LABOUR ECONOMICS - 2021/2

Module Overview

The first part of the course will introduce labour demand, labour supply, the labour market, and labour market equilibrium, while the second part will focus on the human capital model and then contemporary topics in the labour economics literature and the current economic policy agenda, such as the effects of minimum wages, discrimination and labour market outcomes, gender disparities in the labour market. Throughout the lectures we will also cover the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the labour markets. The module contains both theoretical and empirical components and will include the interpretation of estimates from econometric analysis.

Module provider

Economics

Module Leader

MOSCELLI Giuseppe (Economics)

Number of Credits: 15

ECTS Credits: 7.5

Framework: FHEQ Level 6

Module cap (Maximum number of students): N/A

Module Availability

Semester 1

Prerequisites / Co-requisites

None

Module content

Indicative content includes:

• Labour supply and demand


• Labour market equilibrium and non-perfectly competitive firms


• Education and training


• Labour market discrimination (ethnicity, sexual orientation, obesity, and labour market outcomes)


• Labour mobility and immigration

Assessment pattern

Alternative Assessment

Not applicable

Assessment Strategy

The assessment strategy is designed to provide students with the opportunity to demonstrate their understanding of labour markets, workers and firms and contemporary labour market trends and policies.

Thus the summative assessment for this module consists of:

• One class test (30%) including essay based questions. This will provide students with an assessment of their understanding of the basic concepts and empirical patterns, indicated in the learning outcomes and module content.


• One final exam (70%) including essay based questions.

Formative assessment and feedback

Students will receive verbal feedback during lectures through direct questioning. For this reason, attendance to weekly workshops is important.

After the release of the class test grades, the guided solutions to the test questions will be communicated to students. Each student will receive comments on the performance on their own script. All this feedback will help students to judge their own performance and prepare for the final exam.In addition, students will be encouraged to attend office hours to receive further verbal feedback.

Module aims

• provide students with the microeconomic tools needed to analyse a range of labour market issues and to critically examine workers' and firms’ behaviour and the impact of related public policies, both from a theoretical and empirical perspective.
• help students to understand contemporary issues in labour economics and public policy

Learning outcomes

Methods of Teaching / Learning

The learning and teaching strategy is designed to:

• enhance skills in analytical and critical thinking, and in written and verbal presentation


• appreciate the complexities of decision making, weighing theory and practice

The learning and teaching methods include:

• 1 hour workshop lecture (in-class) & 2 hour recorded lectures  x 11 weeks


• 117 hours of guided independent study

Indicated Lecture Hours (which may also include seminars, tutorials, workshops and other contact time) are approximate and may include in-class tests where one or more of these are an assessment on the module. In-class tests are scheduled/organised separately to taught content and will be published on to student personal timetables, where they apply to taken modules, as soon as they are finalised by central administration. This will usually be after the initial publication of the teaching timetable for the relevant semester.

Reading list

https://readinglists.surrey.ac.uk
Upon accessing the reading list, please search for the module using the module code: ECO3016

Programmes this module appears in

Please note that the information detailed within this record is accurate at the time of publishing and may be subject to change. This record contains information for the most up to date version of the programme / module for the 2021/2 academic year.