EC318: Labour Economics
Principal Aims
The module is a Labour Economics Module. It is designed for Final year Economics students, who have interest in the area of Labour Economics and Education Economics. The module teaches a range of topics related to these two areas in addition to linking the Labour market dynamics to gender specific topics. The module is both research oriented and research tutored type of module. It introduces and examines the theoretical foundations of the covered topics and integrate them with the empirical investigations of such topics.
Principal Learning Outcomes
Subject Knowledge and Understanding:...demonstrate knowledge and understanding of: (i) Economic Principles: knowledge and understanding of core concepts and methods in micro and macroeconomics. (ii) Intermediate labour economics, by applying the microeconomic techniques acquired in earlier economics modules. (iii) The operation of both supply and demand in the labour market, its imperfections and its institutional features. (iv) Theories which seek to model, understand and explain heterogeneity in labour market behaviour. (v) Research issues: Familiarity with contemporary debates and latest research in labour economics. Understanding of how to approach an economic problem from the perspective of a contemporary researcher in economics.
Syllabus
The syllabus for this module may include some or all of the following list of topics, although it should be noted that this list is not exhaustive: wage setting; wage dispersion; wage structure; employment; unemployment; labour supply; labour market equilibrium; human capital, education and training; labour demand; unions; mobility and migration; labour market discrimination; labour market interventions and policy evaluation.
Context
- Optional Module
- L100 - Year 3, L103 - Year 4, L116 - Year 3, L117 - Year 4, LM1D (LLD2) - Year 3, LM1H - Year 4, V7ML - Year 3, V7MM - Year 4, V7MP - Year 3, V7MR - Year 3, GL11 - Year 3, GL12 - Year 4, LA99 - Year 3, R9L1 - Year 4, R3L4 - Year 4, R4L1 - Year 4, R2L4 - Year 4, R1L4 - Year 4, L1L8 - Year 3
- Pre or Co-requisites
Any of:
EC204-30 Economics 2 AND
EC203-30 Applied Econometrics
OR
EC204-30 Economics 2 AND
EC226-30 Econometrics 1
OR
EC201-30 Macroeconomics 2 AND
EC202-30 Microeconomics 2 AND
EC226-30 Econometrics 1
Summary:Modules: (EC204-30 and EC203-30) and (EC204-30 and EC226-30) and (EC201-30 and EC202-30 and EC203-30) and (EC201-30 and EC202-30 and EC226-30)
Assessment
- Assessment Method
- Coursework (20%) + Examination (80%)
- Coursework Details
- Examination (80%) , Test (20%)
- Exam Timing
- Summer
Exam Rubric
Time Allowed: 2 Hours
Read all instructions carefully - and read through the entire paper at least once before you start entering your answers.
There are TWO sections in this paper. Answer ONE question in Section A (10 marks) and ALL FIVE questions in Section B (18 marks each).
Answer each whole question in a separate booklet.
Approved scientific (non-graphical) pocket calculators are allowed.
You should not submit answers to more than the required number of questions. If you do, we will mark the questions in the order that they appear, up to the required number of questions in each section.
Previous exam papers can be found in the University’s past papers archive. Please note that previous exam papers may not have operated under the same exam rubric or assessment weightings as those for the current academic year. The content of past papers may also be different.
Reading Lists
2024 EC318: Labour Economics (Terms 1)
Main Textbooks
Labor economics
- Type
- Book
- Authors
- Date
- 2014
- Publisher
- The MIT Press
- Pub Place
- Cambridge, Massachusetts
- Edition
- Second edition
- ISBN-10
- 0262027704
- ISBN-13
- 9780262027700
- Web address
- https://go.exlibris.link/hyz2Ts0n
Labor economics
- Type
- Book
- Authors
- Date
- 2020
- Publisher
- McGraw-Hill Education
- Pub Place
- New York, NY
- Edition
- Eighth edition
- ISBN-10
- 1260565521
- ISBN-13
- 9781260565522
- Web address
- https://go.exlibris.link/qhg0rQS2
Readings
Labour Supply
Estimating Labor Supply Responses Using Tax Reforms
- Type
- Article
- Authors
- Date
- 1998-07
- Volume
- 66
- Volume
- 4
- Web address
- https://0-www-jstor-org.pugwash.lib.warwick.ac.uk/stable/2999575?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents
A Century of Work and Leisure
- Type
- Article
- Authors
- Date
- 2009
- Volume
- 1
- Volume
- 2
- Web address
- https://0-www-jstor-org.pugwash.lib.warwick.ac.uk/stable/25760278?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents
Collective Labor Supply and Welfare
- Type
- Article
- Authors
- Date
- 1992
- Page end
- 67
- Web address
- https://0-www-journals-uchicago-edu.pugwash.lib.warwick.ac.uk/doi/10.1086/261825
Labor economics
- Type
- Book
- Authors
- Date
- 2014
- Publisher
- The MIT Press
- Pub Place
- Cambridge, Massachusetts
- Edition
- Second edition
- ISBN-10
- 0262027704
- ISBN-13
- 9780262027700
- Web address
- https://go.exlibris.link/hyz2Ts0n
Note:
Please read: chapter 1
Handbook of labor economics
- Type
- Book
- Authors
- Date
- 1986-
- Publisher
- North-Holland
- Pub Place
- Amsterdam
- Edition
- 1st ed
- ISBN-10
- 0444501878
- ISBN-13
- 9780444501875
- Volume
- 5
- Web address
- https://go.exlibris.link/cBjTcnNh
Note:
Please read: Blundell and MaCurdy 1999: \Labor Supply: A Review of Alternative Approaches" Vol. 3A
Estimating Labor Supply Responses Using Tax Reforms
- Type
- Article
- Authors
- Date
- 1998-07-01
- Volume
- 66
- Volume
- 4
- Page end
- 861
- Web address
- https://warwick.summon.serialssolutions.com/#!/search?ho=t&include.ft.matches=f&fvf=ContentType,Newspaper Article,t|ContentType,Book Review,t&l=en-UK&q=Blundell, R., Duncan, A., and Costas Meghir. 1998. Estimating Labor Supply Responses Using Tax Reforms, Econometrica, Vol 66 (4), pp. 827-861.
Do Workers Work More if Wages Are High? Evidence from a Randomized Field Experiment
- Type
- Article
- Authors
- Date
- 2007-03-01
- Volume
- 97
- Volume
- 1
- Page end
- 317
- Web address
- https://warwick.summon.serialssolutions.com/#!/search?ho=t&include.ft.matches=f&fvf=ContentType,Newspaper Article,t|ContentType,Book Review,t&l=en-UK&q=Fehr, E. and Gotte, L., 2007. AssociationDo Workers Work More if Wages Are High? Evidence from a Randomized Field Experiment. The American Economic Review, Vol. 97, No. 1 (Mar., 2007), pp. 298-317.
Labour Demand
Labor economics
- Type
- Book
- Authors
- Date
- 2014
- Publisher
- The MIT Press
- Pub Place
- Cambridge, Massachusetts
- Edition
- Second edition
- ISBN-10
- 0262027704
- ISBN-13
- 9780262027700
- Web address
- https://go.exlibris.link/hyz2Ts0n
Note:
Please read: Ch.2- essential reading
Why do new technologies complement skills? Directed technical change and wage inequality
- Type
- Article
- Authors
- Date
- 1998-11-01
- Volume
- CXIII
- Volume
- 4
- Page end
- 1089
- Web address
- https://warwick.summon.serialssolutions.com/#!/search?ho=t&include.ft.matches=f&fvf=ContentType,Newspaper Article,t|ContentType,Book Review,t&l=en-UK&q=Acemoglu, D., (1998) Why Do New Technologies Complement Skills? Directed Technical Change and Wage Inequality. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. 113, No. 4 (Nov., 1998), pp. 1055-1089.
Computing inequality: have computers changed the labor market?
- Type
- Article
- Authors
- Date
- 1998-11-01
- Volume
- CXIII
- Volume
- 4
- Page end
- 1213
- Web address
- https://warwick.summon.serialssolutions.com/#!/search?ho=t&include.ft.matches=f&fvf=ContentType,Newspaper Article,t|ContentType,Book Review,t&l=en-UK&q=Autor, Katz and Krueger. (1998). Computing inequality: have computers changed the labor market? The Quarterly Journal of Economics, November.
Human Capital Investments
Labor economics
- Type
- Book
- Authors
- Date
- 2014
- Publisher
- The MIT Press
- Pub Place
- Cambridge, Massachusetts
- Edition
- Second edition
- ISBN-10
- 0262027704
- ISBN-13
- 9780262027700
- Web address
- https://go.exlibris.link/hyz2Ts0n
Note:
Please read: Ch.4- essential reading
Does Compulsory School Attendance Affect Schooling and Earnings?
- Type
- Article
- Authors
- Date
- 1991-11-01
- Volume
- 106
- Volume
- 4
- Page end
- 1014
- Web address
- https://0-www-jstor-org.pugwash.lib.warwick.ac.uk/stable/2937954?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents
Handbook of labor economics
- Type
- Book
- Authors
- Date
- 1986-
- Publisher
- North-Holland
- Pub Place
- Amsterdam
- Edition
- 1st ed
- ISBN-10
- 0444501878
- ISBN-13
- 9780444501875
- Volume
- 5
- Web address
- https://go.exlibris.link/cBjTcnNh
Note:
Please read: Card, David. ''The Causal Effect of Education on Earnings" Vol. 3A
Estimating the return to schooling: Progress on some persistent econometric problems
- Type
- Article
- Authors
- Date
- Sep 2001
- Volume
- 69
- Page end
- 1160
- Web address
- https://0-search-proquest-com.pugwash.lib.warwick.ac.uk/docview/203883288/C9AA276E4F0B4E11PQ/3?accountid=14888
The Nature of Credit Constraints and Human Capital
- Type
- Article
- Authors
- Date
- 2011
- Page end
- 2529
- Web address
- http://0-search.ebscohost.com.pugwash.lib.warwick.ac.uk/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eoh&AN=1253150&site=eds-live&group=trial
Why do firms train? theory and evidence
- Type
- Article
- Authors
- Date
- 1998-02-01
- Volume
- CXIII
- Volume
- 1
- Page end
- 119
- Web address
- https://warwick.summon.serialssolutions.com/#!/search?ho=t&include.ft.matches=f&fvf=ContentType,Newspaper Article,t|ContentType,Book Review,t&l=en-UK&q=Acemoglu, D. and Pishcke, S., 1998. Why Do Firms Train? Theory and Evidence, Quarterly Journal of Economics, 113(1), pp. 79-119.
Why do temporary help firms provide free general skills training?
- Type
- Article
- Authors
- Date
- 2001-11-01
- Volume
- CXVI
- Volume
- 4
- Page end
- 1448
- Web address
- https://warwick.summon.serialssolutions.com/#!/search?ho=t&include.ft.matches=f&fvf=ContentType,Newspaper Article,t|ContentType,Book Review,t&l=en-UK&q=Autor, D., 2001. Why Do Temporary Help Firms Provide Free General Skills Training?, The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 116(4), pp. 1409-1448.
Mother's education and the intergenerational transmission of human capital: evidence from college openings
- Type
- Article
- Authors
- Date
- 2003-11-01
- Volume
- CXVIII
- Volume
- 4
- Page end
- 1532
- Web address
- https://warwick.summon.serialssolutions.com/#!/search?ho=t&include.ft.matches=f&fvf=ContentType,Newspaper Article,t|ContentType,Book Review,t&l=en-UK&q=Currie, J., and Moretti, E., 2003. Mother's Education and the Intergenerational Transmission of Human Capital: Evidence from College Openings. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. 118, No. 4 (Nov., 2003), pp.1495-1532.
Modern labor economics: theory and public policy
- Type
- Book
- Authors
- Date
- 2016
- Publisher
- Routledge
- Pub Place
- Abingdon
- Edition
- Twelfth edition
- ISBN-10
- 1315510642
- ISBN-13
- 9781315510644
- Web address
- https://go.exlibris.link/VJzPsjfy
Education and Nonmarket Outcomes
- Type
- Chapter
- Web address
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1574069206010105
Education and Social Capital
- Type
- Article
- Authors
- Date
- 2007-01-01
- Volume
- 33
- Volume
- 1
- Page end
- 19
- Web address
- https://warwick.summon.serialssolutions.com/#!/search?ho=t&include.ft.matches=f&fvf=ContentType,Newspaper Article,t|ContentType,Book Review,t&l=en-UK&q=Helliwell and Putnam (2007). Education and Social Capital. Eastern Economic Journal. Vol. 33, No. 1 (Winter, 2007), pp. 1-19.
Earnings Losses of Displaced Workers
- Type
- Article
- Authors
- Date
- 1993-09-01
- Volume
- 83
- Volume
- 4
- Page end
- 709
- Web address
- https://warwick.summon.serialssolutions.com/#!/search?ho=t&include.ft.matches=f&fvf=ContentType,Newspaper Article,t|ContentType,Book Review,t&l=en-UK&q=Jacobson, L., LaLonde, R. and Sullivan, D., 1993. Earnings Losses of Displaced Workers, The American Economic Review, 83(4), pp. 685-709.
The Effect of Education on Crime: Evidence from Prison Inmates, Arrests, and Self-Reports
- Type
- Article
- Authors
- Date
- 2004-03-01
- Volume
- 94
- Volume
- 1
- Page end
- 189
- Web address
- https://warwick.summon.serialssolutions.com/#!/search?ho=t&include.ft.matches=f&fvf=ContentType,Newspaper Article,t|ContentType,Book Review,t&l=en-UK&q=Lochner, L., and Moretti, E. 2004. The Effect of Education on Crime: Evidence from Prison Inmates, Arrests, and SelfReports. The American Economic Review, Vol. 94, No. 1 (Mar., 2004), pp. 155-189.
The Crime Reducing Effect of Education
- Type
- Article
- Authors
- Date
- 2011-05-01
- Volume
- 121
- Volume
- 552
- Page end
- 484
Priceless: The Nonpecuniary Benefits of Schooling
- Type
- Article
- Authors
- Date
- 2011-01-01
- Volume
- 25
- Volume
- 1
- Page end
- 184
- Web address
- https://warwick.summon.serialssolutions.com/#!/search?ho=t&include.ft.matches=f&fvf=ContentType,Newspaper Article,t|ContentType,Book Review,t&l=en-UK&q=Oreopoulos, P., and Salvanes, K., 2011. Priceless: the pecuniary benfiets of schooling. The Journal of Economic Perspectives, Vol. 25, No. 1 (Winter 2011), pp. 159-184.
Market Structure & Minimum Wages
Labor economics
- Type
- Book
- Authors
- Date
- 2020
- Publisher
- McGraw-Hill Education
- Pub Place
- New York, NY
- Edition
- Eighth edition
- ISBN-10
- 1260565521
- ISBN-13
- 9781260565522
- Web address
- https://go.exlibris.link/GbjdkDSp
Government contracting and living wages > minimum wages
- Type
- Article
- Authors
- Web address
- https://ideas.repec.org/p/cep/cepdps/dp2000.html
Where the Minimum Wage Bites Hard: Introduction of Minimum Wages to a Low Wage Sector
- Type
- Article
- Authors
- Date
- 2003-03-01
- Volume
- 1
- Volume
- 1
- Page end
- 180
The Effect of Minimum Wages on Low-Wage Jobs*
- Type
- Article
- Authors
- Date
- 2019-08-01
- Volume
- 134
- Volume
- 3
- Page end
- 1454
Card, D., & Krueger, A. B. (1993). Minimum wages and employment: A case study of the fast food industry in New Jersey and Pennsylvania
- Type
- Document
- Web address
- https://davidcard.berkeley.edu/papers/njmin-aer.pdf
The measure of monopsony: the labour supply elasticity to the firm and its constituents
- Type
- Article
- Web address
- https://eprints.lse.ac.uk/121312/
Imperfect Competition in the Labor Market
- Type
- Article
- Authors
- Date
- 2011
- Volume
- 4B
- Page end
- 1041
- Web address
- https://econpapers.repec.org/bookchap/eeelabchp/5-11.htm
Monopsony in Labor Markets: A Review
- Type
- Article
- Authors
- Date
- 2021-01
- Volume
- 74
- Volume
- 1
- Page end
- 26
Migration
The Impact of the Mariel Boatlift on the Miami Labor Market
- Type
- Article
- Authors
- Date
- 1990-01
- Volume
- 43
- Volume
- 2
- Page end
- 257
The Labor Demand Curve is Downward Sloping: Reexamining the Impact of Immigration on the Labor Market
- Type
- Article
- Authors
- Date
- 2003-11-01
- Volume
- 118
- Volume
- 4
- Page end
- 1374
The Effect of Immigration along the Distribution of Wages
- Type
- Article
- Authors
- Date
- 2013-01-01
- Volume
- 80
- Volume
- 1
- Page end
- 173
The Fiscal Effects of Immigration to the UK
- Type
- Article
- Authors
- Date
- 2014-11-01
- Volume
- 124
- Volume
- 580
- Page end
- F643
The Impact of Immigration: Why Do Studies Reach Such Different Results?
- Type
- Article
- Authors
- Volume
- 30
- Volume
- 4
- Page end
- 56
- Web address
- https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/jep.30.4.31
Refugee Benefit Cuts
- Type
- Article
- Authors
- Volume
- 16
- Volume
- 2
- Page end
- 41
- Web address
- https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/pol.20220062
THE IMPACT OF IMMIGRATION ON THE STRUCTURE OF WAGES: THEORY AND EVIDENCE FROM BRITAIN
- Type
- Article
- Authors
- Date
- 2012-02
- Volume
- 10
- Volume
- 1
- Page end
- 151
The Economic Situation of First and Second‐Generation Immigrants in France, Germany and the United Kingdom
- Type
- Article
- Authors
- Date
- 2010-02-01
- Volume
- 120
- Volume
- 542
- Page end
- F30
Discrimination
Labor Economics
- Type
- Webpage
- Web address
- https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262027700/labor-economics/
Note:
Ch 8
Experimental Research on Labor Market Discrimination
- Type
- Article
- Authors
- Volume
- 56
- Volume
- 3
- Page end
- 866
- Web address
- https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/jel.20161309
Are Emily and Greg More Employable Than Lakisha and Jamal? A Field Experiment on Labor Market Discrimination
- Type
- Article
- Authors
- Volume
- 94
- Volume
- 4
- Page end
- 1013
- Web address
- https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/0002828042002561
The Visible Hand: Race and Online Market Outcomes
- Type
- Article
- Authors
- Date
- 2013
- Volume
- 123
- Volume
- 11
- Page end
- F492
- Web address
- https://econpapers.repec.org/article/ecjeconjl/v_3a123_3ay_3a2013_3ai_3a11_3ap_3af469-f492.htm
Orchestrating Impartiality: The Impact of "Blind" Auditions on Female Musicians
- Type
- Article
- Authors
- Volume
- 90
- Volume
- 4
- Page end
- 741
- Web address
- https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/aer.90.4.715
A Grand Gender Convergence: Its Last Chapter
- Type
- Article
- Authors
- Volume
- 104
- Volume
- 4
- Page end
- 1119
- Web address
- https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/aer.104.4.1091
Mocanu, T. (2022). Designing gender equity: Evidence from hiring practices and committees. Working paper.
- Type
- Document
- Web address
- https://tatianamocanu.github.io/jm/mocanu_jmp_hiring.pdf
A Discrimination Report Card
- Type
- Article
- Authors
- Web address
- https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4787404
Atypical Work Arrangements & Working Conditions
Valuing Alternative Work Arrangements
- Type
- Article
- Authors
- Volume
- 107
- Volume
- 12
- Page end
- 59
- Web address
- https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/aer.20161500
Zero-hours contracts and labour market policy
- Type
- Article
- Authors
- Date
- 2019-07-01
- Volume
- 34
- Volume
- 99
- Page end
- 427
Willing to pay for security: a discrete choice experiment to analyse labour supply preferences
- Type
- Article
- Authors
- Web address
- https://ideas.repec.org/p/cep/cepdps/dp1632.html
The Rise and Nature of Alternative Work Arrangements in the United States, 1995–2015
- Type
- Article
- Authors
- Date
- 2019-03
- Volume
- 72
- Volume
- 2
- Page end
- 416
The Value of Working Conditions in the United States and the Implications for the Structure of Wages
- Type
- Article
- Authors
- Volume
- 113
- Volume
- 7
- Page end
- 47
- Web address
- https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/aer.20190846
Preference for the Workplace, Investment in Human Capital, and Gender*
- Type
- Article
- Authors
- Date
- 2018-02-01
- Volume
- 133
- Volume
- 1
- Page end
- 507
Wages or Fringes? Some Evidence on Trade-Offs and Sorting
- Type
- Article
- Authors
- Date
- 2014
- Volume
- 32
- Volume
- 4
- Page end
- 928
- Web address
- https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/676662