Labour Economics

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 such contemporary policy issues 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 course is empirical and includes the analysis of wage differentials and human capital investments. Attention is given to the wage incentive schemes, discrimination, wage bargaining and unemployment.