ECON 3470

Labor Economics

2nd Term, 2017-2018
Lecture Hours and Location:
Mon 4:30pm - 6:15pm (M09-10); ELB LT4  

Wed 11:30am - 12:15pm (W04); ELB LT4

 
Instructor: YUNG Chor-Wing Linda  
Office: ELB 1010
Phone: 3943-8192
E-mail: cwyung186@cuhk.edu.hk
Office Hours: Walk in or by appointment
Teaching Assistant:   BAO Lingming    
Office: ELB 1016  
Phone: 3943-8203  
E-mail: 1155076575@link.cuhk.edu.hk  
Office Hours:     
Course Objective:  

The objective of the course is to provide the basic concepts of Labor Economics and examine both theoretical and empirical issues of the labor market. In other words, the course aims to help students understand

  • the labor market model through the derived demand of firms and labor supply of households
  • the comparative static properties of perfectly competitive and imperfect product and labor markets
  • the policy implications of the empirical findings
 
Course Description:  
This course emphasizes both theoretical and empirical studies. Topics covered include: static and dynamic models of the demand for labor, allocation of time, the labor supply of men and women, human capital theory, theories of personal income distribution, information and search theory, signaling and self-selection, implicit contracts and the principal-agent problem.  
Prerequisite:  
Students should have knowledge of basic microeconomic theory and multi-variable calculus before taking this course.  
Recommended Textbooks:

Ehrenberg, Ronald G. and Robert S. Smith (2018) Modern Labor Economics: Theory and Public Policy. 13th Edition. Routledge. [E&S]

Borjas, George (2016) Labor Economics. 7th Edition. McGraw-Hill. [GB]

Course Assessment Scheme:
Assignments 20%
Computer Exercises 15%
Mid-term 30%
Final 35%
Course Activities:
  • Tutorials
Tentatively, tutorials are held bi-weekly and will start after the fourth week of class. It will go through some of the tutorial questions and some difficult assignment problems.
  • Assignments
There will be 2-3 assignments throughout the course. All assignments are equally weighted. Each assignment will be posted on Blackboard one week prior to due date. Please note that no late assignments will be graded.
  • Mid-term (12thFebraury, 2018), 4:30pm - 6:15pm, ELB LT4
Please note carefully the date, time and venue of the mid-term; there will be no makeup exam for the mid-term.  This is not negotiable.  If you miss the mid-term, due to a documented illness or emergency, and have received my approval, your final exam score will receive the weight of the mid-term in addition to its own weight. 
  • Final  (time and date will be announced later)

Final will be arranged by the University, please observe the date and venue.  The University has very strict regulations on how the final exam works. So please make sure you can make it.

For exchange students, please note that early departure is NOT a valid reason for not taking the final examination at the time scheduled by the University.

Course Content and Tentative Schedule:
Week Topic Contents Readings
1 Introduction Introduction and overview.

[E&S] Ch. 1 and 2.

[GB] Ch. 1.

2-4 Labor Demand Derived demand for labor.

[E&S] Ch. 3 and 4.

[GB] Ch. 3 and 4.

5 Fixed Cost Quasi-fixed costs, fixed factors and fixed costs.

[E&S] Ch. 5. 

[GB] Ch. 2.

6-8 Labor Supply The basic model and intertemporal model. Male and female labor supply.

[E&S] Ch. 6 and 7.

[GB] Ch. 2.

9 Compensating Wage Differentials Hedonic wage theory and risk.

[E&S] Ch. 8.

[GB] Ch. 5.
10 Human Capital Education and training.

[E&S] Ch. 9.

[GB] Ch. 6.
11 Discrimination, Gender Wage Gap and Inequality Earnings differentials from gender, race and occupation.

[E&S] Ch. 12 and 15.

[GB] Ch. 7 and 9.
12 Principal Agent Problem Wage contract and incentive scheme

[E&S] Ch.11

[GB] Ch. 11

13 Unemployment Different sources of unemployments.

[E&S] Ch. 14.

[GB] Ch. 12.
If time allows Labor Mobility Geographic mobility, immigration, employee turnover. 

[E&S] Ch. 10.

[GB] Ch. 8.
Learning Outcomes: 

By the end of the course the students should be:

  • familiar with the terminology and basic facts related to the labor market
  • able to understand and explain key features of various labor markets
  • capable to evaluate the findings of empirical work
  • able to assess the policy implication of various labor policies.
Note: 

Attention is drawn to University policy and regulations on honesty in academic work, and to the disciplinary guidelines and procedures applicable to breaches of such policy and regulations.  Details may be found at http://www.cuhk.edu.hk/policy/academichonesty/Eng_htm_files_(2013-14)/index_page2.htm

With each assignment, students will be required to submit a signed declaration that they are aware of these policies, regulations, guidelines and procedures.  For group projects, all students of the same group should be asked to sign on the declaration.
For assignments in the form of a computer-generated document that is principally text-based and submitted via the plagiarism detection engine VeriGuide, the statement, in the form of a receipt, will be issued by the system upon students’ uploading of the soft copy of the assignment.  Assignments without the receipt will not be graded by teachers.  Only the final version of the assignment should be submitted via VeriGuide.