Course Meeting Times
Lectures: 2 sessions / week, 1.5 hours / session
Recitations: 1 session / week, 1 hour / session
Course Prerequisites
Prerequisites consist of basic-to-intermediate microeconomics and a course in statistics or econometrics. Also helpful is some experience using statistical software like STATA® or SAS®, though we will provide assistance with this in recitation.
Course Requirements
In addition to exams and the readings, there are four problem sets, some of which have a computer-exercise component. There are also ungraded review problem sets at the beginning and the end of the course. Students are also expected to attend class and participate in class discussions.
Grading
Grading is based on the following formula:
Grading criteria.
| ACTIVITIES |
POINTS |
| Three Best Problem Sets (10 each) |
30 |
| Midterm Exam |
35 |
| Final Exam |
40 |
| Strong Class Participation (Bonus) |
5 |
Course Calendar
Course schedule.
| WEEK # |
TOPICS |
| 1 |
Employment, Earnings, and the Labor Market: An Overview |
| 2 |
Labor Supply and the Decision to Work |
| 3 |
Home Production, Children, Child-care, Fertility |
| 4 |
The Demand for Labor, Minimum Wages, Monopsony |
| 5 |
Human Capital, Education, and Training |
| 6 |
The Wage Structure |
| 7 |
Discrimination |
| 8 |
Unions, Contracts, and Strikes in the Labor Market |
| 9 |
Incentives |
| 10 |
Unemployment and Unemployment Insurance |