THE UNIVERSITY of EDINBURGH

DEGREE REGULATIONS & PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2020/2021

Information in the Degree Programme Tables may still be subject to change in response to Covid-19

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DRPS : Course Catalogue : School of Economics : Economics

Undergraduate Course: Labour Economics (ECNM10021)

Course Outline
SchoolSchool of Economics CollegeCollege of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) AvailabilityNot available to visiting students
SCQF Credits20 ECTS Credits10
SummaryThe aim of the course is to introduce students and provide overview of the basic theoretical and empirical literature on employment, wages, working conditions and unemployment. In particular it will enable students to apply the tools of analysis to a wide range of models and policy relating to the functioning of labour markets. We focus on labour supply and demand, and various applications of human capital investment and education, wage differentials, discrimination, contracts and incentives. The goal is to develop good economic intuition on any of these topics. Some of the main empirical strategies to analyse labour market outcomes will be discussed.
Course description Labour markets: labour supply, labour demand and labour market equilibrium; search and matching models; labour market institutions human capital models, investment and education; wage and income inequality; labour mobility; gender, race, ethnicity and discrimination in the labour market; incentive pay.

The course is taught through a programme of lectures. Learning-by-doing, through exercise sets, is an important ingredient of the course. It provides opportunities for students to develop and demonstrate their skills to use economic theory to analyse real-world problems.
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites Students MUST have passed: Economics 2 (ECNM08006)
Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations Other requirements Economics Honours entry. Permission of the Course organiser is required if the pre-requisites are not met.
Course Delivery Information
Not being delivered
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
  1. A knowledge and understanding of key economic issues in the analysis of the functioning of labour markets, including theoretical models and empirical evidence, along with associated mathematical and statistical techniques and empirical methodologies, implications of those models and a deeper understanding of recent research activity in some more specialised areas.
  2. Research and investigative skills such as problem framing and solving and the ability to assemble and evaluate complex evidence and arguments.
  3. Communication skills in order to critique, create and communicate understanding.
  4. Personal effectiveness through task-management, time-management, dealing with uncertainty and adapting to new situations, personal and intellectual autonomy through independent learning.
  5. Practical/technical skills such as, modelling skills (abstraction, logic, succinctness), qualitative and quantitative analysis, and general IT literacy.
Reading List
Amongst other readings we will draw on:

George J. Borjas (2013): ¿Labor Economics,¿ Sixth Edition, McGraw-Hill (International Edition)

In addition, there could be a small variety of readings assigned as needed either in class or as the model progresses which students are advised to read carefully. These readings are selected primarily to aid your comprehension.
Additional Information
Graduate Attributes and Skills See Learning Outcomes
KeywordsLabEcon
Contacts
Course organiserDr Ludo Visschers
Tel: (0131 6)51 3853
Email: Ludo.Visschers@ed.ac.uk
Course secretaryMs Dawn Everett
Tel: (0131 6)51 5958
Email: Dawn.Everett@ed.ac.uk
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