• ISBN13: 9788126941551
• Binding: Hardcover
• Subject: N/A
• Publisher: Atlantic Publishers & Distributors (P) Ltd
• Publisher Imprint: Atlantic
• Publication Date: June 20, 2025
• Pages: 614
• Original Price: INR 1295.0
• Language: English
• Edition: N/A
• Item Weight: 790 grams
• BISAC Subject(s): Public Finance, Economics / Theory, and Taxation / General

Public Economics in India: Theory and Practice offers a comprehensive look at the evolving field of Public Economics, which now extends well beyond traditional Public Finance. The book explores key issues such as resource allocation, income distribution, and the balance between public and private sectors. It also highlights the growing importance of addressing externalities, promoting social justice, and ensuring economic stability—critical roles of government in today's world. This second, revised edition includes updated chapters and introduces new topics that address current challenges. These include welfare criteria for public goods, the Goods and Services Tax (GST), the Direct Taxes Code (DTC), and the impact of the 2008–09 global financial crisis on India's fiscal policies. The book also looks at India's fiscal responses, stimulus packages, and their effects on economic recovery and stability. This book offers a comprehensive analysis of fiscal institutions, covering taxation, public expenditure, public debt, fiscal policy, and federalism. It explores the government's role in economic planning, with a focus on India's fiscal challenges, including the 1991 crisis and subsequent reforms. Ideal for postgraduate students of Public Economics, it is also a valuable resource for policymakers, researchers, and anyone interested in the interplay between government finance, economic policy, and development.

Janak Raj Gupta, currently serving as a UGC Emeritus Fellow at Punjabi University, Patiala, has held various research, teaching, and administrative roles at both Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, and Punjabi University, Patiala. His primary areas of expertise are Agricultural Economics and Public Economics, in which he has published numerous articles in reputed journals and authored several monographs. In addition to supervising many MPhil students, he has guided nearly a dozen PhD scholars. He has also worked as a consultant for several professional bodies and conducted numerous research projects for both the State and Central Governments. His earlier books, including Burden of Tax in Punjab: An Inter-Sector and Inter-Class Analysis, Economic Aspects of Sales Tax, Fiscal Deficit of States in India (Ed.), and Federal Transfers and Inter-State Disparities in India, have been highly regarded by scholars and policymakers alike.

• Preface to the Second Edition............................. iii
• Preface to the First Edition................................. v
• 1. Introduction........................................................ 1-31
• Nature and Scope of Public Economics............... 1
• Nature and Scope of Public Finance.................... 4
• Role of the Government in an Organised
• Society................................................................. 8
• Changing Perspectives about the Role of the
• Government......................................................... 12
• 2. Role of Government: Public and Private
• Sectors................................................................. 32-72
• Government Measures to Promote Economic
• Development....................................................... 34
• Rationale of Public Sector in Economic
• Development....................................................... 38
• Government as an Agent for Economic
• Planning and Development.................................. 41
• Private Goods, Public Goods and Merit
• Goods.................................................................. 65
• 3. Welfare Criteria: The Provision of Public
• Goods.................................................................. 73-102
• The Voluntary Exchange Theory of Optimal
• Allocation ........................................................... 74
• The Ability-to-Pay Theory of Optimal
• Allocation............................................................ 78
• Public and Private Goods in General
• Equilibrium......................................................... 88
• Optimal Allocation of Quasi-Public Goods......... 90
• 4. Public Choice and Rationale of Public Policy...... 103-145
• Problem of Allocating Resources: Private and
• Public Mechanism............................................... 103
• Problem of Revealing Preferences and Their
• Aggregation ........................................................ 116
• The Political Interaction Costs of Democratic
• Voting Theory..................................................... 119
• Revealing Social References through Majority
• Voting—Arrow’s Impossibility Theorem.............. 121
• Point Voting Rule................................................ 128
• Compensation Principle ............................. 133
• Theory of Public Policy....................................... 134
• Alternative Measures of Resource
• Mobilisation........................................................ 137
• 5. Public Expenditure.............................................. 146-191
• The Pure Theory of Public Expenditure.............. 146
• Growth of Public Expenditure............................. 150
• Classification of Public Expenditure.................... 157
• Canons of Public Expenditure............................. 163
• Incidence of Public Expenditure ......................... 170
• Effects of Public Expenditure............................... 171
• Reforms in Expenditure Budgeting (Planning
• and Programming Budgeting).............................. 178
• Zero Based Budgeting.......................................... 189
• 6. Taxation.............................................................. 192-272
• Classification or Types of Taxes.......................... 192
• Taxable Capacity................................................. 207
• Theory of Tax Incidence...................................... 223
• Effects of Taxation.............................................. 235
• Distribution of Tax Burden (Benefit and Ability
• to Pay Approaches)............................................. 243
• Double Taxation ................................................ 262
• 7. Public Debt.......................................................... 273-308
• Causes of Borrowings ......................................... 273
• Classical View of Public Debt.............................. 274
• Compensatory Aspect of Public Debt.................. 276
• Comparison between Private Debt and Public
• Debt.................................................................... 277
• Classification of Public Debt............................... 278
• Sources of Public Debt and Their Economic
• Implications......................................................... 280
• Effects of Public Debt.......................................... 283
• The Burden of Public Debt.................................. 286
• Redemption or Repayment of Public Debt.......... 296
• Management of Public Debt................................ 300
• Public Debt Management in India....................... 305
• 8. Fiscal Policy......................................................... 309-355
• Meaning of Fiscal Policy..................................... 309
• Fiscal Policy vs. Monetary Policy........................ 314
• Fiscal Policy for Stabilization or Compensatory
• Fiscal Policy......................................................... 328
• Alternative Fiscal Policies for Full Employment
• and the Balance Budget Multiplier...................... 338
• Fiscal Policy for Economic Development............. 343
• Types of Budgetary Deficits and Their
• Implications......................................................... 347
• 9. Fiscal Federalism................................................. 356-434
• Principles of Federal (Multi Unit) Finance........... 357
• Tiebout Model and Citizens Mobility................. 359
• Imbalances in Federal Finance (Vertical and
• Horizontal).......................................................... 361
• Fiscal Federalism in India ................................... 364
• Problem of Imbalance in States’ Resources and
• States’ Indebtedness............................................. 381
• Transfer of Resources from Union and States
• to
• Local Bodies........................................................ 392
• Finance Commissions in India............................. 395
• Summary of Recommendations........................... 399
• Thirteenth Finance Commission (2010-15)......... 411
• 10. Indian Public Finances......................................... 435-542
• Indian Tax System: Salient Characteristics.......... 435
• Expenditure Tax.................................................. 440
• Taxation of Agriculture....................................... 444
• Value Added Tax................................................. 447
• Service Tax.......................................................... 454
• Goods and Services Tax....................................... 459
• The Model GST................................................... 467
• Dispute Resolution and Advance......................... 471
• Impact of GST on Projections Made by the
• Finance Commission........................................... 483
• Finances of the Central Government................... 483
• Reforms in Direct Taxes: New Direct Tax Code
• (DTC) ................................................................. 486
• Finances of State Governments............................ 491
• GST..................................................................... 498
• Public Expenditure in India................................. 498
• Growth in Public Debt: Centre and States........... 503
• Fiscal Crisis of 1991 and the Fiscal Sector
• Reforms............................................................... 506
• Fiscal Crisis of 2008-09 (Global Meltdown
• and Indian Economy).......................................... 518
• Factors Affecting Indian Economy....................... 522
• Measures takes to Revive the Economy............... 526
• Interim Budget 2009-10...................................... 528
• Union Budget 2010-11........................................ 530
• Highlights of Union Budget 2011-12.................. 531
• 11. Finances of Local Bodies..................................... 543-566
• Urban Area.......................................................... 544
• Rural Area .......................................................... 547
• Critical Assessment of Local Finance.................. 551
• Fiscal Decentralization—73rd and 74th
• Constitutional Amendments................................ 554
• Extent of Fiscal (Revenue) Decentralization—
• International Scenario......................................... 555
• Tax-GDP Ratio at National, State and Local
• Level.................................................................... 556
• National Perspective............................................ 558
• Appendices.......................................................... 567-584
• Important Concepts............................................ 585-595
• Bibliography........................................................ 596-602