23021 Labour Economics
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particular session, location and mode of offering is the authoritative source
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Subject handbook information prior to 2025 is available in the Archives.
Credit points: 6 cp
Subject level:
Undergraduate
Result type: Grade and marksRequisite(s): 23567 Intermediate Microeconomics OR 25567 Intermediate Microeconomics
These requisites may not apply to students in certain courses.
There are course requisites for this subject. See access conditions.
Anti-requisite(s): 25021 Labour Economics
Description
This subject applies the knowledge and skills students have developed in the prerequisite subject to the functioning of modern labour markets, with a specific focus on the Australian context. Students expand their knowledge of economic concepts to include those that can be used to rationalise firms' and workers' behaviour in the labour market, and students use these concepts to critically evaluate labour market policies. They investigate individual differences in wages and employment, assess the economic effects of minimum wage laws, payroll taxes and education subsidies, and explore the institutional features, historical trends and current policy issues in Australian labour markets.
Subject learning objectives (SLOs)
| 1. | describe institutions and historical trends relevant to Australian labour markets as well as sources of individual differences in wages and employment |
|---|---|
| 2. | apply formal microeconomic frameworks to analyse a range of labour market phenomena |
| 3. | critically evaluate government policies with respect to their effects on wages and employment. |
Contribution to the development of graduate attributes
Students will develop a rich understanding of the functioning of labour markets. They will write a labour market policy report that will analyse theoretical and empirical effects of a selected labour market policy on labour market outcomes.
Successful completion of this subject will contribute to students’ acquiring the following graduate attributes:
- Intellectual rigour and innovative problem solving
- Communication and collaboration
- Professional and technical competence
Teaching and learning strategies
The subject is taught through a combination of in-class and online learning activities. Essential labour economics concepts are presented and analysed in the lectures. In tutorials, students are led through real-world applications and practical exercises related to the material of the lectures. Both types of learning activities include interactive discussions of real-world labour market phenomena.
Section “Program” of this guide provides details of the weekly learning activities. Lectures’ and tutorials’ material are made available to students via the learning management system on a weekly basis. Students are expected to engage with the assigned learning materials and tasks prior to the class.
Discussion Board. This is a web-based resource that can be accessed via the UTS Learning Management System course page. The discussion board is a forum that gives students the opportunity to interact with their peers as well as with the lecturer. Students are able to post questions and comments about the course material. The lecturer will moderate the Forum and will answer students’ questions when appropriate.
UTS Learning Management System. The learning management system is used to provide online learning to students. It is accessible by most web browsers, and provided you have access to an internet connection you can access it anywhere. From the main page, you can access the course page by clicking on the Labour Economics link. In the course page, you will be able to:
- Download course material (e.g. lecture notes, tutorial material, videos, news articles, etc.);
- Access Assessment 1: Online Problem Sets and Instructions for Assessment 2: Labour Market Policy Report;
- Interact with peers and the lecturer (via Discussion Board);
- Keep up to date (via Announcements).
Regular feedback on assessment will be provided. Weekly problem set will be marked on the same week they are due, and solutions and detailed explanations of each answer will be released after the submission deadline. Labour market policy report will be marked and returned to the students during the second StuVac week with lecturer's comments and suggestions for further study.
Content (topics)
- The supply of labour: trends in the labour force participation and hours of work in Australia; a theory of labour/leisure choice; labour supply elasticity; life-cycle labour supply;
- The demand for labour: marginal revenue product of labour; labour demand in competitive markets in the long- and short-run; elasticity of labour demand;
- Labour market equilibrium: the wage and employment effects of employer payroll taxes, wage subsidies and minimum wages;
- Gender, race and ethnicity in the labour markets: theories of market discrimination; measuring discrimination; trends and sources of the gender pay gap in Australia;
- Pay and Productivity: wage determination within the firm; the nature of employment contract; how pay and productivity of workers depends on the basis, level and sequencing of pay.
- Unemployment: theories of unemployment; unemployment in Australia; effects of unemployment insurance
- Trade unions: Australia's industrial relations history; determinants of union membership; union goals, models of collective bargaining, the effects of unions on wages;
- Worker Mobility: Migration, Immigration, and Turnover; international and Australian migration and immigration trends; determinants of workers’ migration decision; consequences of immigration for migrants and the host countries’ economies
Assessment
Assessment task 1: Assignment (Individual)
| Objective(s): | This addresses subject learning objective(s): 1, 2 and 3 |
|---|---|
| Weight: | 25% |
Assessment task 2: Assignment (Group)
| Objective(s): | This addresses subject learning objective(s): 1, 2 and 3 |
|---|---|
| Weight: | 25% |
| Length: | A typical report would be between 3500 and 4000 words in length. |
Assessment task 3: Final Exam (Individual)
| Objective(s): | This addresses subject learning objective(s): 1, 2 and 3 |
|---|---|
| Weight: | 50% |
Minimum requirements
Students must achieve at least 50% of the subject’s total marks.
Required texts
Ronald Ehrenberg and Robert Smith, Modern Labor Economics: Theory and Public Policy, 14th Edition, Routledge, 2021
Recommended texts
Keith Norris, Ross Kelly and Margaret Giles; Economics of Australian Labour Markets, Sixth Edition, Pearson-Addison-Wesley
Borjas, George J; Labor Economics, Boston: McGraw-Hill/Irwin, 8th Edition 2019.
Tito Boeri and Jan van Ours; Economics of Imperfect Labor Markets, Second Edition, Princeton University Press, 2013.