The Role of the Public Sector in Building Social and Economic Resilience: A Public Finance Approach

This edited book provides a comprehensive and integrated understanding of the public sector’s role in building economic and social resilience. It focuses on how public finance and economic policy can best support countries’ ability to absorb emerging shocks as well as adapt to evolving circumstances.

The experiences of recent years, including multiple fiscal crises and the global pandemic, have shown that most economies are not prepared for rapidly changing conditions where uncertainty is a recurring theme. At the same time, social trust in public institutions has been eroding globally. Through a variety of perspectives, such as the role of taxation, social safety nets, public sector employment, public budgeting, and urban development, the book critically assesses existing weaknesses in the public sector and identifies solutions to foster resilience against future uncertainty. Against a political and economic context of increasing inequality and instability, the chapters demonstrate how public finance can help create the conditions for a stronger economy that supports economic stability and the labour market, encourages infrastructure and innovation, and promotes public health and environmental protection. This book is a fascinating read for academics in public finance, accounting, welfare economics, and labour economics, as well as professionals working in the spheres of public policy and governance.

Alina Hyz is Professor of Finance and Head of the Department of Accounting and Finance, University of West Attica (UNIWA), Athens, Greece. She studied economics at the University of Lodz, Poland, and she holds Ph.D. in Business Administration from the same university. She has received invitations and given speeches at various universities and institutions, as well as at international conferences. She was Robert Schuman Fellow at the European Parliament, Directorate-General for Research, Luxembourg. She is Member of the Economic Chamber of Greece, Member of the International Society for Development and Sustainability, Member of the Certificated Reviewers and Experts of the European Erasmus + Education and Training Program, and Member of the Certificated Peer Reviewers of State Scholarship Foundation, the Ministry of Education, Greece.