Module Identifier EC32210  
Module Title WAGES AND EMPLOYMENT  
Academic Year 2001/2002  
Co-ordinator Dr Reza Arabsheibani  
Semester Semester 2  
Course delivery Lecture   12 Hours  
  Seminars / Tutorials   5 Hours  
Assessment Course work     20%  
  Exam   1.5 Hours   80%  

Aims


The module aims to present the economic study of the labour market and issues in the economics of human resources to students on degree schemes in economics or business-related subjects. Given that human resources are unlike other goods and services this presents particular issues and problems. The module will primarily analyse 'micro' aspects of the determination of wages and employment, rather than 'macro' aspects. While the latter are important, since they affect policy goals such as the alleviation of unemployment, and the reduction of wage inflationary pressure these are covered in more detail in other modules. As with other markets the labour market can be thought of as possessing suppliers (workers or organised groups of workers) and demanders (employers/firms). The module will look at each of these in turn and examine the important influences on them and then analyse how they fit together to determine observed levels of wages and employment.

Learning outcomes


Through lecture presentation, seminar discussion and reading (see below) students should grasp a working understanding of how economists explain the determination of wage levels and employment levels through the interaction of supply and demand for labour. Students should also become familiar with some of the extensions and complications to this - in particular being able to understand how 'impositions' such as minimum wage laws or 'imperfections' such as sex and race discrimination or segmentation of workers affect outcomes. Students will gain an understanding of the following topics:


In the tutorials, in particular, we will focus on contemporary policy issues, in particular considering European social legislation of various kinds and its impact on the labour market. Students should, by the end of the module, be able to critically assess the impact of these.

Reading Lists

Books
** Recommended Text
R F Elliott. (1991) Labor Economics: A Comparative Text. McGraw Hill
N Adnett. (1996) European Labour Markets. Longman
R K Filer, D S Hamermesh and A E Rees. The Economics of Work and Pay. 6th. Harper Collins
P Milgrom and J Roberts. (1992) Economics, Organization and Management. Prentice Hall