Economics and Social Security Policies

Recommended Prerequisites

Microeconomics I and II, Macroeconomics I e II, Public Economics, Ability to read texts in English.

Teaching Methods

The teaching methodology is based on lectures (theoretical-practical). The presentation of the program topics is followed by class discussion. The presence and active participation of students in the class are stimulated by encouraging them to question and discuss the issues examined.

Learning Outcomes

This course intends to provide students basic knowledge and analytical tools on SS; expose students to different economic approaches of social security (SS); clarify the relationship between paradigms of economic and social policy.

Upon completion of this course students should be able to:

Acquire knowledge on the purpose and objectives of SS policies (and their evolution), as well as the organization of SS systems;

Acquire knowledge on the economic, social and political context in which SS systems emerged and developed;

Understand how different schools of economic thought provide different conceptualizations of SS;

Understand how different paradigms of economic policy relate to different paradigms of SS;

Develop learning capabilities and a critical reflection on SS issues;

Communicate, orally and in writing, knowledge, reasonings and conclusions accurately and clearly.

Work Placement(s)

No

Syllabus

1- Introduction

a. Economic insecurity and social security

b. Social security policies and systems

c. Emergence and development of social security systems

2- Economic analysis of social security

a. The welfare economics approach on the foundations of State intervention: market failures, paternalism, social justice

b. The macroeconomic approach: the keynesian perspective and the monetarist critique of the Welfare State

3-Paradigms of economic policy and social policy paradigms

a. Economic and social policies in the era of expansion of social security systems

b. Economic and social policies in the era of retrenchment.

Head Lecturer(s)

Maria Clara Papão Franjoso Murteira

Assessment Methods

Assessment
Periodic or by final exam as given in the course information: 100.0%

Bibliography

Acocella, N., Bartolomeo G. D, Hallett, A. H. - Macroeconomic Paradigms and Economic Policy: From the Great Depression to the Great Recession, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2016.

Barr, N.- Economics of the Welfare State, 6ª ed., Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2020.

Béland, D., Mahon, R. - Advanced Introduction to Social Policy, 2^nd ed., Cheltenham UK, Edward Elgar, 2023.

Béland, D. and others (ed.s), The Oxford Handbook of the Welfare State, 2^nd Ed., Oxford, Oxford Academic, 2021.

Blum, S., Kuhlmann, J., Schubert K. (ed.s), Routledge Handbook of European Welfare Systems, 2^nd ed., London, Routledge, 2020.

Murteira, M.C. As Transferências Sociais na Perspetiva da Economia do Bem-estar - Lições de EPSS, FEUC, 2022.

Murteira, M.C. A Visão Keynesiana e a Crítica do Estado de Bem-Estar - Lições de EPSS, FEUC, 2022.

Pereirinha. J.A., Branco, F., Pereira, E., - Regime de Mínimos Sociais em Portugal: Evolução do Discurso Político e das Políticas, Coimbra, Almedina, 2021.