Labor Economics and Labor Markets: Theory, Evidence, and Policy

Catalog description

Advanced topics in labor economics: theory, empirical evidence, and policy. ECON 412 Labor Economics and Labor Markets: Theory, Evidence, and Policy(3)This course is an advanced course in labor economics. Its coverage of topics overlaps somewhat with the topics covered in ECON 315 , but typically the treatment of the topics considered will be distinctly more rigorous for this 400-level course. The broad areas that will be focused on in the course include labor supply, investment in human capital, labor demand, wage determination, search and unemployment, and earnings inequality. The objective of this course is to introduce students to topics in labor economics with a rigorous and advanced analytical approach. For each topic, the course will consider the underlying theory, pertinent empirical evidence, and implications for public policy. The instructional and educational objectives are to provide students with a strong background in labor economics. This will allow them to take advanced seminar courses in the labor field. This course is an advanced introduction to labor economics, and as such has a prerequisite of either ECON 302 or ECON 315 . In turn, this course will serve as a gateway to advanced seminar courses in labor economics at the 400 level that the Economics Department is in the midst of creating. The course will count toward both the major and the minor in economics.