Unit information: Labour Economics in 2011/12

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Unit name Labour Economics
Unit code ECON30075
Credit points 20
Level of study H/6
Teaching block(s) Teaching Block 4 (weeks 1-24)
Unit director Professor. Turon
Open unit status Not open
Pre-requisites

Intermediate Microeconomics ECON21133 and QM3 Econometrics ECON20020

Co-requisites

None

School/department School of Economics
Faculty Faculty of Social Sciences and Law

Description including Unit Aims

The subject matter of labour economics is very broad and covers many of the economic topics that are of concern in modern economies. This unit applies the principles and techniques of economics that students have learned over the previous two years to the economics of the labour market. An applied course like labour economics allows these principles to be put into practice in the context of live policy debates. In the first part of the course we study labour demand, including dynamic models and the role of employment protection legislation; then we turn to labour supply, modeling individuals and households decisions on paid work, home work and leisure. The second part explores the reasons for wage dispersion and the measurement of wage inequality; then analyses the decision to acquire human capital and introduces evaluation methods of estimation of the wage returns to education.