LABOUR ECONOMICS - 2025/6

Module Overview

The module analyzes the foundations of the nature of the labour markets, and the mechanisms governing their functioning and development during past and contemporary history. The students will be exposed to economic theory and empirical evidence to understand the aim, role and behaviour of workers, firms and governments within the labour markets.  This will make students aware of the crucial importance of labour markets in the broader economy and society, as well as into the personal and professional development of the lives and careers of individual agents.

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. 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.

Formative assessment and feedback

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

Students are also provided with self-test multiple-choice questions (MCQ) to assess their familiarity and understanding of the notions and concepts to be tested. Solutions will be provided and students are encouraged to seek clarification in their lecture or in office hours.

After the release of the class test grades, the guided solutions to the test questions are communicated to students. In addition, students are 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 (e.g. employment, salary, level of education attained)
• Provide students with the microeconomic tools needed to critically examine workers' and firms' behaviour (e.g. decision to work; decisions to hire or lay off workers).
• Provide students with the microeconomic tools needed to evaluate, the impact of labour markets public policies, both from a theoretical and empirical perspective (e.g. methods to measure discrimination in the labour market).
• Help students understanding contemporary, real-world issues in labour economics and public policy and their implications for inequality in income and welfare (e.g. minimum wage, immigration, mandated benefits).

Learning outcomes

Methods of Teaching / Learning

Students will make use of the Microeconomic knowledge and Econometrics skills that they have developed in Levels 4 and 5, in particular cost minimization, profit maximization and linear regressions, applying them in a new context.

The learning and teaching strategy is designed to:

Enhance skills in analytical and critical thinking, and in written and verbal discussion (through recorded lectures and guided / independent study)

Appreciate the complexities of decision making, weighing theory and practice (through in person workshops, and guided / independent study)

The learning and teaching methods include:

Lectures 

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

Other information

The School of Economics is committed to developing graduates with strengths in Employability, Digital Capabilities, Global and Cultural Capabilities, Sustainability, and Resourcefulness and Resilience. This module is designed to enhance students' knowledge, skills, and capabilities in the following areas:

The labour market drives much of the difference in income and welfare between different individuals and households. This module helps students develop their understanding of inequalities in education, employability and income across several dimensions: historical, geographical, socio-economic, ethnic, gender identity and preferences. 

Employability:

Through weekly pre-lecture readings, students are stimulated to re-elaborate theory concepts and see their application to complex, real-world situations. This is aimed to nurture students’ critical thinking and problem-solving skills, which are valued by employers and important for the success of job and PhD interviews.

Global and cultural capabilities:

Real-world examples will be taken from a variety of contexts and the interaction of cultural, policy and economic factors in explaining workers’ and firms’ behaviour will be discussed.

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 2025/6 academic year.