ECON4715 – Labor Economics
Course description
Course content
This course is equivalent with ECON3715 - Labour Economics
The course will present important theories and methods for analyzing labor markets and for understanding labor market research. The course emphasizes relationships between macro phenomena such as unemployment and agents’ behavior in the labor market, focusing on informational problems arising in labor market interactions as well as on the role of unions and employers associations.
The course will also present the empirical tools used to disentangle causality from correlation in numerous labor market studies. These tools are then used, together with the major theories presented, to examine different topics of interest for policymakers. The following topics will be discussed: labor supply, labor demand, unions, collective bargaining, wage inequality, human capital, compensating differentials, Roy selection, incentive pay, discrimination, migration, unemployment and intergenerational mobility.
Learning outcome
Knowledge:
You should know
- basic mechanisms of the labour market, in particular how unemployment and wage and productivity differences can arise as equilibrium phenomena
- the building blocks for studying the relationship between the micro and the macro sides of the economy
- key elements of empirical work that aim at evaluating and quantify the mechanisms of the models
Skills:
You should be able to
- use analytical models of behaviour and interactions in the labour market as tools to analyse the mechanisms that determine outcomes in the labour market, the performance of labour markets
- analyse policy questions related to labour markets
Competence:
You should
- be able to read and understand project reports and journal articles that make use of the concepts and methods that are introduced in the course
- be able to make use of the course content in your own academic work, for example in analyses that are part of the master’s thesis
Admission to the course
Students admitted to study programmes at UiO must each semester register which courses and exams they wish to sign up for in Studentweb.
Students not admitted to the Master’s programme in Economics or the Master’s programme in Economic Theory and Econometrics (Samfunns?konomisk analyse), can apply for admission to one of our study programmes, or apply for guest student status.
Formal prerequisite knowledge
- ECON1100 – Matematikk I, or equivalent.
- ECON2220 – Mikro?konomi 2, or equivalent.
- ECON3150 – Introductory Econometrics / ECON4150 – Introductory Econometrics, or equivalent.
Overlapping courses
- 10 credits overlap with SO?510.
- 10 credits overlap with ECON510.
- 10 credits overlap with ECON3715 – Labour Economics.
Teaching
Lectures and seminars.
Compulsory tuition activities:
A compulsory term paper.
A compulsory oral presentation.
The assignment deadline will be specified in Canvas. If you submit your answer to the assignment, but do not pass, you may get another attempt. The new attempt will have a short deadline.
When the compulsory tuition activities are approved, the result will be registered. The?approved compulsory term paper is valid for 9 semesters, starting with the semester in which it is passed.
See The Faculty of Social Sciences` rules regarding compulsory tuition activities.
Candidates who have passed the course before autumn 2016 and wish to re-take the exam need to get the compulsory tuition activitiesapproved before they can re-take the exam.
Absence from compulsory tuition activities
If you are ill or have another valid reason for being absent from compulsory tuition activities, your absence may be approved or the compulsory activity may be postponed.
Course responsible can at the beginning of the semester update the syllabus list by changing no more than three articles, though in a way that it will not change the overall scope or thematic content of the course.
The syllabus also includes any lecture notes that will be made available for the students in Canvas.
Examination
A 3-hour written school exam.
You must have passed the compulsory activities in order to sit for the exam.
Exam papers with comments from examiner
Examination support material
Usage of a dictionary during the examination is allowed, subject to prior inspection by SV-info.?See guidelines for further details.
Language of examination
The examination text is given in English. You may submit your response in Norwegian, Swedish, Danish or English.
Grading scale
Grades are awarded on a scale from A to F, where A is the best grade and F is a fail. Read more about the grading system.
Resit an examination
If you are sick or have another valid reason for not attending the regular exam, we offer a postponed exam later in the same semester.
See also our information about resitting an exam.
Students who wish to retake the exam in a later semester are not guaranteed that the course will be given with the same content and syllabus, or that the examination scheme will be the same.
More about examinations at UiO
- Use of sources and citations
- How to use AI as a student
- Special exam arrangements due to individual needs
- Withdrawal from an exam
- Illness at exams / postponed exams
- Explanation of grades and appeals
- Resitting an exam
- Cheating/attempted cheating
You will find further guides and resources at the web page on examinations at UiO.