Editing Economics (section)

== Other branches of economics ==
=== Public economics ===
{{Main|Public economics}}

Public economics is the field of economics that deals with economic activities of a [[public sector]], usually government. The subject addresses such matters as [[tax incidence]] (who really pays a particular tax), cost–benefit analysis of government programmes, effects on [[economic efficiency]] and [[income distribution]] of different kinds of spending and taxes, and fiscal politics. The latter, an aspect of [[public choice theory]], models public-sector behaviour analogously to microeconomics, involving interactions of self-interested voters, politicians, and bureaucrats.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |last1=Musgrave |first1=Richard A. |dictionary=The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics |date=1987 |edition= |editor-first1=John |editor-last1=Eatwell |editor-first2=Murray |editor-last2=Milgate |editor-first3=Peter |editor-last3=Newman |author-link=Richard Musgrave (economist) |pages=1055–1060 |chapter-url=http://www.dictionaryofeconomics.com/article?id=pde1987_X001795 |doi=10.1057/9780230226203.3360 |isbn=978-0-333-78676-5 |chapter=Public finance |access-date=16 October 2017 |archive-date=16 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171016230041/http://www.dictionaryofeconomics.com/article?id=pde1987_X001795 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Much of economics is [[positive economics|positive]], seeking to describe and predict economic phenomena. [[Normative economics]] seeks to identify what economies ought to be like.

Welfare economics is a normative branch of economics that uses [[microeconomics|microeconomic]] techniques to simultaneously determine the [[allocative efficiency]] within an economy and the income [[Distribution (economics)|distribution]] associated with it. It attempts to measure [[social welfare]] by examining the economic activities of the individuals that comprise society.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |last1=Feldman |first1=Allan M. |date=1987 |dictionary=The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics |edition= |editor-first1=John |editor-last1=Eatwell |editor-first2=Murray |editor-last2=Milgate |editor-first3=Peter |editor-last3=Newman |pages=889–095 |chapter-url=http://www.dictionaryofeconomics.com/article?id=pde1987_X002306 |doi=10.1057/9780230226203.3785 |isbn=978-0-333-78676-5 |chapter=Welfare economics |access-date=16 October 2017 |archive-date=17 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171017041911/http://www.dictionaryofeconomics.com/article?id=pde1987_X002306 |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== International economics ===
{{Main|International economics}}
[[File:Map of countries by GDP (PPP) per capita in 2022 by IMF.png|thumb|List of countries by [[gross domestic product]] (PPP) per capita in April 2022]]
International trade studies determinants of goods-and-services flows across international boundaries. It also concerns the size and distribution of [[gains from trade]]. Policy applications include estimating the effects of changing [[tariff]] rates and trade quotas. [[International finance]] is a macroeconomic field which examines the flow of capital across international borders, and the effects of these movements on [[exchange rate]]s. Increased trade in goods, services and capital between countries is a major effect of contemporary [[globalisation]].<ref>{{unbulleted list citebundle
|1 = {{cite encyclopedia |last=Anderson |first=James E. |date=2008 |edition=2nd |editor-first1=Steven N. |editor-last1=Durlauf |editor-first2=Lawrence E. |editor-last2=Blume |chapter-url=http://www.dictionaryofeconomics.com/article?id=pde2008_I000263 |doi=10.1057/9780230226203.0839 |dictionary=The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics |pages=516–522 |isbn=978-0-333-78676-5 |chapter=International trade theory |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan UK |access-date=6 June 2008 |archive-date=20 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171020033352/http://www.dictionaryofeconomics.com/article?id=pde2008_I000263 |url-status=live }}
|2 = {{Cite journal |last=Venables |first=A. |date=2001 |title=International Trade: Economic Integration |journal=[[International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences]] |pages=7843–7848 |doi=10.1016/B0-08-043076-7/02259-2 |isbn=978-0080430768 }}
|3 = {{cite encyclopedia |last=Obstfeld |first=Maurice |date=2008 |edition=2nd |editor-first1=Steven N. |editor-last1=Durlauf |editor-first2=Lawrence E. |editor-last2=Blume |chapter-url=http://www.dictionaryofeconomics.com/article?id=pde2008_I000169 |doi=10.1057/9780230226203.0828 |dictionary=The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics |pages=439–451 |isbn=978-0-333-78676-5 |chapter=International finance |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan UK |s2cid=219381371 |access-date=6 June 2008 |archive-date=20 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171020032606/http://www.dictionaryofeconomics.com/article?id=pde2008_I000169 |url-status=live }}
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=== Labour economics ===
{{main|Labour economics}}

Labour economics seeks to understand the functioning and dynamics of the [[Market (economics)|markets]] for [[wage labour]]. ''Labour markets'' function through the interaction of workers and employers. Labour economics looks at the suppliers of labour services (workers), the demands of labour services (employers), and attempts to understand the resulting pattern of wages, employment, and income. In economics, ''labour'' is a measure of the work done by human beings. It is conventionally contrasted with such other [[factors of production]] as [[Land (economics)|land]] and [[Capital (economics)|capital]]. There are theories which have developed a concept called [[human capital]] (referring to the skills that workers possess, not necessarily their actual work), although there are also counter posing macro-economic system theories that think human capital is a contradiction in terms.{{Citation needed|reason=What is the source used to define Human Capital here? And what are the counter posing theories claiming human capital is a contradiction?|date=July 2022}}

=== Development economics ===
{{Main|Development economics}}

Development economics examines economic aspects of the [[economic development]] process in relatively [[developing countries|low-income countries]] focusing on [[structural change]], [[poverty]], and [[economic growth]]. Approaches in development economics frequently incorporate social and political factors.<ref>{{unbulleted list citebundle
|1 = {{cite encyclopedia |last=Bell |first=Clive |date=1987 |dictionary=The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics |edition= |editor-first1=John |editor-last1=Eatwell |editor-first2=Murray |editor-last2=Milgate |editor-first3=Peter |editor-last3=Newman |volume=1 |pages=818–826 |chapter-url=http://www.dictionaryofeconomics.com/article?id=pde1987_X000565 |doi=10.1057/9780230226203.2366 |isbn=978-0-333-78676-5 |chapter=Development economics |access-date=19 October 2017 |archive-date=20 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171020033009/http://www.dictionaryofeconomics.com/article?id=pde1987_X000565 |url-status=live }}
|2 = {{harvp|Blaug|2017|p=351}}
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