Labor economics

Objective

Contemporary analyses of the labour market emphasise the importance of the movement of jobs and labour. At the heart of these analyses are models that formalise job-seeking behaviours and the processes for matching labour with newly created jobs. The objective of this course is to present these models and show how they can provide a better empirical and theoretical understanding of the determinants of employment, inequalities and the consequences of public intervention in the labour market.

Planning

1. Labor supply - The consequences of negative income taxes.
2. Labor demand - The consequences of low wage subsidies. The sources and consequences of hiring and firing costs.
3. Job search - Estimation of duration models.
4. Job search in equilibrium: matching models - Job creations and job destructions. The theory and empirics of wages.
5. Equilibrium search with on-the-job-search and wage determination - The estimation of equilibrium search models.
6. Efficiency wages - Evidence about efficiency wage.
7. Collective bargaining and wage differentials - Inter-industry wages differential. Offshoring and employment.
8. Minimum wage - Minimum wages in France and in the US.
9. Discrimination - Discrimination in the US.

References

Ashenfelter, O., D. and Card (éd.), Handbook of Labor Economics, volumes 3A, 3B, 3C, Amsterdam : Elsevier Science, North Holland.
Cahuc, P., Carcillo, S. and A. Zylberberg (2014), Labor Economics, MIT Press.
Pissarides, C. (2000), Equilibrium Unemployment Theory, 2nd edition, MIT Press.