introduction to Public Sector Economics, Microeconomics II and Public Treasury: Principles and Expenditure.

 

 

Competences / Learning outcomes to be gained during study

 

   -

Capacity to adapt to dynamic environments.

(This competence involves the following: Capacity to identify and understand processes of change and innovation, and to analyse their implications. Capacity to forecast, adapt to and propose alternatives when faced with economic, social and technological changes, among others.)
   -

Capacity to take decisions from an economic perspective.

(This competence involves the following: Capacity to identify the essential elements of a decision-making problem: agents, available actions, information available to the agents, as well as the results and consequences of the different potential actions. Capacity to identify areas of uncertainty, make hypotheses and deduce results. Capacity to think strategically and accept hypotheses about the behaviour of others, analyse balances and be familiar with available research techniques and the hypotheses on which these balances are based. Capacity to make effective economic and business decisions: knowledge of the basic concepts of economics and business used to analyse decisions; use of suitable quantitative and qualitative tools; identification, definition and resolution of problems of varying degrees of complexity.)
   -

Capacity to prepare, analyse and interpret economic information.

(This competence involves the following: Capacity to obtain, process and analyse data that leads to the presentation of internal and external financial information for public and private entities. Capacity to interpret a financial report for a financial entity. Capacity to correctly interpret graphs, financial indicators and their corresponding representations, and to issue written and oral reports. Capacity to interpret, analyse and carry out financial and investment operations.)
   -

Ability to produce critical analyses of economic theories and models.

(This competence involves the following: Capacity to critically analyse and assess the economic behaviour of individuals and the decisions they make. Capacity to analyse the aggregate behaviour of an economy and its implications. Capacity to empirically contrast the adaptability of theoretical models to specific economic areas.)

Learning objectives

 

Referring to knowledge

— Acquire a solid understanding of the main design criteria of tax systems, with a particular emphasis on the principles of efficiency and equity.

— Master the fundamental concepts of vertical and horizontal equity, tax progressivity, legal and economic incidence of taxes and overtaxation.

— Develop the ability to evaluate the various forms of taxation within a fiscal system from an economic perspective, and to understand how alternative tax structures influence outcomes related to efficiency and equity.

— Acquire an understanding of the key features that define the principal forms of taxation applied to the three manifestations of ability to pay — namely, income, wealth, and consumption.

 

Referring to abilities, skills

Upon completion of the course, students will be able to:

— Evaluate the efficiency and equity of existing taxes and fiscal instruments.

— Analyse the economic impact of taxation and its effects on individual and collective behaviour.

— Design and propose tax structures that satisfy specific criteria such as neutrality, equity, and simplicity.

 

 

Teaching blocks

 

Block I. Theory of taxation

*  This block addresses the following questions: When is one tax system better than another? What are the features of the ideal tax system?

Topic 1. Taxation: general aspects

Topic 2. Taxation and equity

Topic 3. Tax incidence

Topic 4. Taxation and efficiency

Block II. The tax system

*  In this block, the principles of tax system design studied in Block I are applied to the analysis of various forms of taxation on income, wealth and consumption.

Topic 5. Personal income tax

Topic 6. Corporate tax

Topic 7. Tax on consumption

Topic 8. Tax on wealth

 

 

Teaching methods and general organization

 

Students attend theoretical sessions with a practical component, during which the main concepts and principal analytical tools of the field are presented. These sessions also provide opportunities for students to apply these tools through the analysis of case studies. Each lecture lasts approximately 120 minutes. Two of these sessions are specifically allocated for the continuous assessment tests.

 

 

Official assessment of learning outcomes

 

Students may choose to be assessed by one of two modes: continuous or single.

Continuous assessment consists of the following components:

Two tests conducted during the semester, accounting for 40% of the final grade. Class attendance and active participation, worth 10% of the final grade. Final examination at the end of the semester, accounting for 50% of the final grade, comprising a combination of compulsory and optional theoretical and applied questions. The examination is two hours in duration.

The final grade is calculated as follows:

a) If the mark awarded for the final examination is greater than or equal to 4 out of 10, the final grade will be the higher of the following: 1) the weighted average of the final examination (50%), the semester tests (40%) and class attendance and active participation (10%); 2) the final examination mark alone.

b) If the mark awarded for the final examination is less than 4 out of 10, the student appears as a "fail" on the official grade record.

Students who have opted for continuous assessment and do not pass the course may sit the repeat assessment exam on the date set by the Academic Board. The repeat assessment consists of an examination with the same characteristics as that of the ordinary continuous assessment exam. Any marks obtained from assessed activities conducted during the semester cannot be taken into account in the re-evaluation process.

Assessment of competencies

The proposed assessments are designed to evaluate students’ analytical and summary skills. Scenarios replicate real-world events, and students are required to make decisions in response to these scenarios, justifying their reasoning using the concepts covered in the course.

EUS group

For students in the English-language group, the continuous mode of assessment may differ from that outlined above (in all instances, see the course programme for this group).

 

Examination-based assessment

Single assessment consists of a final examination with theoretical and applied questions, which must be completed in a maximum of two hours.

Students who opt for single assessment and do not achieve a pass grade may sit the repeat assessment examination on the date established by the Academic Board. Repeat assessment follows the same format as the standard single assessment examination.

EUS group

For students in the English-language group, the single mode of assessment may differ from that outlined above (in all instances, see the course programme for this group).

 

 

Reading and study resources

Check availability in Cercabib

Book

ALBI, Emilio.; GONZÁLEZ-PÁRAMO, José.M.; ZUBIRI, I. ( 2017)  : Economía Pública. 3a ed. Barcelona: Ariel,

Catāleg UB  Enllaç

ÁLVAREZ, F.; CORONA, J.; DÍAZ, A. (2024). La Economía Pública en el estado del bienestar. Ed. Ariel. Barcelona

Catāleg UB  Enllaç

BOADWAY, Robin.W.; WILDASIN, David.E. ( 1986) : Economía del Sector Público. Madrid: Instituto de Estudios Fiscales,

Catāleg UB  Enllaç

ESTELLER, A. (Coord.). (2014). Economía de los impuestos. Ed. McGraw-Hill. Madrid.

Catāleg UB  Enllaç

GRUBER, Jonathan. (2016): Public Finance and Public Policy. 5ª Ed. Worth Publishers (New York)

Catāleg UB  Enllaç

MUSGRAVE, Richard .A.; MUSGRAVE, Peggy.B. : (1992) : Hacienda Pública teórica y aplicada. 5ª ed.  Madrid: Mc Graw Hill,

Catāleg UB  Enllaç

ROSEN, Harvey .S. ( 2008) : Hacienda Pública.7ª ed.  Madrid: Mc Graw Hill, Madrid,

Catāleg UB  Enllaç

SALANIÉ, B. (2012): The Economics of Taxation. The MIT Press (Chicago)

Catāleg UB  Enllaç

STIGLITZ, Josehp.E. (2002)  : La Economía del sector público. 3ª ed. Barcelona: Antoni Bosch, DL

Catāleg UB  Enllaç