Introduction
Course objectives. The course is designed to provide an introduction to the theory and
practice of contemporary labor economics. The course develops an
understanding of the determinants of wage rates and employment levels in
labor markets. The tools of neoclassical economics will be used to
examine contemporary policy issues, such as minimum wage laws, labor
market discrimination, employment training programs, and the economic
impact of unions. The first part of the course describes labor supply
decisions made by rational households, labor demand decisions made by
profit-maximizing firms, and compensating wage differentials under the
assumption of competitive markets. The second part of the course is
empirical and includes the analysis of wage differentials and human
capital investments. Attention is given to wage incentive schemes,
discrimination, wage bargaining, and unemployment.
Learning outcomes. At the end of the course, students should be able to: - explain the motivations and behaviors of individual agents in the labor market, - evaluate the impact of government policy and labor market regulations on the functioning of labor markets, - describe economic consequences of labor unions, - explain factors behind the wage differentials, - explain push and pull factors of labor migration, - explain the determinants of unemployment, - explain factors influencing decisions about human capital investments.
Schedule of topics
-
Introduction to Labor Economics (this is for your to read before we actually start the course)
- Labor Supply, February 14th
- Labor Demand, February 21st
- Labor Market Equilibrium, February 28th
- Compensating Wage Differentials, March 7th
- Human Capital, March 14th (guest lecturer: Bobby Dominy
; PhD candidate, Econ Dept, Terry College of Business, Uni. of Georgia, US)
- Wage Structure, March 21st
- Study week, March 28th (deadline 1st extra activity)
- Labor Mobility, April 4th
(this is for your to read) + Mid-term (on content from lessons 1 to 6)
- Labor Market Discrimination, April 11th (guest lecturer: Benjamin Harrell ;
postdoc, LGBT Policy Lab and Econ Dept, Vanderbilt Uni., US)
- Public holiday, April 18th
- Labor Unions, April 25th
- Incentive Pay, May 2nd (guest lecturer: Alberto Palermo ; postdoc, Institute for Labour Law and Industrial Relations in the EU, Germany)
- Unemployment, May 9th (deadline 2nd extra activity)
This topics schedule is suggestive of the course progress through Borjas' book (see the literature below).
Literature
BORJAS, George J. Labor economics. Eight edition. New York: McGraw-Hill Education, 2020. xvi, 478. ISBN 9781260565522. info
Evaluation scale
Students will
be evaluated based on extra activities, one mid-term exam,
and the final exam.
Extra activities, the mid-term exam, and the final cumulative
exam will be weighted based on the following percentages.
|
Activity |
Weight |
|
Extra activities |
15% of the final grade |
|
Mid-Term Exam |
40% of the final grade |
|
Final Cumulative Exam |
45% of the final grade |
In determining your final letter grade, I will cumulate your points through extra activities, and exams. I will then convert
this final percentage grade to a final letter grade as follows:
- A: (88; 100]
- B: (81; 88]
- C: (74; 81]
- D: (67; 74]
- E: (60; 67]
- F: [0, 60]
To avoid a subjective evaluation, I do not round
grades up if you are close to a cut-off or otherwise tweak grades. Please do
not ask me to do this.
Attendance - not graded
Attendance is not mandatory, as by Masaryk University policy; however, it is warmly recommended. To make the 1h50' more pleasant and bearable, we will have a 10' break in the middle of the lesson.
In general, online attendance will be driven by the then-current COVID-19 university regulations. Students who will have to attend online (e.g. for medical reasons) should do that without fear of lagging behind, there is a recurring MSTeams meeting; click here or check "teams" in your MSteams.
Recorded lessons are available in the online material of the course, click here.
Studies have shown that students learn better when they attend in-person classes. Direct personalized learning experiences allow students to stay focused and avoid lagging behind. In other words, it is in your own interest to attend: it increases the learning experience and satisfaction with the course.
Although the slides are available from now, and you have the book, I encourage you to take notes during the lessons. Studies have shown this is a very effective way to learn.
In-class activities - not graded
In-class activities will be planned in due course and given time availability; these activities are not graded and they are meant to help you learn and make me understand whether something is unclear to you. Typically, these activities are in-class oral questions from me to you on what is discussed on that same day; additionally, at the end of each lesson, we will use Socrative (please sign up, it is free; you can use this app on the cellphone, ipad, laptop), room name: FUMARCO.
Extra Activities - graded
Extra activities will be planned in due course. For example, they could include short group essays and/or take-home assignments.
Exams - graded
There are two exams, each of which has multiple-choice questions with exactly one correct answer.
• Mid-term exam: 0-40 points
• Final Cumulative Exam: 0-45 points
The exact assessment dates and their content will be announced in due course, although the mid-term will be (ideally) on April 4th (see the topics schedule). Both midterm and final exams will be closed book, closed notes exams. The mid-term will include questions on material covered by the textbook from weeks 1 to 6, while the final cumulative exam will include mostly questions on material from weeks 7 to 12 and some questions on material from previous weeks. Those people who fail the mid-term exam will have to take a longer final exam that covers chapters 1 to 12.
The conditions of these two exams might be changing following the then-current COVID-19 university regulations.
The policy of zero tolerance to academic dishonesty
will be strictly applied.