Essays on the Design of Public Policies and Regulations

Abstract

Government policies intervene in many areas of economic and social environment. Most often the aim is to address market failures that hinder efficiency or lead to undesirable socioeconomic outcomes. However, it is important to ensure that those policies achieve the desired outcomes without causing large distortions themselves. My dissertation focuses on studying the design of government policies and market regulations given these trade-offs. Three chapters are dedicated to different government programs or regulations. I study the design of Swedish unemployment insurance in which individuals are allowed to choose if and when they want to be insured. In another paper, I analyze bequest taxation taking into account multiple distortions as a result of the tax using the case of the Swedish inheritance taxation. In the final chapter of my thesis, I study the role of financial regulations in college markets using the setup of Australian college admission system.