ECON BC3019 Labor Economics

Professor Lalith Munasinghe, Fall 2002

1. Course Description:
This course will introduce you to the economics of labor markets. The first part of the course will focus on labor supply and labor demand, and some direct applications. Labor force participation rates of women, welfare and work incentives, earnings gap across skill groups and technological progress, and fixed costs of employment are some of the topics we will discuss in the context of this basic theory of supply and demand. The second part of the course will focus on a variety of labor market topics including human capital theory, household production, compensating wage differentials, quasi-fixed labor costs, job market signaling, labor mobility, and discrimination analysis. In addition, we will cover some key topics from managerial/personnel economics such as pay for performance and group incentives.

2. Requirements and Grading:
There will be regular homework assignments. Students should take the homework seriously, as it is essential to learning the material. Homework will be collected but not graded. Complete answer sheets will be distributed in class. Final course grade will be based on a midterm examination (40%), class participation (20%), and a final examination (40%). The distribution of grades is tentative.

3. Prerequisites:
The prerequisite for the course is intermediate microeconomics. Under special request I will consider a student who is concurrently taking intermediate microeconomics. Students are also encouraged to take Statistics and Econometrics prior to taking this class, although they are not prerequisites.