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Course Syllabus

Master 2023/2024

Labor and Personnel Economics

Category 'Best Course for Broadening Horizons and Diversity of Knowledge and Skills'
Category 'Best Course for New Knowledge and Skills'
Type: Elective course (Economics and Economic Policy)
Area of studies: Economics
Delivered by: Department of Applied Economics
Where: Faculty of Economic Sciences
When: 2 year, 3 module
Mode of studies: offline
Open to: students of one campus
Instructors: Sergey Solntsev
Master’s programme: Economics and Economic policy
Language: English
ECTS credits: 3
Contact hours: 36

Course Syllabus

Full Syllabus

Abstract

The course covers main concepts and discusses recent advances in Labour and Personnel Economics, with an emphasis on the interaction between theory and empirics. We will discuss theoretical and empirical methods applied in this field of economics. The course is appropriate for graduate students with basic knowledge of microeconomic theory and econometrics. The course starts by discussing principles of the labour market analyses and the labour market flows. It proceeds to cover theories of labour supply and demand, and economic research analyzing human capital accumulation and wage differences. The second part of the course - Personnel Economics - covers various aspects of the relationship between employer and employees. The topics discussed include employee motivation, incentive contracts, career incentives, problems of searching, hiring and firing the employees, structure of compensation, human resource management practices. The aim of this course is not only to provide a comprehensive discussion of the current state of research in the fields of Labour and Personnel Economics, but also to show students how to apply the skills acquired in microeconomic theory and econometrics courses to real-world topics. Labour and Personnel Economics is a dynamic area of modern economics. It combines ideas and methods from a number of fields, including microeconomics, contract theory, micro-econometrics, behavioral and experimental economics. We will be using a couple of textbooks but the course material is primarily based on recent research papers published in leading economics journals.
Learning Objectives

Learning Objectives

  • The aim of this course is not only to provide a comprehensive discussion of the status of research in the field of Labour and Personnel Economics, but also to endow students to apply the skills acquired in microeconomics theory and econometrics courses to real-world topics.
Expected Learning Outcomes

Expected Learning Outcomes

  • analyze labor market flow using labour statistics
  • identify data for research in labour economics
  • use various labour supply models for labour market empirical analyses
  • use labour demand model for labour market empirical analyses
  • analyze human resource management practices in firms
  • analyze incentives of employees and employers for human capital investments
  • use screening, signaling and self-selection models
  • analyze trade-off between risk and incentives in contracts
  • estimate unemployment rate and duration
  • analyze active labour market programs
Course Contents

Course Contents

  • Introduction to Labour Economics. Labour Structure
  • Labor Supply
  • Labor Demand
  • Unemployment and Job Search
  • Employee productivity and incentive contracts
  • Employee search, hiring and firing
  • Human capital and employee training
  • Human resource management practices in firms
Assessment Elements

Assessment Elements

  • non-blocking Seminar Activity including Paper Review
  • non-blocking Project Proposal
  • non-blocking Exam
Interim Assessment

Interim Assessment

  • 2023/2024 3rd module
    0.5 * Exam + 0.3 * Project Proposal + 0.2 * Seminar Activity including Paper Review
Bibliography

Bibliography

Recommended Core Bibliography

  • Acemoglu, D., & Pischke, J.-S. (1998). Why Do Firms Train? Theory and Evidence. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsbas&AN=edsbas.6FBBFC4
  • Anderson, P. M., & Brgess, S. M. (2000). Empirical Matching Functions: Estimation and Interpretation Using State-Level Data. Review of Economics & Statistics, 82(1), 93–102. https://doi.org/10.1162/003465300558669
  • Baker, G., Gibbs, M., & Holmstrom, B. (1994). The Internal Economics of the Firm: Evidence from Personnel Data. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsbas&AN=edsbas.ADAEB47D
  • Becker, G. S. (1965). A Theory of the Allocation of Time. Economic Journal, 75(299), 493–517. https://doi.org/10.2307/2228949
  • Camerer, C., Babcock, L., Loewenstein, G., & Thaler, R. (1997). Labor Supply of New York City Cabdrivers: One Day at a Time. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 112(2), 407–441. https://doi.org/10.1162/003355397555244
  • Canice Prendergast. (1999). The provision of incentives in firms. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsbas&AN=edsbas.9B3A09C0
  • Card, D., & Ashenfelter, O. (2010). Handbook of Labor Economics. Amsterdam: North Holland. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=355581
  • Card, D., & Krueger, A. B. (1994). Minimum Wages and Employment: A Case Study of the Fast-Food Industry in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. American Economic Review, 84(4), 772–793. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=bsu&AN=9410250161
  • Casey Ichniowski, & Kathryn Shaw. (2003). Beyond Incentive Pay: Insiders’ Estimates of the Value of Complementary Human Resource Management Practices. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 1, 155. https://doi.org/10.1257/089533003321164994
  • Crépon, B., Duflo, E., Gurgand, M., Rathelot, R., & Zamora, P. (2013). Do Labor Market Policies have Displacement Effects? Evidence from a Clustered Randomized Experiment*. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 128(2), 531–580. https://doi.org/10.1093/qje/qjt001
  • Dube, A., Lester, T. W., & Reich, M. (2010). Minimum Wage Effects across State Borders: Estimates Using Contiguous Counties. Review of Economics & Statistics, 92(4), 945–964. https://doi.org/10.1162/REST_a_00039
  • Edward P. Lazear, & Paul Oyer. (2003). Internal and External Labor Markets: A Personnel Economics Approach. NBER Working Papers.
  • Gronau, R. (1977). Leisure, Home Production, and Work——the Theory of the Allocation of Time Revisited. Journal of Political Economy, 85(6), 1099. https://doi.org/10.1086/260629
  • Ichniowski, C., Shaw, K., & Prennushi, G. (1997). The Effects of Human Resource Management Practices on Productivity: A Study of Steel Finishing Lines. American Economic Review, (3), 291. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsrep&AN=edsrep.a.aea.aecrev.v87y1997i3p291.313
  • Jacob Mincer. (1962). On-the-Job Training: Costs, Returns, and Some Implications. NBER Chapters, 50.
  • Konings, J., & Lehmann, H. (2002). Marshall and Labor Demand in Russia: Going Back to Basics. Journal of Comparative Economics, (1), 134. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsrep&AN=edsrep.a.eee.jcecon.v30y2002i1p134.159
  • Labor economics, Borjas, G. J., 2015
  • Labor economics, Cahuc, P., 2004
  • Lazear, E. P. (1990). Job Security Provisions and Employment. https://doi.org/10.2307/2937895
  • Mostly harmless econometrics : an empiricist's companion, Angrist, J. D., 2009
  • Neumark, D., & Wascher, W. (2000). Minimum Wages and Employment: A Case Study of the Fast-Food Industry in New Jersey and Pennsylvania: Comment. American Economic Review, 90(5), 1362–1396. https://doi.org/10.1257/aer.90.5.1362
  • Nicholas Bloom, & John Van Reenen. (2010). Why Do Management Practices Differ across Firms and Countries? Journal of Economic Perspectives, 1, 203. https://doi.org/10.1257/jep.24.1.203
  • Nickell, S. (1997). Unemployment and Labor Market Rigidities: Europe versus North America. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 11(3), 55–74. https://doi.org/10.1257/jep.11.3.55
  • Oyer, P., & Schaefer, S. (2011). Personnel Economics: Hiring and Incentives. Handbook of Labor Economics, 1769. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsrep&AN=edsrep.h.eee.labchp.5.20
  • Unemployment dynamics and duration dependence. (1996). Journal of Labor Economics, 14, 100–125. https://doi.org/10.1086/209805

Recommended Additional Bibliography

  • Blau, F. D., & Kahn, L. M. (2007). Changes in the Labor Supply Behavior of Married Women: 1980——2000. Journal of Labor Economics, 25(3), 393–438. https://doi.org/10.1086/513416

Authors

  • LAZAREVA OLGA VLADIMIROVNA
  • Шевелев Максим Борисович
  • SOLNTSEV SERGEY ANDREEVICH