APPLIES TO ACADEMIC YEAR 2013/2014

GRA 6628 Labor Economics

Responsible for the course
Espen R Moen

Department
Department of Economics

Term
According to study plan

ECTS Credits
6

Language of instruction
English

Introduction
The labor market is probably the most important market in the economy, and a thorugh understanding of the labor market is key for understanding personell economics, macroeconomics and public policy more generally. This course teaches the main principles of the economics of labor. Topics may include implicit and explicit labor contracts, personnel economics (recruiting and motivating workers and managers), human capital formation, discrimination, and theories of unemployment. In addition the course gives an introduction to contract theory and bargaining theory.

Learning outcome
To provide a proper understanding of modern theoretical and empirical labor economics. This includes human capital theory, labor contracts, discrimination, trade unions, unemployment, and inflation.

Prerequisites
Economics at Bachelor level and GRA 6626 Topics in Microeconomics or equivalent. Other courses at graduate level may be substitutes after individual consideration.

Compulsory reading
Books:
Cahuc, Pierre and André Zylberberg. 2004. Labor economics. MIT Press. Selected parts
Garibaldi, Pietro. 2006. Personnel economics in imperfect labour markets. Oxford University Press. Selected parts

Other:
During the course there may be hand-outs and other material on additional topics relevant for the course and the examination.


Recommended reading

Course outline
- Labor supply and labor demand
- Wage contracts and incentives
- Incentives and compensation for managers
- The theory of human capital
- Discrimination
- Unemployment

Computer-based tools
It's learning

Learning process and workload
A course of 6 ECTS credits corresponds to a workload of 160-180 hours.

Please note that while attendance is not compulsory in all courses, it is the student’s own responsibility to obtain any information provided in class that is not included on the course homepage/It's learning or text book.


Examination
Compulsory assignment during the course (pass/fail).
Three hours written exam.

Specific information regarding student evaluation beyond the information given in the course description will be provided in class. This information may be relevant for requirements for termpapers or other hand-ins, and/or where class participation can be one for several elements of the overall evaluation.

Examination code(s)
GRA 66282 (assignment) graded pass/fail.
GRA 66283 (three hours written exam) accounts for 100% of the grade in GRA 6628.

Examination support materials
Berck, Peter og Knut Sydsæter. 1993. Economists' Mathematical Manual. 2nd ed. Berlin: Springer Verlag.
BI approved exam calculator. A bilingual dictionary.

Exam aids at written examiniations are explained under exam information in the student portal @bi. Please note use of calculator and dictionary in the section on examaids

Re-sit examination
It is only possible to retake an examination when the course is next taught.
The assessment in some courses is based on more than one exam code.
Where this is the case, you may retake only the assessed components of one of these exam codes.
Where this is not the case, all of the assessed components of the course must be retaken.
All retaken examinations will incur an additional fee.

Additional information
Honor Code
Academic honesty and trust are important to all of us as individuals, and represent values that are encouraged and promoted by the honor code system. This is a most significant university tradition. Students are responsible for familiarizing themselves with the ideals of the honor code system, to which the faculty are also deeply committed.

Any violation of the honor code will be dealt with in accordance with BI’s procedures for cheating. These issues are a serious matter to everyone associated with the programs at BI and are at the heart of the honor code and academic integrity. If you have any questions about your responsibilities under the honor code, please ask.