(Revised November 2002)
Code: UPEN4E-15-M Title: Labour
Economics Version: 1
Level: M UWE
credit rating: 15 ECTS credit rating: 7.5
Module type: Standard
Owning Faculty: HLSS Field: Economics
Valid from: September 2004 Discontinued from:
Pre-requisites: None
Co-requisites: None
Excluded combinations: None
Learning outcomes:
At
the end of the module, students should be able to:
·
Illustrate a critical understanding of human
capital and signalling models (component A)
·
Evaluate critically the implications and extensions
of human capital and signalling models (component A)
·
Show an appreciation of the estimation procedures
in human capital and signalling models (component A)
·
Evaluate and analyse the influences of technical
change on employment prospects and wages in developed countries (components A
and B)
·
Evaluate critically the influence of human capital
on national economic growth and employment and wages within and between
countries (components A and B)
·
Apprise factors influencing the returns to
education within and across countries (components A and B)
·
Assess critically the constraints affecting human
capital formation and opportunities for individual professional development
(components A and B)
·
Analyse critically the factors that influence
staying-on rates of students into post-compulsory education and the
implications of these for policy (component A)
Syllabus outline:
1. Earnings
Determinants of earnings, increases in inequality, trade and
labour approaches to wage inequality, impact of globalisation on income
inequality, the
effect of technical change on the employment prospects of different sections of
the labour force, the role of trade
on labour market outcomes, the effect trade on wage dynamics and domestic and
international income distributions; globalisation
2. Human
capital
Job matching, education and growth, purposeful accumulation of
knowledge, learning-by-doing, social outcomes of education, intentions to
accumulate knowledge, returns to education, efficiency and the quality of job
matching
3. Compensating
wage differentials
Testing
compensating wage differentials, job stress, unobservable productivity, shift
work preferences
4. Gender
Race and Ethnicity
Cross-country differences in the gender gap in labour force
participation, position of women in academia, structural changes and the
narrowing gender gap in wages, job satisfaction and wages, lone parenthood and
employment, equal opportunities, pay and promotion.
5. Migration
and turnover
Temporary jobs, wage curves, minimum
wages, income inequality and international migration, wage differentials and
mobility in the urban labour market, migration and wage growth
6. Education
Financing
education, optimal redistributive taxation, privatisation and education,
effectiveness of government spending on education in developed and developing
countries, educational inequality, education costs and prices, intentions to
stay-on in education at the age of 16
Teaching and learning
methods:
A variety of teaching
methods will be employed throughout the course. Information will be
disseminated in a formal lecture section of each session. This will be
followed by discussions of relevant recently published journal articles in
which students will be encouraged to actively participate. Group reporting on
case study material, discussions of case study material, presentations and
formal debates will also be employed throughout the course.
Indicative sources:
Borgas, G. J., 2001, Labor Economics, McGraw-Hill Education,
London
Borgas, G. J., 1999, Heavens Door: Immigration Policy and the
American Economy, Princeton University Press, Oxford
Eberts, R. W. and Stone, J. E.,
1992, Wage and Employment Adjustment in
Local Labor Markets, W. E. Upjohn Institute, Michigan
Ehrenberg, R. G. and Smith, R. S., 2003, Modern Labor
Economics: Theory and Public Policy (8th
edition), Addison Wesley, London
Hyclak, T., 2000, Rising Wage Inequality: The 1980s Experience
in Urban Labor Markets, W. E. Upjohn Institute, Michigan
Hyclak, T. and Johnes, G., 1992, Wage
Flexibility and Unemployment Dynamics in Regional Labor Markets, W. E. Upjohn Institute, Michigan
Lawrence, R. Z., 1996, Single World, Divided Nations?, OECD, France
Madden, J. F., 2000, Changes in Income Inequality within US Metropolitan Areas, W. E.
Upjohn Institute, Michigan
McConnell, C., Brue, S.
and MacPherson, D., 2002, Contemporary Labor Economics, McGraw- Hill,
London
Smith, S., 2003, Labour Economics, Taylor and Francis, London
Wolf,
A., 2002, Does Education Matter? Myths
about Education and Economic Growth, Penguin Books, Hampshire
Students
will be expected to draw upon current journal articles from:
Brookings Papers on
Economic Activity
Economic Journal
Economics of Education
Review
European Economic Review
Journal of Economic
Perspectives
Journal
of Economic Surveys
Journal of International
Economics
Journal of Labour Economics
Labour
Oxford Review of Economic
Policy
Research in Post-Compulsory
Education
Review of Economic Studies
Review of International
Economics
Assessment
Weighting between
components A and B (standard modules only)
A: 50% B:
50%
ATTEMPT 1
First Assessment
Opportunity
Component A
Description of each element Element weighting
1. Unseen
exam, 2 hours 50%
Component B
Description of each element Element
weighting
1. Individual
coursework assignment of up to 2000 words 50%
Second Assessment
Opportunity (further attendance at taught classes is/is not required)
Component A
Description of each element Element
weighting
1. Unseen
exam, 2 hours 50%
Component B
Description of each element Element
weighting
1. Individual
coursework assignment of up to 2000 words. 50%
SECOND (OR SUBSEQUENT)
ATTEMPT: Attendance at taught classes is not required.
Specification confirmed
by
Module approved at VARSC
13.05.04.
Date
(Associate Dean/Programme
Director)